An Economic Analysis of Cultural Capital's Value

A Study of Miyajima, Hiroshima

Abstract

We conducted a quantitative evaluation of the private and public benefits of cultural capital considering the case of the Miyajima Hiroshima, registered in UNESCO World Heritage List using economical framework. We approached to structure of value of cultural capital using CVM and travel cost method. The cultural capital in Miyajima generated larger use value and option value than others. The total value of cultural capital is large enough to justify social investment in it. These results suggest that it is very important to investigate the way to incidence of cost for maintain the cultural capital with user pay system or lump sum system. We hope that our paper will contribute to implementation of cultural policy as first approach to structure of values of cultural capital.