Abstract
The Jogyesa Buddhist Temple (JBT), located in Seoul, Korea, is the chief temple of the Jogye Order, which represents Korean Buddhism. The Seoul government plans to transform the JBT into a cultural tourism resource and a historical site. This study attempts to analyze the willingness to pay (WTP) for implementing the transformation, which includes building a new shopping arcade for Buddhist culture and tourism, constructing a museum for the teaching of history and an experience center for Korean traditional culture in the precincts of JBT, and making an open space for domestic and/or foreign visitors. To this end, the study looks into the WTP for the implementation, reporting on a contingent valuation (CV) survey that was conducted with 500 Seoul households. The single-bounded dichotomous choice CV model and a spike model were applied to derive the WTP responses and analyze the WTP data with zero observations, respectively. The mean yearly WTP was computed to be KRW 7129 (USD 6.30) per household for the next five years, with the estimate being statistically significant at the 1% level. Expanding the value to the Seoul population gives us KRW 25.4 billion (USD 22.5 million) per year. The present value of the total WTP amounts to KRW 114.6 billion (USD 101.3 million) using a social discount rate of 5.5%. We can conclude that Seoul households are ready to shoulder some of the financial burden of implementing the transformation.
Highlights
Buddhism, a word meaning the doctrine explained by Buddha and the way to become a Buddha, is one of the major religions of the world [1,2]
Jogyesa Buddhist Temple (JBT) is the chief temple of the Jogye Order, which represents Korean Buddhism
The Seoul government asked for quantitative information on the willingness to pay (WTP) for implementing the transformation
Summary
A word meaning the doctrine explained by Buddha and the way to become a Buddha, is one of the major religions of the world [1,2]. Buddhism was first introduced to Korea at the end of the 4th century, in 372, which is about 800 years after the death of the historical Buddha. Shamanism was the indigenous religion in what was Korea. Buddhism became mixed with shamanism in harmony with the rites of nature worship. Korean Buddhism came to have its own features and its roots went deep into the Korean soil. About a quarter of the population of Korea are Buddhists
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