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More is worse: Decreasing marginal quality of the Unesco World Heritage list

Author

Listed:
  • Martina Dattilo

    (CREM-CNRS, University of Rennes 1)

  • Fabio Padovano

    (CREM-CNRS, Condorcet Center for Political Economy, University of Rennes 1 and DSP, Università Roma Tre, Italy)

  • Yvon Rocaboy

    (CREM-CNRS, Condorcet Center for Political Economy, University of Rennes 1)

Abstract

This paper empirically analyzes the evolution of the quality of sites included in the UNESCO World Heritage List (WHL) from 1972 till 2016, testing the hypothesis that as the number of sites of a country in the WHL increases, their marginal quality decreases. The quality of a site is proxied by the number of criteria set by UNESCO that the site has been recognize to satisfy. Data lend support to this hypothesis, suggesting that, since the stock of cultural capital is fixed over time, countries propose sites of decreasing quality. The efficiency of a country’s bureaucracy appears to play a role in the inclusion of a site into the list. These results are robust to variations in the nature of the sites (cultural or natural), to tests of the stability of the UNESCO evaluation criteria and to changes of the econometric estimators. The analysis questions the credibility of the UNESCO WHL as well as UNESCO policies aimed at having more balanced geographical distribution of sites.

Suggested Citation

  • Martina Dattilo & Fabio Padovano & Yvon Rocaboy, 2020. "More is worse: Decreasing marginal quality of the Unesco World Heritage list," Economics Working Paper from Condorcet Center for political Economy at CREM-CNRS 2020-01-ccr, Condorcet Center for political Economy.
    • Handle: RePEc:tut:cccrwp:2020-01-ccr
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pohle, Julia, 2016. "Information for All? The emergence of UNESCO’s policy discourse on the information society (1990-2003)," EconStor Theses, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 158025, January.
    2. B. Parenti & E. De Simone, 2015. "Explaining determinants of national UNESCO Tentative Lists: an empirical study," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(15), pages 1193-1198, October.
    3. Stefan Tobias, 2004. "Quality in the Performing Arts: Aggregating and Rationalizing Expert Opinion," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 28(2), pages 109-124, May.
    4. Douglas Noonan, 2003. "Contingent Valuation and Cultural Resources: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Literature," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 27(3), pages 159-176, November.
    5. Enrico Bertacchini & Donatella Saccone, 2012. "Toward a political economy of World Heritage," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 36(4), pages 327-352, November.
    6. Kelvin J. Lancaster, 1966. "A New Approach to Consumer Theory," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(2), pages 132-132.
    7. Anna Alberini & Alberto Longo, 2006. "Combining the travel cost and contingent behavior methods to value cultural heritage sites: Evidence from Armenia," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 30(4), pages 287-304, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    UNESCO World Heritage List; international organizations; measurement of quality; efficiency of public administration; cultural capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H87 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - International Fiscal Issues; International Public Goods
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations
    • O19 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations
    • Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality

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