The Regional Economic Linkages of Monument Protection Projects Funded by the Federal Monuments Office in Austria

This analysis provides an estimate of the regional economic effects associated with the expenditure on monument protection (subsidised by the Federal Monuments Office, the "Bundesdenkmalamt") in Austria. According to the analysis, average annual expenditures of 77 Mio. € (in the period from 2020 to 2022 and including 12 million € of funding from the Federal Monuments Office) were associated with a total added value of around 93 million € in the long run (via direct, indirect and induced effects), providing 1,300 jobs or around 1,100 full-time equivalents. This means that (subsidised) monument protection is not only a cultural but also an economic asset for the Austrian federal states, even if these estimates only relate to demand-induced effects – i.e., those effects that are associated with expenditure on monument protection projects. Further-reaching effects of monument and townscape conservation – for example on the location quality and tourism, not to mention issues of identity and identification – could not be addressed in this paper.