the case of Circuito Liberdade (CL)

19th International Conference on Cultural Economics manuscript No.
(will be inserted by the editor)
Factors associated with evaluation of public goods: the case
of Circuito Liberdade (CL)
Ana Flávia Machado · Diomira M. C. Pinto ·
Sibelle C. Diniz · Bárbara F. Paglioto · Rodrigo
C. Michel · Gabriel B. Vaz de Melo
Received: date / Accepted: date
Abstract Circuito Liberdade (CL) is a set of cultural spaces surrounding the Praça da
Liberdade, a square located in central area of the city of Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais,
Brazil). Those spaces could be considered public goods since the cultural activities
are meritorious, there is no rivalry in consumption and visiting admission is free for
all equipments. Public goods contain not only an economic value, but above all, social
and symbolic values combined with the use of resources from taxes, what requires
systematically evaluation. For such purpose, this paper uses the contingent valuation
(CV) method, which consists of asking to (potential) users of some good or service
their willingness to pay (WTP) to improve or have access to it. The survey design,
especially the collection instrument, uses some approaches to minimize possible biases
that incur in the method.
Thus, in the second half of 2014 was carried out a field survey, where was selected
a sample of spontaneous visitors and passersby surrounding the CL and applied
questionnaires, which not only caught the WTP, as well as evaluation of spaces, socio-
Ana Flávia Machado
CEDEPLAR-FACE-UFMG / Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Tel.: +55-31-34097277
Fax: +55-31-34097203
E-mail: afmachad@cedeplar.ufmg.br
Diomira M. C. Pinto
IGC-UFMG
Sibelle C. Diniz
CEDEPLAR-FACE-UFMG
Bárbara F. Paglioto
CEDEPLAR-FACE-UFMG
Rodrigo C. Michel
CEDEPLAR-FACE-UFMG
Gabriel B. Vaz de Melo
CEDEPLAR-FACE-UFMG
2
Machado et al.
economic characteristics and cultural habits of respondents. The objective was to
analyze factors associated with WTP as an indicator of valuation of the set.
The respondents, visitors or not, are concentrated in the younger age groups and
most part of them are residents from Belo Horizonte. Also, visitors have a higher
level of education, income and tend to consume more other cultural services than non
visitors. The WTP of respondents is related to the equipment satisfaction level, the
level of education and subjective factors attributed to CL. And, although were found
“protest zeros” and “warm glow”, the results show that visitors and non visitors see the
CL as an important equipment for the city.
Keywords Cultural Spaces · Contingent Valuation · Museums
1 Introduction
The Circuito Liberdade (henceforth CL) is located in the central area of Belo
Horizonte. It was inaugurated in 2010 after the change of the State administrative
head office and complete reforms from most of the buildings that compose it. For this
reason, the spaces did not start their activities simultaneously and some are still in
restoration process. The conceiving of the Circuito seeks to replicate international
experiences that used the culture as centrality in the process of regeneration of urban
areas, however, without involving a participatory planning, as occurred in Bilbao
(Spain) or in Medellı́n (Colombia). As it is a government policy, it was opted for a
public-private partnership, in which the companies assume the equipments during
a predetermined period and become responsible for their architectural restoration
and maintenance, selection of exhibitions and events within the spaces, as well as
management of specific programs relevant to each space.
The following cultural spaces compose the Circuito: Arquivo Público Mineiro,
Biblioteca Pública Estadual Luiz de Bessa, Casa da Economia Criativa, Casa Fiat de
Cultura, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB), Centro de Arte Popular, Centro de
Formao Artı́stica (CEFAR - Liberdade), Espaço do Conhecimento UFMG, Memorial
Minas Gerais Vale, MM Gerdau - Museu de Minas e do Metal, Palácio da Liberdade
e Museu Mineiro. The buildings are located surrounding the Praça da Liberdade - a
square in central area of the city - as photo below1 (Figure 1).
The CL, such as museums and cultural centers, can be considered a public good.
