Bequest value, in economics, is the value of satisfaction from preserving a natural environment or a historic environment, in other words natural heritage or cultural heritage for future generations.Greenley, Douglas A., et al., Option Value: Empirical Evidence From a Case Study of Recreation and Water Quality, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 96, No. 4. (Nov., 1981), pp. 657-673.
It is often used when estimating the value of an environmental service or good. Together with the existence value, it makes up the non-use value of such an environmental service or good. In some optimization treatments, this value is also called the "salvage value" of the system.
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