Enrico Bertacchini

• Ph.D.
• Associate Professor at University of Turin

Local development in peripheral areas is a central topic at the European level. Promoting local tangible and intangible cultural resources to sustain regional growth through tourism is frequently considered a successful strategy for depopulated and less developed territories. A “culture-led” approach to local development is combined with a “tourism...

Industrial heritage has in recent years become an important component in land use and urban development policies. Yet, assessing the economic value associated with the preservation and reuse of industrial complexes remains an open question. In this paper, we apply a discrete choice experiment (DCE) method to assess the economic valuation of the Bao...

From the ashes of the creative city paradigm, there is a growing awareness of the urban creative economy as an adaptive complex system of intertwined actors and institutions. Yet, especially in the European context, little attention has been given to understanding informal and alternative art spaces and venues that contribute to the vibrancy of the...

The paper aims to explore the drivers of immigrants’ participation to cultural and leisure activities in host countries. First, we discuss how the main analytical approaches on cultural participation can be extended to incorporate factors specific to migrants’ characteristics and behaviour, namely cultural traits or proximity to the native populati...

This paper uses panel data on over 200 regions of Europe during the years 2010–2015 to study the relationship between the quality of institutions and the capacity of local authorities and stakeholders to effectively protect and support cultural heritage, using new designations in the UNESCO World Heritage List as a proxy. Besides analyzing the spat...

Cultural heritage sites generate multiple streams of value to stakeholder groups whose interests and objectives frequently diverge. Contention over the conservation and appropriation of the values generated by heritage sites—whether economic returns, contributions to social or political cohesion, or sacred or other personal values associated with s...

Digital transformation has deeply influenced how innovation can rise in the production, distribution and consumption of cultural products. Although data-driven innovation has been proved effective in creating value across many business functions, the pace of adoption of strong data ecosystems seems slower for Arts and Cultural Organizations (ACOs)....

We present a model where museum commitment to immigrant integration is conditioned by the possible negative reactions of native visitors and patrons. We then exploit the rich information provided by the 2015 Italian museum census to investigate the factors associated with a higher probability of museums developing promotion programs targeting an im...

This chapter aims at providing an economic perspective to the challenges characterizing integrated conservation and management approaches to urban heritage. Drawing from the cultural economist’s toolkit, this contribution introduces the notion of heritage commons to extend and critically re-examine two established notions that have been often used...

While economic valuation of cultural goods has expanded as a field of inquiry, few studies have so far focused on urban cultural heritage of African cities, places generally characterised by development pressure but also growing tourism potential. In this paper, we apply Contingent Valuation (CV) method to estimate the economic benefits arising fro...

Although cultural tourism has generated extensive literature, it has often overlooked proximity tourism practices and the determinants of visits to near-home cultural amenities, often located in rural destinations with lower market appeal. This article investigates visiting behaviors and characteristics of intra-regional flows from urban settings t...

This article provides an empirical investigation of the effects of the ownership and organizational structure on the performance of cultural institutions. More specifically, we consider how museums are effective in their function of disseminating culture to audiences and contributing to the local development. By exploiting a unique data set based o...

Museums must adapt to the increasingly massive use of the Internet, and use it to reach new audiences and find new ways of enhancing culture, or consolidate the relationship with their existing public. Therefore, defining an online strategy that conforms to the museum's mission may prove difficult. One of the challenges cultural organisations face...

The purpose of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention is to protect the global merit good of cultural and natural heritage of outstanding universal value for humanity. Many observers, however, have suggested that this international organization is subject to politicization as the selection process of sites on the World Heritage List is increasingly d...

The aim of the special issue is to address the changing paradigm that the economic analysis of cultural production and heritage preservation has undergone in the last decade, with a particular emphasis on the cultural economic perspective. New emphasis on the role of creativity in society, the spread of the digital revolution and the reconsideratio...

This article analyzes whether emerging nations are extending their influence across the UNESCO World Heritage Committee and, if so, how this affects decision-making processes concerning the inscription of sites on the World Heritage List. We use both quantitative and qualitative approaches to identify patterns in decision-making processes regarding...

Why have deliberations over World Heritage sites become such a volatile arena for the performance of international tensions, new political alliances and challenges to global cooperation? Across UN platforms, the failures of multilateralism are increasingly evident. We suggest that decision-making within the World Heritage Committee is no different...

Centri e pratiche indipendenti come nuovi soggetti economici e di innovazione culturale nelle città. Un altro modo di produrre cultura secondo originali metodologie potenzialmente virtuose, che partono «dal basso» e – in larga parte – dall'iniziativa giovanile autorganizzata, determinando un inedito modo di abitare la città. Analizzarli ci ha perme...

Centri e pratiche indipendenti come nuovi soggetti economici e di innovazione culturale nelle città. Un altro modo di produrre cultura secondo originali metodologie potenzialmente virtuose, che partono «dal basso» e – in larga parte – dall'iniziativa giovanile autorganizzata, determinando un inedito modo di abitare la città. Analizzarli ci ha perme...

This article addresses the evolution of modes of public support of cultural production by discussing and analysing the emerging phenomenon of outsourcing of public cultural services taking place in Continental Europe, especially Italy. We argue that in this context, which is traditionally characterised by the public production of cultural services,...

The notions of commons, anticommons, and semicommons are presented here to highlight their connections concerning how forms of ownership beyond the classical boundaries of private property affect the management of resources. While the three concepts have been presented as expressing specific dilemmas for the management of the resources or distinct...

