JournalTOCs

Oxford Economic Papers
Journal Prestige (SJR): 0.818

Citation Impact (citeScore): 1
Number of Followers: 48

Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)
ISSN (Print) 0030-7653 - ISSN (Online) 1464-3812
Published by Oxford University Press

[425 journals]

Introduction to the special issue on ‘new directions in understanding
philanthropic activities’
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  Pages: 885 - 889
  Abstract: AbstractThe papers in this Special Issue contribute to a rich literature on the economics of charitable giving. They address several novel questions covering a wide range of open issues in the philanthropic realm. For example, many of our papers study what works and what does not work for a charitable organization to boost giving money or time. Other papers examine fundraising mechanisms and possible underlying motives shaping donors’ giving behaviour. Our papers combine multiple methodologies, such as theory, observational data as well as laboratory and field experiments, to address these issues. Taken together, our Special Issue offers novel insights and approaches in the field of charitable giving that will be of interest to academics and policymakers alike.
  PubDate: Tue, 22 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/oep/gpad035
  Issue No: Vol. 75, No. 4 (2023)
An experimental test of cause-related marketing and charitable giving
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  Pages: 890 - 901
  Abstract: AbstractWe conducted a natural field experiment at a local toy store in Anchorage, Alaska to estimate the effect on consumer behavior when the firm’s charitable donation is conditional on the total dollar amount of the individual transaction. Results suggest that the donation offer resulted in a modest increase in both the share of transactions exceeding the minimum amount needed to qualify for the donation and sales revenue.
  PubDate: Thu, 22 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/oep/gpad019
  Issue No: Vol. 75, No. 4 (2023)
Charitable donations to natural disasters: evidence from an online
platform
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  Pages: 902 - 922
  Abstract: AbstractWe investigate the demand and supply of charitable donations to natural disasters on a large online platform. We document that the bulk of charitable donations goes to a tiny fraction of natural disasters, which tend to be severe disasters that receive media coverage. Charities do not fundraise for the remaining 96% of disasters, which account for 80% of casualties. Using an event study-type design to explore temporal patterns in charitable donations, we find that fundraising and giving for disaster relief occur in a timely fashion, but that both are effectively absent for disasters that occur within a 2-month window of large disasters which have attracted massive funding. We also find no evidence that donations to disasters crowd out those to other charitable causes.
  PubDate: Thu, 03 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/oep/gpad029
  Issue No: Vol. 75, No. 4 (2023)
Symbolic incentives and the recruitment of volunteers for citizen science
projects
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  Pages: 923 - 940
  Abstract: AbstractThe provision of activities with external benefits that rely on voluntary contributions may often fall below societal needs. In this article, we focus on such contributions to a citizen science project (the World Community Grid) in which members of the general public are asked to offer unused computer power to advance cutting-edge scientific research. We investigate the role played by symbolic awards in stimulating existing contributors to recruit new contributors for this project. The recruitment campaign we study introduces badges for referrals (visible on each user’s public profile page) varying, across randomized treatment groups, the threshold of successful referrals needed to receive these badges. We find that these symbolic incentives are effective in boosting referrals, and more so when the minimum threshold for achieving symbolic awards is higher. However, the overall effect of the incentives is quite modest, highlighting the challenges of running referral campaigns for the recruitment of volunteers.
  PubDate: Thu, 03 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/oep/gpad031
  Issue No: Vol. 75, No. 4 (2023)
Charitable giving and intermediation: a principal agent problem with
hidden prices
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  Pages: 941 - 961
  Abstract: AbstractDonations are often made through charitable intermediaries that can fund themselves from these same donations. After intermediation, only a fraction of the amount donated may reach the intended beneficiary. The price of charitable output is therefore higher after intermediation than if donors donated directly toward the end cause. At the same time, this price is hidden from donors since they cannot verify how much intermediaries pass on. We show that while donors reduce their donation in intermediation itself, and also reduce their donation because they expect the price of charitable output to increase, both reactions are either fully or partly compensated by their ethical preferences for the recipient’s rights. Charitable output, therefore, can be a Giffen-good.
  PubDate: Wed, 12 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/oep/gpad023
  Issue No: Vol. 75, No. 4 (2023)
It’s me again… Ask avoidance and the dynamics of charitable
giving
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  Pages: 962 - 972
  Abstract: AbstractCharities typically ask potential donors repeatedly for a donation. These repeated requests might trigger avoidance behaviour. Considering that, this article analyses the impact of offering the option to opt-out of receiving future fundraising asks on charitable giving. In a proposed utility framework, any opt-out option decreases the social pressure to donate. At the same time, an unconditional opt-out option induces feelings of gratitude toward the fundraiser, which may lead to a reciprocal increase in donations. The results of a lab experiment designed to disentangle the two channels show no negative impact of the option to avoid repeated asking for donations. Instead, the full model indicates a positive impact of the reciprocity channel. This finding suggests that it might be beneficial for charities to introduce an unconditional opt-out option during high-frequency fundraising campaigns.
  PubDate: Mon, 26 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/oep/gpad020
  Issue No: Vol. 75, No. 4 (2023)
Can prosocial incentives and self-chosen goals improve performance' An
online real-effort experiment
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  Pages: 973 - 992
