Demonstrating the Value of the Public Library: Economic Valuation and the Advocacy Imperative

Promising developments in the field of library valuation over the last fifteen years are providing new options for demonstrating library value. Metrics-gathering has moved away from counting inputs and outputs toward measuring the value of the public library in monetary terms using increasingly sophisticated quantitative methods formerly reserved for business and industry. While it is premature to draw a firm conclusion as to the impact of economic valuation efforts on the success of library advocacy, the adoption of private sector concepts represents a new window of opportunity for library advocates. This critical review synthesizes the library valuation literature, exploring the various frameworks through which library value is being articulated, and finds that econometrics will be most useful to advocates when: 1) library valuation efforts are united with advocacy plans; 2) library services are linked to the achievement of public policy goals; and 3) public libraries are able to connect to a wider funding base

Social desirability bias in the environmental economic valuation: An inferred valuation approach

Environmental economic valuation allows to derive values from individuals’ behaviour in hypothetical markets, but it is not exempt from certain biases. this work aims to evidence the existence of social desirability bias (sdb) in the use of the stated preference method for environmental valuation. sdb is due to the consideration that, when interviewed, people provide responses to match the interviewer’s expectations or to be consistent with social norms. the inferred valuation approach (iva) was used to identify and quantify the social desirability bias in a choice experiment survey conducted to estimate the benefit of protecting a coastal natura 2000 site. the results revealed the existence of a sdb that increases by 2.8-fold the benefits of the valued environmental assets. it is also found greater differences between use and non-use values when the iva is used.This work was carried out under the project AGRISERVI funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) [AGL2015-64411-R (MINECO/FEDER, UE)], and the 20912/PI/18 project (Fundación Séneca-Agencia de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Región de Murcia). Useful comments provided by Faustino Martínez, Ramón Ballester and Juana Guirao from OISMA are gratefully acknowledge

The Value of Online Resources to North Carolina Public Library Patrons

As public libraries balance the increasing demand for online resources with budgetary constraints, information about the value of online resources to patrons will help library administrators prioritize their efforts. Many researchers have studied the value of public libraries more generally, but this study estimates the value of library-provided online resources through an evaluation of library patrons' willingness to pay. Results indicate limited relationships between respondent-specific variables and patron willingness to pay, but several library-specific variables were found to be significantly related to patron willingness to pay. A discussion of these results and recommendations for applying this research to public library administration are included in this paper

Rationality Concepts in Environmental Valuation

Survey based valuation techniques like the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) rely particularly on the premise of respondents’ rationality when answering willingness to pay (WTP) questions. Results of CVM surveys have repeatedly put this fundamental assumption into question. This study adopts a more realistic view of rationality accounting for respondents’ limited capacities to process information. Based on cognitive psychology a technique to detect and analyze the bounds of rationality inherent in WTP statements is developed. Using an empirical example, the influence of bounded rationality on the validity of CVM results is analyzed. It is shown that individual differences in information processing play a major role. From these results recommendations for future survey design are developed

AN APPROACH TOWARDS HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS

This thesis uses the case study of the Fallas festival in the city of Valencia (Spain), to assess the value of intangible cultural heritage. Within this framework the thesis explores a number of different issues: for example how social agents frame different qualities and benefits of cultural heritage in order to describe the value and claims for funding the arts. It finds that value assessment for claiming funds presents many challenges such as: identifying the values of the heritage in question; describing them; and ranking them according to their contribution to the public welfare. It examines the methodological techniques for assessing heritage values and goes on to discuss a number of tools that are, or could be, used for assessment. The thesis also explores how public bodies legitimise cultural funding. It examines the role of non-government arts organisations in supporting the arts. It proposes the analysis of donor decisions through a multi-attribute technique where donors state their importance to donor situations under specific conditions or attributes. Finally, it describes how the stakeholder approach can be applied for searching new ways of funding festivals. It also considers how intangible cultural heritage goods can be assessed within the process of cost-benefit evaluation. It also analyses how public bodies, as the principal supporters of culture, deal with the problem of valuing intangibles on social investments. The study uses the Fallas festival to test the research hypothesis. It uses a number of economic and statistical techniques to evaluate the Fallas Festival, these include Contingent Valuation, Choice Experiment and Descriptive and Multiatribute Statistics. The statistical techniques reveal that historical benefits are intrinsically valuable in the Fallas festival. The historical value that the members of the neighbourhood associations place on the Fallas festival justify that local social agents should support this festival.Sánchez Royo, B. (2011). AN APPROACH TOWARDS HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/12269Palanci

Der Return-on-Investment zur strategischen Steuerung am Beispiel der Universitäts- und Stadtbibliothek Köln

Diplomarbeit im Fach Controllin