Some Reflections on the Economics of Preservation of Artifacts of Cultural Heritage

Relatively developed countries share the issues related to preservation of artifacts such as buildings, windmills (Klamer), battlefields and other sites and artifacts that are seen as carrying values of cultural heritage. Very commonly efforts at preservation are set in motion by, and in opposition to, private sector, profit-seeking projects of economic development that threaten to degrade or destroy the heritage values of artifacts or remains at the site of the proposed development. Thus it is tempting to sum up the position of those who advocate preservation as “let it remain as it is. ” But the case is far more complicated than that. While heritage value arises from some symbolic link to the culture or past of a particular group, this link is not simply given as, for example, the fact that an edifice is constructed of stone rather than wood, and consequently is not independent of the actions that may be taken to preserve it. Even if nothing is done, the object will not simply remain the same but will deteriorate with the passage of time and may lose its symbolic meaning through neglect. Instead, then, any action aimed at preservation must be evaluated as a project, much as a project of commercial development would. We may suppose that, in a given period t, there are a number of inconsistent proposed projects that may affect a particula