The nature of a public good in economics is defined by the characteristic of being
something meritorious, as it carries social and symbolic values, and does not occur
rivalry in consumption and enjoyment of good. Unlike the so-called private goods,
where the valuation can be made by real markets, in which the price of the good can
constitute an indicator (even if imperfect) of economic value, the public goods require
others valuation methods. Contingent valuation and referendum are techniques for
assignment of this social value to something that is not marketing liable. In this study,
it resorts to the contingent valuation, where hypothetical markets are created from the
measurement of the willingness to pay of users and potential users.
1 Available in: https://www.flickr.com/photos/portalpbh/sets/72157638355730985/.
Accessed on May 4, 2015.
Factors associated with evaluation of public goods: the case of Circuito Liberdade (CL)
3
Fig. 1 Circuito Liberdade
Source: Lucia Sebe, Portal PBH. All rights reserved.
Seeking, thus, making this assessment, in the second half of 2014 was carried
out a field survey as a pilot project. It was selected a sample of spontaneous visitors
and passersby in the surrounding of CL and applied questionnaires2 which not only
caught the willingness to pay, as well as the evaluation of the spaces, socio-economic
characteristics and cultural habits of the respondents. The aim of this paper is, therefore,
to analyze the factors associated with the willingness to pay of this sample as an
indicator of valuation of the CL. For such, the text is organized into five sections,
including this introduction. In the next section, is reviewed, briefly, the literature on the
subject. Then, it is presented the methodology used. In the fourth section, a descriptive
analysis of the results considers the profile of respondents, the culture habits and
willingness to pay. Finally, we present the main considerations of the paper.
2 Cultural equipments, public goods and willingness to pay: a brief review of
the literature
Museums and cultural centers are the best examples of public cultural goods, because they preserve the memory and expose the artistic creativity. Their organization
reflects, also, an expression of cultural activity from the local and the neighborhood,
through formation activities. For those reasons, they retain use value which transposes
the economic question. Bille and Schulze (2008), when dealing with cultural heritage
2 Due to the page limit, the collection instruments were not attached to the text. To access them, please
contact Prof. Ana Flávia Machado (afmachad@cedeplar.ufmg.br).
4
Machado et al.
(which includes museums and cultural centers) and its contribution to regional development, they translate these dimensions: value option, given the possibility that, in
future, enjoy a good or service, even if it does not occur; existence value, derived from
the knowledge of the existence of the good and service, even if there is no intention to
visit him; prestige value, from the recognition of regional heritage and the belongs to
the same; heritage value, derived from the possibility of future generations to use the
service.
The social and historical significance of museums and cultural centers combined to
budgetary constraints related to the use of funds from tax payments requires that these
public goods must be systematically evaluated. To mark the decisions on construction,
expansion and maintenance of museums and cultural centers, it is necessary having
mechanisms or instruments to measure the social value of the public good. The
evaluation method of contingent valuation (CV) is one of those instruments. It consists
of asking directly to users of a specific good or service how much they would be
willing to pay (WTP) for the implementation, improvements to be carried out and/or
for accessing the public good. From the information obtained, the method derives
estimates of values for the good or service analyzed, making it an evaluation marker.
It is said of an evaluation marker, because, as stands Klamer (2003), the allocation
of value in monetary metric to something with subjective content (such as the cultural
good) boots idiosyncrasies of respondents, besides different experiences. For the
author, the values do not inform our actions as economic agents, since it matters the
context in which the processes take place. Klamer (2003) distinguishes these processes
at different levels: valuation as the spontaneous manifestation of value; evaluation
as a conscious reflection on the reasons for the valuation; appreciation as assigning
value and appreciation as the creation, motivation and affirmation of the value. In other
words, besides the difficulty of persons passing the values for economic measures3 ,
if there is the construction of some economic measure, there is an implicit degree
of subjectivity in these evaluation levels that eventually describe group principles
(sample) who expressed their preferences.
