Estudio de valoración contigente de la red de bibliotecas públicas de Chile

Abstract

This study uses the contingent valuation method to estimate part of the social welfare generated by Chile’s national public library system and the relationship between this social benefit and some socioeconomic characteristics of library users. With the exception of Báez and Herrero (2012), this method has never been used in relation to cultural policy in Chile, and indeed it has only rarely been applied to public libraries elsewhere in the world. Among other findings, the study concludes that both users and nonusers are willing to make a monetary contribution to maintaining the library network, while many of those who are unwilling to do so would be willing to volunteer to help run their local libraries.