Measuring the Economic and Cultural Values of Historic Heritage Places

This research project on the valuation of cultural heritage is developing a methodology for a quantitative valuation study of the use and non-use values of historic heritage places. The methodology developed in this project will provide a template for subsequent empirical applications to generate data of use in the formulation of heritage policies and programs. The initial stages in reaching this larger objective have involved determining how historic heritage places are to be categorised for measurement, establishing the process by which heritage attributes will be determined for valuation, and developing and trialling an effective measurement framework. The principal techniques being developed for valuation assessment in the project are derived from choice-modelling (CM) and contingent-valuation methods (CVM). A particular focus of the project is on the systematic integration of cultural and economic value assessments within a consistent theoretical framework, reflecting the need for an economic perspective on the significance criteria currently in use in heritage policy in Australia