In the literature of cultural goods evaluation, the approaches vary between the
maximum willingness to make donations to museums (Santagata and Signorello 2000)
or the willingness to pay tickets (Lara and Prieto 2006; Bedate et al 2009) or on the
effects of a free admission day on the revenues of the equipment (Steiner 1997). One
of the first studies conducted in Brazil with this theme refers to the evaluation of
willingness to pay of the Brazilian population forward recovery projects of historic
centers in twenty cities, inserted into the Monumenta-BID program, in 1998 (Borger
and Belluzzo 2009; Tafner et al 2003).
In many cases, this method incurs biases such as the warm glow - all respondents
tend to positively evaluate the meritorious goods, since it does not involve expenditure
for them; embedding effect the respondents treat, without differentiating for costbenefit, the investment in one or more equipment as something unique or use the
3 Moreover, Throsby (2001) argues that the allocation of economic value to cultural good has particular
characteristics, since, in most cases, people do not fully know the object or cultural process into account and
some features of this cannot be expressed in terms of preferences and/or measurable in numerical scale or
monetary (Throsby 2001). For these reasons, it is possible that the same individual orders a cultural public
good on a scale in terms of cultural value, but orders it differently in terms of willingness to pay - WTP.
Factors associated with evaluation of public goods: the case of Circuito Liberdade (CL)
5
strategy to report that they would pay nothing as a form of protest Diamond and
Hausman (1994).
To minimize these effects, in a context of expansion of the use of the technique to
value different goods and services, it has been pursued the adoption of good practices
(Ardila et al 1998). Among these procedures should be mentioned the use of focus
meetings with user groups, aiming to identify possible values of willingness to pay
of a sample of representatives of the populations studied; pilot surveys to test the
survey forms, the scenario built on the good or service to be evaluated, as well as the
elaboration of the question of the willingness to pay and the response to the proposed
values. The obtained results are used for planning the final research and can also be
used to estimate the sample size4 .
In summary, despite being a controversial method of allocating values to public
goods, contingent valuation is an economic tool that contributes to the formulation of
public policies. And, as well remembers Klamer (2003), it is related to a context and
a specific sample, without the possibility to be transposed for other experiments and
even representative of the population as a whole. The case of this study supports the
argument of Klamer (2003).
3 Methodology
The formulation of the questions to respondents to determine their willingness
to pay refers to hypothetical situations and to formulate them there are three main
approaches: open questions about monetary value (open-ended); card list of preestablished values (payment card) and the referendum method, such as a vote with yes
or no answer (dichotomous choice).
In this research about the economic valuation of CL, it was decided to use the
contingent valuation (CV) method, following the best practices, initiating the analysis
from a pilot study. In this sense, to approach the value of willingness to pay, it was
decided to prepare a questionnaire to use it in a sample of visitors and passersby,
whose questions used the open-ended technique, providing a reference value for the
respondent. The questions formulated were:
The spending per taxpayer in the state of Minas Gerais with the CL is around R$ 10
per year. Therefore, what is the maximum amount of your own contribution would you
be willing to direct to maintain the CL?
R$ ......................
[ ] Do not know
If you were to set a value for a passport that would allow entry to Circuito spaces for
a week, what value would you judge appropriate?
R$ ......................
[ ] Do not know
In addition to these open questions, it was asked to the respondent if he thought
that the public investment in cultural activities in the state of Minas Gerais was very
4 On
224).
the use of the pilot survey results to help determine the sample, see Mitchell and Carson (1989, p.
6
Machado et al.
high, sufficient, low or he could not say something about it and also for what reasons
the CL should be valued: for its existence; leisure option; transmission of knowledge;
for generating employment and income; attracting tourists; creating distinctive to Belo
Horizonte in the national and international cultural context; none of these reasons or
could not say. In this case, the respondent could mark more than one answer. These
two questions were included to endorse (or not) the information about the values
of willingness to pay. Yet, in the same line of good practice in CV, were made also
questions about cultural habits, because, normally, the public of these spaces and
cultural goods consumers are the ones who actually perform the expenditure and hold
more information on the production context and cultural fruition.
