EVALUATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE – FROM THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL PRECAUTIONS TO PRAGMATIC APPROACHES

“Cultural heritage” defines something inherited from the past that has a certain cultural significance. The closeness between economists and heritage valuation experts is relatively recent and is due both to comprehending, by the last, that resources are limited and costly, and to economists contribution regarding evaluation means and methods that can be adapted to this field. The aim of this paper is to make a short journey into the conceptual framework of heritage notion, studying the different faces of “value” and the way in which it can be incorporated in public heritage decision-making process. The doctrinaire and methodological classifications are a necessary condition for the success of evaluation methods, including analysis of results. Thus, the objective of our study is to synthesize the theoretical and practical approaches of cultural heritage evaluation, considered crucial in management decisions with respect to this area.