Developing a Framework for Assessing the Socioeconomic Impacts of Museums

Abstract

The role of museums as agents of culture, education and even nationhood is widely recognised. However, the potential for museums to contribute to regeneration processes is also important. Urban development literature has demonstrated the importance of creative capital in economic development processes. Then, evaluating museums in economic terms, covering issues including visitor numbers and resulting tourism consumption, provides only a partial indication of museum ‘value’. This paper reports research undertaken with Amgueddfa Cymru—National Museum Wales to establish the economic impact of museums, but which also developed a conceptual framework to assess other elements of museum contribution. In particular, the paper picks up on research challenges on the need to test critically how far culture can be at the heart of local regeneration. The paper also addresses a challenge from the literature that a wider group of stakeholders might be involved in establishing the ‘value’ of services emanating from museums.