The definition of the size of the sample of interviewed visitors and non visitors
considered the monthly average of spontaneous visits CL (459202/12 = 38267). At
this average was applied the percentage of 0.25%. This percentage is the proportion
of individuals interviewed by the national survey Pesquisa Nacional de Amostra por
Domicı́lio (PNAD/IBGE), with sample representativeness of the population, at the
level of the Federation Units and Metropolitan Areas. The appeal of this calculation
reached 95 interviews. This would be the minimum limit. The maximum, 220, was
given by the fact that it seeks to include non visitors, as it presents a pilot project and
the ease of finding the two profiles of individuals surrounding the square Praça da
Liberdade, where are located the cultural spaces analyzed.
Table 1 Number of visitors per month and in 2013 - CL spaces*
Sector
Grand total
Total education
Total spontaneous
Total events
Total visitation
Total virtual
Visit. 2010-2013
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Total
52650
1754
39965
12847
52812
87551
31836
1771
25589
5086
30675
73708
48053
8330
33105
7130
40235
105078
55538
10788
38716
6717
45433
107816
58540
9431
40725
9812
50537
98632
46350
7224
32270
7492
39762
89083
62162
5695
47821
10416
58237
84844
65923
10061
43616
14350
57966
88844
104475
22930
39480
41924
81404
107935
95398
9047
39734
47635
87369
168788
109819
9081
38503
60407
98910
159919
69474
2341
39678
35128
74806
32100
800218
98453
459202
258944
718146
1204298
2538651
-
* Biblioteca Pública Luı́s de Bessa, Arquivo Público Mineiro, Palácio da Liberdade, Museu Mineiro, Centro de Arte Popular, Museu das Minas e do Metal, Museu
Minas Gerais Vale, Espaço Tim UFMG do Conhecimento, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Inhotim Escola, Rainha da Sucata.
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
The interviews were conducted in three weeks, during Thursdays, Saturdays
and Sundays. 154 interviews with spontaneous visitors and 59 with passersby were
conducted.
4 Profile of respondents
This section presents some measured characteristics of respondents. Table 2 summarizes the socioeconomic profile of visitors and non visitors. Among the visitors, the
distribution by sex does not reflect the empirical evidence on consumption and fruition
of culture. Ateca-Amestoy (2008); Diniz and Machado (2011) show that women have
Factors associated with evaluation of public goods: the case of Circuito Liberdade (CL)
7
in the culture an important space for socialization and, for this reason, there is a higher
prevalence of females in the demand for cultural goods and services. The results of
this study did not show this distinction, since the percentage of women is slightly
higher than men.
Respondents, whether visitors or not, are concentrated in the younger age groups,
16-25 years and 26-35 years old. Given that 40.8% of the visitors are in the range of
16-25 years and among non visitors, the ratio is about 30%, it can be said that, in this
regard, the results will against what is proposed in the literature. That is, as young
people have more time for leisure, they tend to consume more culture (Ateca-Amestoy
2008; Borgonovi 2004; Ringstad and Løyland 2006).
Table 2 Socioeconomic characteristics of respondents (%)
Non visitors
Visitors
By sex
Male
Female
52,54
47,46
47,44
52,56
By age group
Up to 15 years
16-25 years
26-35 years
36-45 years
46-55 years
56-65 years
Over 65 years
Did not answer
1,69
30,51
30,51
11,86
11,86
10,17
1,69
1,69
3,18
40,76
26,11
7,64
11,46
4,46
5,10
1,27
By education
No schooling
Incomplete Primary Education
Complete Primary Education
Incomplete High School
Complete High School
Incomplete Undergraduate
Complete Undergraduate
Graduate
0,00
10,17
13,56
15,25
32,20
13,56
5,08
10,17
0,64
1,27
1,27
8,28
18,47
29,94
22,93
17,20
By monthly household income range
Up to 720
0,00
More than 720 to 1.200
18,64
More than 1.200 to 2.000
30,51
More than 2.000 to 4.000
16,95
More than 4.000 to 6.000
10,17
More than 6.000 to 8.000
1,69
More than 8.000 to 10.000
3,39
Over 10.000
8,47
Could not answer
10,17
1,27
7,64
10,19
19,11
16,56
7,01
7,01
8,92
22,29
By place of residence
Belo Horizonte
Other locations
75,80
24,20
67,80
32,20
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
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Machado et al.
