The production of cultural and natural wealth: An examination of World Heritage sites

•Models nominations/inscriptions to World Heritage List via globalization theories.•Cultural regions and imperial legacy are significant for cultural nominations.•Landmass is significant for natural nominations.•Number of nominations is a significant predictor for the number of inscriptions.•Cultural/natural wealth result of internal claims and external validation of claims.

Using the World Heritage List as a case study, this article shows how cultural and natural wealth is constructed through internal claims and external validation. I analyze the relationship among certain internal state dynamics and global relational structures to estimate their relationship with the number of nominations to, and inclusions in, the World Heritage List. I find that, while the number of nominations is a significant predictor of inclusion in the list, cultural regions are a driving force behind nominations. I also find that bureaucratic state capacity matters, but for the inscription of cultural nominations, not natural ones. By differentiating between cultural and natural nominations and inscriptions, I show how the roles that both cultural and natural wealth play in recreating hierarchies is contingent upon both their content and the relationship among relevant actors.