La valutazione economica delle risorse culturali. Un'applicazione della Contingent Valuation
-The case study examines the economic aspects of cultural heritage conservation and deals the valuation of economic value in monetary terms, using the application of the contingent valuation method to the castle of Nicastro (Catanzaro, Italy). For the construction of the hypothetical market and the selection criteria and approach to subjects of the statistic sample, the proposed solutions work with operative adjustments, dictated by the characteristics of the resource in question and in general for all cultural resources. The study has produced reliable answers to questions of willingness to pay, expressing the measure of the different components of the value (use value and existence value) contribute to the composition of the total economic value. The study allowed to verify the possibility of using the contingent valuation as a political tool. The particular question format, which combines ‘double bounded dichotomous choice' and ‘open ended' techniques has allowed us to take a sensitivity analysis, defining the measure of willingness to pay.Key words: evaluation cultural resource, contingent valuation method, willingness to payParole chiave: valutazione, beni culturali, metodo di valutazione contingente, disponibilitŕ a pagare