Another result that confirms the national and international empirical evidences is
on the composition by education. There are, among the visitors, a higher proportion of
individuals with incomplete undergraduate, undergraduate and graduate than among
those who do not attend the CL. In the case of this latter group, the prevalence is from
high school graduates. The same applies to the declared household income. Visitors are
in greater proportion in the right tail of the distribution when compared to non-visitors,
what is expected, due to the concentration of cultural spending in families with higher
education and the close relationship between education and income levels in Brazil
(Diniz and Machado 2011). Among the respondents, about 76% live in the city of
Belo Horizonte, 13% come from other municipalities in the metropolitan region, 5%
from other states - Sergipe (2), São Paulo (2), Rio de Janeiro (2) Rio Grande do Sul
(1), Goiás (1) - 4% of the state and 2% from other countries, one from Peru, one from
Spain and one from France. The CL and its surroundings are, therefore, circulation
area from the residents in the municipality.
Among the visitors, 56 of 157 (35%) were visiting the CL for the first time when
interview and 48 (30%) were not accompanied during the visit. The main sources of
information about the existence of CL were friends and the curiosity when passing in
front of the spaces. This result suggests that advertising through the media is not as
effective, except for the internet, as shown in Figure 2.
Fig. 2 Main source of information about the existence of CL
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
The relation of visits with cultural habits was captured by a set of questions on
the reading habits and frequency to cultural events and equipments5 . Here, the aim is
to identify the presence of behavior that Stigler and Becker (1977) associate as the
5 Despite the importance of popular art manifestations in the context of Brazilian cultural production, it
was chosen here for the definition of cultural habits used in literature on determinants of consumption and
production and that emphasizes on commercial bases, both in the cultural industries as in performing arts.
Factors associated with evaluation of public goods: the case of Circuito Liberdade (CL)
9
“positive addiction”, in other words, the relationship between the present consumption
of culture and previous exposure or past consumption levels.
Table 3 shows the number of respondents who reported reading habit, according to
the format. Spontaneous visitors tend to read more books, both in print format (82%)
as e-books (29%) and to use the internet (69%) than non visitors passersby. For other
formats there is not significant distinction.
Table 3 Number of respondents who reported habit of reading, according to the format
Newspaper
Magazine
Book
Internet
E-book
Others
Total respondents
Non visitors
Visitors
49,15%
45,86%
40,68%
43,31%
49,15%
82,17%
50,85%
69,43%
6,78%
29,30%
6,78%
2,55%
59
157
Total
37,50%
42,59%
73,15%
64,35%
23,15%
3,70%
216
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
The CL visitors are more frequent in cinemas, theaters and dance performances
than the passersby. Almost the double of visitors interviewed relative to non visitors
- goes to the movies and the theater, at least, five times a year. In the other cultural
activities they are also more frequent, but in minor proportion (Table 4).
Table 4 Number of respondents who reported attending spaces/cultural activities more than 5 times a year
Cinema
Theather
Concert
Show
Dance
Total respondents
Non visitor
Visitors
35,59%
61,15%
11,86%
21,66%
8,47%
10,83%
22,03%
31,21%
6,78%
17,20%
59
157
Total
54,17%
18,98%
10,19%
28,70%
14,35%
216
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
A Cultural Habits Index (CHI) was built by Principal Component Analysis (PCA)
method and based on the number of books read and on the attendance to cinemas, theaters, concerts, shows and dance performances last year. The first component explained
39.9% of the variability in the set of information. Following the recommendations of
the references in the PCA methodology, it was used in this study the Component 1, as
it presented eigenvector greater than one (Table 5), and also because of the graphic
evidence scree plot.
