ECONOMICS UNIQUENESS

70 ■ THE ECONOMICS OF UNIQUENESS
whether any public-good eff ects are perceived and, if so, whether there is a positive
or negative attitude toward paying for them.
Th is simplifi ed approach was adopted in the Skopje study. Th e visitors’ survey
described above was used to assess respondents’ willingness to contribute to further
restoration work in the area. Interviewers asked them to indicate whether
they would be willing to make a voluntary contribution to a fund to allow further
heritage conservation work in the Old Bazaar to proceed and, if so, how much.
Altogether, 90 percent of respondents said they would be willing to contribute,
the majority indicating an amount of up to 500 Macedonian denar or MDen
(roughly US$10), as shown in Table 3.2.
Th e survey that yielded these results and those concerning cultural impacts
discussed earlier clearly does not meet the strict methodological requirements
of a full contingent valuation study. Although a mean per capita willingness to
pay of around US$6 per head could be calculated from these data under certain
assumptions, the range of variability attached to such an estimate is so wide that it
could not be used as a means of deriving an aggregate non-market benefi t.
Despite this, however, the results can be used as a basis for drawing at least
some broad conclusions about the non-market eff ects of the project. Th e questionnaire
used in the survey did provide some indication of relevant stakeholders’
perceptions of cultural benefi ts and their willingness to contribute to further
heritage restoration, even if the amounts involved could not be taken as valid
estimates of willingness to pay. Th e questions covered some important cultural
outcomes and were comprehensible to respondents. Th e sample, though small,
was randomly drawn from a defi ned group of benefi ciaries. Th e results indicate
an overall positive economic impact arising from the output of non-market
benefi ts from the project.
As a tentative conclusion concerning the operational usefulness of the empirical
approach adopted here as a basis for evaluating the non-market benefi ts of
TABLE 3.2
Visitors’ Willingness to Make a One-Time Contribution to Heritage
Restoration in the Old Bazaar in Skopje, FYR Macedonia
Amount willing to contribute Proportion of respondents (%)
Zero 9.8
Up to 500 MDen 67.2
1000 MDen 16.4
1500 MDen 5.5
More than 1500 MDen 1.1
Total 100.0
Source: Author.