Investigating the Possibility of Using Waqf and Interest-Free Bonds to Finance Public Spaces in the Surrounding Texture of Holy Shrine of Imam Reza

Abstract: One of the most important and vital tissues in the country is the context around the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza. The main problem about this context is the lack of funding for public spaces. In the present study, the willingness of people to participate in the improvement of the worn out texture surrounding the Shrine of Imam Reza is estimated by purchasing waqf bonds and interest-free bonds, using the conditional valuation method. For this purpose, 240 pilgrims and adjacent persons were interviewed. In order to distinguish the factors influencing the decision on participation and the level of participation, two-stage method of Heckman and Tobit model were used. By eliminating incomplete answers, 57% of the people were willing to buy waqf bonds and, 48% of the people were willing to buy interest-free bonds. The results of the Hackit Model showed that the variables of “trust in local institutions” and “social awareness” influence significantly on respondents’ decision to buy bonds. In addition, the “sense of belonging to the city” affects the degree of willingness to participate. In the case of interest-free bonds, the variable of social awareness has a significant effect on the decision of the respondents to participate in it. The variables of sense of belonging to the city and the neighborhood and the household’s economic situation have an impact on the degree of willingness to participate. While the belief in interest-free bonds and the variables of trust in local institutions, both in the first stage (decision to pay) and in the second stage (willingness to pay), have a significant effect on respondents. The average willingness to participate was estimated at 7,450,000 Rials for interest-free bonds and it was 1,660,000 for waqf bonds.