Economic Valuation of Cultural Goods (Case Study: Isfahan City of Arts)

In today’s world, no one can deny the expansion of economic influence in the various aspects of social life and economization of immaterial issues of social life is becoming more obvious every day. The valuation of cultural goods, as one of the most important economic aspects related to arts and culture, is chosen to be considered in this study. The necessity of considering the economic valuation of the arts and culture comes from the competition between different public and merit goods which seek government. Considering this, the present study is conducted in order to determine the economic value of “Isfahan City of Arts” as a cultural center which is planned to be built in Isfahan as the largest center of supplying, educating and presenting cultural and artistic events in the whole country. In order to make this happen, we need to know how people value different parts and activities of this complex. Regarding different strength and week points of various economic valuation techniques, the Choice Experiment method (CE), as one the most efficient methodologies in estimating different aspects of nonmarket goods, has been used in this study for measuring WTP estimates. The results indicate that among eleven activities (aspects) of the complex, all activities, except for galleries, had positive and significant effects on choosing designed scenarios, and among the listed activities, Concert Hall, Cineplex and Fashion Hall had, relatively, the highest willingness to payment.