Cultural policy often implies the transfer of public resources to cultural institutions. In this contribution we focus on the determinants of a government’s choice between subsidies to external cultural organizations and in-house cultural production. We argue that the determinants of grants in the cultural field may be the same as those of outsourc...

R.V.) 2 Bioversity International, Regional Office for the Americas, c/o CIAT, Abstract: There is growing recognition that sustainable intensification of agricultural production systems and their successful adaptation to changes in climate will depend upon the improved access to, and use of, genetic diversity. This paper analyzes how the collection,...

In this paper we provide a critical assessment on how agent based models (ABMs) may improve and extend the traditional theoretical approaches on the origin and evolution of property rights, namely the economics of property rights and the evolutionary game models on contest behavior. We contend that ABMs, through their focus on adaptive complex syst...

This compelling book offers a fresh and novel approach to study cultural and artistic expression from the perspective of 'the commons'. It demonstrates how identifying cultures as shared resources is useful in eliciting the main factors and social dilemmas affecting the production and evolution of cultural expression. © Enrico Bertacchini, Giangiac...

In this paper, we contend that multiplayer online games and virtual worlds may be considered as cultural commons. Because of the interacting activity of users, multiplayer online game are characterized by several patterns of cultural production and consumption, which continuously redefine and shape the virtual world and entertaining experience. Use...

"The concept of the commons as a shared resource capable of yielding collective benefits to people is a well-established one in the social sciences, but its extension to jointly-owned cultural resources is relatively new. This pioneering book explores the idea of a cultural commons as it can be applied in a wide range of areas, including landscapes...

to the coming into force of the FAO treaty, the law was substituted by Regional Law 64/2004 'The protection and enhancement of local breeds and varieties of interest to agriculture, husbandry and forestry'. 2 Regional Law 15/2000 'The protection of autochthonous genetic resources of interest to agriculture'. Abstract: This article analyses the cons...

The paper addresses imbalances affecting world heritage sites in terms of how well conserved they are and what resources are available for their valorisation. We propose a policy mechanism of global governance divided into three steps. The first is a tax mechanism based on collecting resources from tourist activities and redistributing these resour...

The aim of this paper is to analyze patterns of private individual giving to cultural heritage institutions in Italy. Based on the emerging economic literature on prosocial behavior, we carried out a survey to assess individuals’ willingness to donate to museums and heritage organizations according to different conditions and set of incentives. Our...

The paper explores the determinants influencing the nomination and selection of sites in the World Heritage List. Using country panel data and a unique dataset with individual site nominations, we provide evidence that the nomination of heritage sites in the List depends on institutional and economic conditions of countries and that sites selection...

This edited volume attempts to provide a comprehensive definition of transnational communities and to explore their role in the governance of transnational businesses and economic activities. The 13 case studies presented cover a wide range of phenomena, drawing from various strands of literature on transnational migration, international activism a...

The aim of this paper is to analyze how technological innovation is reshaping the role and mission of museums as producers and distributors digital images of cultural collections. Based on a collection of case studies the authors identify the main shifting or emerging patterns in models for access and use to digital cultural collections due to chan...

Through employment and firms data we analyze the evolving structure of the Italian cultural economy and highlight diverging spatial and organizational patterns of cultural production systems in urban and regional areas. Whilst large metropolitan areas remain the most important loci of the creative economy, craft-based sectors and creative sys- tems...

The aim of this paper is to analyse patterns of private individual giving to Cultural Heritage institutions in Italy. Based on the emerging economic literature on pro-social behavior, we carried out a Contingent Valuation survey to assess individuals’ willingness to donate to museums and heritage organizations according to different conditions and...

A semicommons regime exists when the efficient use of a resource requires the co-existence of both common and private uses. In a seminal article, Henry Smith examined the system of semicommons property in regard to medieval open fields. In such a system, peasants shared common land for collective grazing, but used privately owned scattered strips f...

Digital technology has made culture more accessible than ever before. Texts, audio, pictures and video can easily be produced, disseminated, used and remixed using devices that are increasingly user-friendly and affordable. However, along with this technological democratization comes a paradoxical flipside: the norms regulating culture's use —copyr...

This report focuses on sustainable use of plant genetic resources in Italy. It aims at analysing a number of case studies, ranging from the institutions to the civil society, falling within the framework of article 6 of the International Treaty on Plant GeneticResources for Food and Agriculture....

"An e-book wrote by 18 authors from 13 countries, sharing their views on the main characteristics of a creative city, the role played by tourism, the required governance and other related questions. Volunteering work of all authors and the two editors."

This paper explores the realization of farmers' rights in order to reward farming communities for their contribution in conserving and developing crop genetic resources. Current proposals to realize farmers' rights follow both Coasean and Pigouvian approaches, which try to solve the public good dilemma generated by traditional farmers in supplying...

The paper applies the framework of semicommon property arrangement to analyze the effects of the expansion of property rights in the development, exchange and conservation of crop genetic resources.With the rise of biotechnology in plant breeding and the threat of genetic erosion in agro-biodiversity rich areas, strong intellectual property rights...

The paper presents a comparative analysis of the peculiar institutions of two retail markets: the middle-eastern Bazaar and the western Mall. We study the informational functions of the different markets using an Agent Based Computational Economics model under the assumption of behavioral learning by agents. Agents behave within the specific market...

The paper presents a comparative analysis of the peculiar institutional features of two retail markets: the middle eastern Bazaar and the western Mall (shopping center). We study the informational functions and performance of the different market institutions using an Agent Based Computational Economics (ACE) model under the assumption of behaviora...