Urban and rural preferences for cultural policies and infrastructures

The preferences for cultural policies, and for local and regional cultural infrastructure (such as theatres, museums) are studied within a framework of stated preferences. The agreement to cultural policy statements is not substantially different between urban or rural areas. Most of the respondents expressed a general willingness to contribute to a (hypothetical) regional cultural fund to support thelocal cultural infrastructure. Their annual per-capita willingness-to-pay (WTP) amounts to about €29 to maintain the quality that exists already, and €27 for a 10-percent increase in regard to the quality and quantity of cultural events. Given the Austrian municipalities' annual per-capita expenditures of approximately €90 for the local cultural infrastructure, the WTP of the respondents is substantial. The determinants of the WTP include socio-economic attributes, as well as cultural policy preferences. The differences between urban and rural populations are not to be found, but personal experiences with cultural events (cultural participation and childhood experiences) are the main determinants of the higher willingness-to-pay.