Although World Bank projects in thecultural heritage field are subject to the usual assessmentsthat are applied to any project implementation, little isknown about the subsequent performance of these projects inthe years post-completion. This study was undertaken toprovide some empirical evidence for the economic impacts ofcultural heritage investment. Two case studies were chosenfor this purpose, in the historic town centers of Skopje,former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Tbilisi, Georgia,respectively. The economic principles those are importantfor the analysis of cultural heritage investment decisionsmake use of concepts such as scarcity, opportunity cost, andpublic preferences. The study confirms the positive impactsof the investments. In the Macedonian case, the projecthelped to stimulate an ongoing investment of US$2.5 millionin the project site, the Skopje old bazaar. Tourist numbersincreased compared to the control site in Prilep; between2005 and 2010, daily tourist numbers in the Skopje OldBazaar increased by 90 percent compared to a slight declinein Prelip. Employment also grew more rapidly in the targetsite than in the control area. This study leads to somelessons for the design of heritage projects and for theconduct of an ex post economic impact evaluation.
PDF
download
878987797
028-85220240
