Frances Richens, Researchers quantify the intrinsic value of culture, Arts Professional, 16 October 2015
Economic valuation techniques could be key to proving the value of the arts and unlocking more funding, researchers suggest.
Researchers believe they have hit on a robust way of quantifying how much people’s lives are improved by arts and culture. They hope their techniques will help arts organisations to better demonstrate their value and policymakers to make better decisions, leading to a more efficient use of resources in the sector.
In a new report, researchers from the Cultural Value Project outline how a monetary value can be attributed to the work of cultural institutions. “We no longer need rely on just implicit judgments on the social value of culture,” said researcher Hasan Bakhshi. “Our study shows that, despite the many challenges, economic valuation techniques that are commonly used in areas like environmental policy, like willingness to pay and subjective wellbeing, can be applied successfully to cultural institutions.”
