Numerous studies have borne out the effects of cultural and music education on individuals’ well-being, considering music as a mainly systematic practice or skill or as established educational supply. However, few studies assess the impact of music programmes designed to achieve specific goals, where music is considered as a tool for social change. As a case study, we take the Medellin Music School Network (Colombia), whose education programme for music initiation has been running for 23 years. Our aim is to evaluate the economic and social impact generated by participating in this programme. We use a quasi-experimental propensity score matching technique as the evaluation method. Results show that the programme significantly reduces the probability of participants’ becoming involved in conflict, added to which they perceive a better quality of life. Students achieve better academic performance and intensify cultural consumption and participation in artistic activities. Institutional efficacy is reflected through beneficiaries expressing a positive and significant willingness to pay in order to maintain the programme. The work also aims to evidence the usefulness of the methodology for evaluating the impact of cultural policies, particularly in developing areas.

中文翻译：

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音乐能抚慰心灵吗？评估哥伦比亚麦德林音乐教育计划的影响

许多研究证实了文化和音乐教育对个人幸福感的影响，将音乐视为一种主要的系统实践或技能或既定的教育供给。然而，很少有研究评估旨在实现特定目标的音乐计划的影响，其中音乐被视为社会变革的工具。作为一个案例研究，我们以麦德林音乐学校网络（哥伦比亚）为例，该网络的音乐启蒙教育计划已经运行了 23 年。我们的目标是评估参与该计划所产生的经济和社会影响。我们使用准实验倾向得分匹配技术作为评估方法。结果表明，该计划显着降低了参与者卷入冲突的可能性，此外，他们认为生活质量更高。学生取得更好的学习成绩，并加强文化消费和艺术活动的参与。机构效力通过受益人表达积极和显着的支付意愿来维持该计划。这项工作还旨在证明评估文化政策影响的方法的有用性，特别是在发展中地区。