On the Use of Life Satisfaction Data for Valuing Cultural Goods: A First Attempt and a Comparison with the Contingent Valuation Method

This article shows how life-satisfaction data can be used as a novel approach to value cultural goods since the contingent valuation method, although widely used, is still the subject of an intense controversy. The cultural good object of valuation is the Contemporary Art Archives and Collections of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the city of Cuenca (Spain) that constitutes a cultural legacy of great value for the community at large. Both methodologies are compared and results provide evidence that the Life Satisfaction Approach can generate meaningful values of cultural goods of use nature and non-use nature. Thus, adding a new tool of analysis expands the scope for the economic valuation of cultural goods. Finally, the pros and cons of this novel approach are discussed.