10
Machado et al.
Table 5 PCA Results
Component
Eigenvalue
Difference
Proportion
Cumulative
1
2
3
4
5
6
2,3939
0,9510
0,8799
0,7713
0,5674
0,4364
1,4429
0,0712
0,1086
0,2039
0,1310
.
0,3990
0,1585
0,1466
0,1286
0,0946
0,0727
0,3990
0,5575
0,7041
0,8327
0,9273
1,0000
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
Thus, the weights of this first component were applied to calculate the indicator
which is shown in Table 6 in standardized form6 . The median and average indicator of
cultural habits for visitors (0.54 and 0.53 respectively) are higher than those of non
visitors (0.38 and 0.37). This tendency occurs throughout all the distribution, what
suggests that indeed visitors have a more characteristic profile of culture consumers.
Table 6 Distribution of Cultural Habits Index (CHI)
Non Visitors
Visitors
Obs.
Mean
Standard deviation
59
157
0,38
0,54
0,20
0,19
25%
0,26
0,41
Percentiles
50%
75%
0,37
0,53
0,46
0,67
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
The CHI’s values are higher among the visitors to practically all household income
ranges. Among the visitors, the highest average index (0.69) is observed for the
household monthly income range of R$ 6000 to R$ 8000. In the group of non-visitors,
the highest average (0.54) is in the range that goes from R$ 8000 to R$ 10000. The
relationship between income and CHI is not monotonic positive or negative for any
group, that is, one cannot, from the sample obtained, establish relationships between
income and cultural habits.
However, regarding the level of education, the highest CHI found among the
visitors (0.66 and 0.72 respectively) refers to respondents with incomplete and complete primary school. Such values may suggest a relationship with the educational
practices at school (reading novels, poetry as required reading, for example). Among
non-visitors, the highest CHI is in the graduate and postgraduate level (0.55 and 0.51
respectively). More precise information can be found in Figure 3.
Thus, it is understood that, from the information obtained in field survey, the CL
visitor has a cultural consumer profile in other sectors, such as literary arts, visual and
performing arts. The education and income levels have relation with the visit, although
it cannot establish valid conclusions about the CHI relationship with these variables.
6 The indicator values were normalized in order to vary between 0 and 1. The closer to 1, the higher the
habit of reading and attendance in cultural areas.
Factors associated with evaluation of public goods: the case of Circuito Liberdade (CL)
11
Fig. 3 Relationship between CHI and level of income and education
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
The CL caused “great satisfaction” in the visit to 59% of respondents, while
29% were satisfied and 7% did not know (Figure 4). Observing the evaluation of the
Circuito according to the CHI, there is a positive relationship between this indicator
and the satisfaction with the visit, namely, the cultural habit is more prevalent among
those who say they are “satisfied” and “very satisfied” (Table 7).
Fig. 4 CL evaluation by visitors
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
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Machado et al.
Table 7 Cultural Habits Index according to the evaluation of CL by visitors
Average CHI
Standard deviation
Frequency
Unsatisfied
Little satisfied
Satisfied
Very satisfied
Did not answer
0,30
0,49
0,50
0,57
0,56
0,00
0,12
0,18
0,19
0,16
1
7
46
92
11
Total
0,54
0,19
157
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
In Table 8 are arranged information on the number of visitors who were in each of
the Circuito spaces and the average score given to the space, on a scale of 1 to 5. The
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB) is the most visited followed by Biblioteca
Estadual Luiz de Bessa. The highest rating is assigned to CCBB (4.75) and the lowest
- though high - is given to the Centro de Arte Popular Cemig (4.12).
Table 8 Number of visitors and average rating of each of the spaces
Visitors
Visitors average rating
Arquivo Público
Biblioteca Pública
Arte Popular
CCBB
Espaço do Conhecimento
9
4,33
34
4,55
8
4,12
81
4,75
28
4,57
-
Visitantes
Visitors average rating
Memorial MG
Minas Metal
Museu Mineiro
Palácio Liberdade
Praça Liberdade
Casa FIAT
37
4,70
29
4,5
11
4,27
17
4,58
15
4,66
29
4,66
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
Even knowing that the ticket is free in all space, a contingent market was simulated
asking, from the knowledge of the Circuito, which value the respondents would be
willing to pay for the acquisition of a passport that would ensure them entry into
the spaces during a week. This question sought to identify the valuation of CL by
respondents from the economic point of view and, then, compare it to the valuation in
cultural terms.
The results reported in Table 9 show that non visitors would pay an average
entrance value (AVP), R$ 34.96, higher than the other groups, suggesting the presence
of a bias such as warm glow. Noteworthy, is also the fact that many visitors (33)
responded that they would not pay to enter in CL. The “protest zero” may be the result
of knowing about the nature of public good from CL, the understanding that many of
the spaces are kept by the incentive laws for culture, as well as understanding that they
are rewards from companies whose activities generate negative externalities in the
environment. The contradiction front of the positive evaluation of visitors indicates
Factors associated with evaluation of public goods: the case of Circuito Liberdade (CL)
13
that the zero value declared does not happen because of indifference or dissatisfaction
with the Circuito.
Table 9 Number of respondents according to willingness to pay ranges and average value of the passport
0
>0-10
>10-50
>50-100
>100
NR*
Total
AVP
Non visitors
Visitors
7
33
11
36
20
54
4
5
3
3
14
26
59
157
34,96
22,62
Total
40
47
74
9
6
40
216
25,77
* Did not answer or did not know.
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
It is noted that the average CHI is low among non visitors with WTP over R$
100, what corroborates the evidence of warm glow of a particular group (Figure 5).
Among the visitors, there seems not to be a relation between the average CHI and
WTP, suggesting that for this group, the WTP is defined by other reasons that not
the cultural habit. It is noted also that, in the modal range, the average CHI values of
visitors and no visitors are quite close.
Fig. 5 Average CHI and willingness to pay ranges
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
Table 10 shows the relationship between the WTP and the income of the respondents. Other factors seem to interfere with the willingness to pay of the respondents;
as it is a measure that seeks to establish considerations about the “value sense” of
respondents, it can be suggested that income has no direct relationship with this value.
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Machado et al.
Table 10 Relationship between average WTP and household income of respondents
Monthly household income (R$)
Obs. (non visitors)
Average WTP (non visitors)
Obs. (visitors)
Average WTP (visitors)
Up to R$ 720,00
R$ 720 to 1.200,00
R$ 1.200 to 2.000,00
R$ 2.000 to 4.000,00
R$ 4.000 to 6.000,00
R$ 6.000 to 8.000,00
R$ 8.000 to 10.000,00
Over R$10.000,00
Could not inform
0
8
13
9
5
1
1
3
5
23,13
16,54
33,33
24,60
50,00
150,00
55,00
77,00
2
11
14
24
21
9
9
13
28
35,36
55,95
23,20
23,47
43,48
7,14
30,73
55,16
17,85
Total
45
34,96
131
34,18
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
The given economic value (price of the passport) is combined with the satisfaction
and valuation reasons of the Circuito in Table 11 and Figure 6. From Table 11 it
is apprehended, as expected, that the willingness to pay is directly related to the
satisfaction with the visit. Even those “little satisfied” are willing to pay some amount
for the passport, what suggests the presence of the dimensions of use value identified
by Bille and Schulze (2008). Note that the “protest zero” occurs even among those
who say they are “satisfied” and “very satisfied” with the visit.
Table 11 Number of visitors according to willingness to pay ranges and evaluation of CL
R$0
R$0 to 10
R$10 to 50
R$50 to 100
Over R$100
NR*
Total
Mean
Unsatisfied
Little satisfied
Satisfied
Very satisfied
NR*
1
3
9
17
3
0
1
13
19
3
0
2
16
33
3
0
0
1
4
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
1
6
18
1
1
7
46
92
11
0,00
10,00
23,05
22,58
31,00
Total
33
36
54
5
3
26
157
22,62
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
Knowledge generation and leisure promotion are the reasons for appreciation of
CL most mentioned among visitors who are willing to pay higher values for visiting
the Circuito. The attraction of tourists is the third reason listed. These results suggest
that the value of existence, option, prestige and heritage are important components
for the definition of WTP. The economic impact by creating jobs is also mentioned.
Among non visitors, the largest WTP values are associated with those who value the
role of distinction and of attracting tourists from the Circuito (Figure 6).
Thus, it can be noted that the willingness to pay is related to the equipment
satisfaction level, the level of education and subjective factors attributed to the CL.
Although were found “protest zeros” and warm glow, the results show that the visitors
Factors associated with evaluation of public goods: the case of Circuito Liberdade (CL)
15
Fig. 6 Valuation of reason of the Circuito and WTP
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
and non visitor understand the Circuito as important equipment for the city of Belo
Horizonte.
5 Final Considerations
Although the field survey has been based on a consistent sample to a pilot project,
the results on the willingness to pay for CL ratify international findings. Moreover, the
application of the contingent valuation method was appropriate for the appreciation of
value of non-market goods and services, such as the CL. In addition to the question
of willingness to pay, other issues of cultural and social values allowed to identify
opportunistic behavior of respondents, but also a correlation between the evaluation of
the spaces and knowledge of those who are public of cultural activities.
Even with the difficulties of implementing the method, which are translated by
Diamond and Hausman (1994) in his critique of the contingent valuation by the
expression “any number is better than none?”, it is still an important tool for defining
public policies in the field of culture. There are two reasons for this statement. First,
in this area, where occur the difference between the cost and the social return, it is
necessary evaluation not only for construction, maintenance and repair of cultural
facilities as well as to validate their existence and use by the population that frequents
and those who do not attend, but also contributes through tax payments. Second, the
respondents, when asked to express their opinion on the object, are encouraged to
reflect on the public heritage of a place and, consequently, this reflection can stimulate
(or not) sense of identity and belonging, key aspects for public education in culture.
Acknowledgements This research was funded by CNPq/Ministério da Cultura through the call n. 80/2013
CNPq/SEC/Ministério da Cultura. The field was authorized by the COEP-UFMG on October 6, 2014.
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Machado et al.
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Appendix
A Principal Component Analysis - Cultural Habits Index
Number of observations: 216 (visitors and non visitors)
Number of components: 6
Component
Eigenvalue
Difference
Proportion
Cumulative
1
2
3
4
5
6
2,3939
0,9510
0,8799
0,7713
0,5674
0,4364
1,4429
0,0712
0,1086
0,2039
0,1310
.
0,3990
0,1585
0,1466
0,1286
0,0946
0,0727
0,3990
0,5575
0,7041
0,8327
0,9273
1,0000
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
Factors associated with evaluation of public goods: the case of Circuito Liberdade (CL)
Variable
Comp. 1
Comp. 2
Comp. 3
Comp. 4
Comp. 5
Comp. 6
N book
cinema
theater
concert
show
dance
0,3765
0,3621
0,5093
0,3530
0,3654
0,4577
0,4258
0,6595
-0,0439
-0,4790
-0,3487
-0,1754
0,4003
-0,2038
-0,0192
0,5883
-0,6689
-0,0662
-0,5400
0,4390
0,3669
0,3517
-0,1091
-0,4955
0,4286
-0,0179
-0,2697
0,2272
0,5327
-0,6387
-0,2036
0,4465
-0,7286
0,3531
0,0420
0,3192
Source: Own elaboration from survey research, 2014.
17