  Abstract: AbstractWe study incentive schemes that combine self-chosen goals with prosocial rewards. We design a real-effort task experiment with MTurk workers. Upon achieving self-chosen goals, rewards are paid to the worker in the monetary treatments or to charities in the prosocial treatments. To explore the mechanisms whereby rewards can improve performance with prosocial incentives, we develop a theoretical model with goal dependence and earning reference points. Our results show that when rewards are paid to charities, performance improvements happen through workers setting higher goals. This effect is stronger for those whose interests are matched with the charity’s mission. Our findings have important implications for incentivizing workers in the gig economy.
  PubDate: Wed, 19 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/oep/gpad027
  Issue No: Vol. 75, No. 4 (2023)
What drives overhead aversion in charity' Evidence from field-experimental
variation in fundraising costs
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  Pages: 993 - 1011
  Abstract: AbstractThis article explores donors’ aversion to financing charities’ fundraising expenses. We hypothesize that such expenses can signal a charity’s efficiency, or affect the donors’ perception of the impact a donation has on the cause. Using data from a randomized field experiment, we disentangle both effects, differentiating between weakly and strongly committed donors. Among potential donors who are weakly committed to the cause, information on the charity’s efficiency does not affect donation behavior. Signaling an increased impact leaves unaffected the average donation among weakly committed donors, but diminishes their likelihood to give. Regarding strongly committed donors, we find that impact-related information does not affect behavior, but a signal of improved efficiency strongly increases donations along the intensive margin. We conclude that information on fundraising expenses plays little role for weakly committed donors. In contrast, strongly committed donors are averse to financing fundraising expenses mostly due to efficiency concerns.
  PubDate: Sat, 08 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/oep/gpad021
  Issue No: Vol. 75, No. 4 (2023)
Effects of the minimum wage on the nonprofit sector
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  Pages: 1012 - 1032
  Abstract: AbstractThe nonprofit sector’s ability to absorb increases in labor costs differs from the private sector in a number of ways. We analyse how nonprofits are affected by changes in the minimum wage utilizing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Internal Revenue Service, linked to state minimum wages. We examine changes in reported employment and volunteering, as well as other financial statements such as revenues and expenses. The results from both datasets show a negative impact on employment for states with large statutory minimum wage increases. We observe some evidence for a reduction in the number of nonprofit establishments, fundraising expenses, and revenues from contributions.
  PubDate: Fri, 14 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/oep/gpad024
  Issue No: Vol. 75, No. 4 (2023)
Substitutes or complements: a budget-based analysis of the relationship
between donating and volunteering
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  Pages: 1033 - 1052
  Abstract: AbstractAre charitable gifts of money and time substitutes or complements' The answer to this question would benefit non-profit organizations and governments aiming to maximize charitable gifts, but previous research has not yet delivered a final conclusion. Therefore, I introduce an alternative approach to this question that focuses on variation in individuals’ budgets instead of previously used variation in the price of giving. For this purpose, I develop a theoretical model of charitable giving in which individuals are constrained by two budgets indicating their available money and time. My derivations show that the cross-budget effects can identify the relationship between donating and volunteering. Consequently, I empirically estimate the effect of time on donations using longitudinal survey data of Dutch individuals. My estimates (albeit insignificant) suggest that donating and volunteering are substitutes. This result would be in line with some previous experimental evidence, but additional applications are needed to strengthen this conclusion.
  PubDate: Sun, 09 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/oep/gpad022
  Issue No: Vol. 75, No. 4 (2023)
Charitable giving role-modeling: parent transmission frequency and
adolescent reception
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  Pages: 1053 - 1072
  Abstract: AbstractExperiments indicate that adult role-modeling of giving has a causal effect on giving done by children, but a previous investigation using data from a natural setting suggests zero causal effect of parent role-modeling on their adolescents’ giving. This article presents new evidence about the divergent findings: (i) parent giving does not automatically translate into adolescents knowing that their parents give, and (ii) adolescents are much less likely to know that their parents give if parents give from time-to-time. The results suggest new experimental designs that randomize (a) the frequency of role-modeling, (b) communication approaches that explain role-modeling actions to children, and (c) whether the receiving organization is in-group or out-group. The practical implications of the results are that frequent giving by a parent is necessary for adolescents to successfully ‘receive’ the role model, but may not be sufficient. Purposeful communication is needed to ensure that adolescents know that their parents are giving.
  PubDate: Tue, 18 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/oep/gpad026
  Issue No: Vol. 75, No. 4 (2023)
The evolution of preferences and charitable giving: a panel study of the
university years
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  Pages: 1073 - 1092
  Abstract: AbstractEconomic preferences are often taken as given, yet evidence shows that preferences respond to life events and change over time. We examine the evolution of other-regarding preferences for a cohort of university students over 5 years, starting before they matriculate and extending one year beyond graduation. Using survey and incentivized measures of preferences, we show that altruism declines over the university years. This decline is reflected in changes in charitable giving over three donation opportunities. We rule out several alternative explanations for the observed change, including cohort differences, perceptions of the charities, and experience with experiments. We show evidence of a ‘giving type’ in charitable giving, with consistency in behavior across giving opportunities. Methodologically, we also show that the incentivized and survey measures are similar at predicting giving types. We conclude that preferences reflect common tendencies over time, while simultaneously showing an overall decline in generosity during the university years.
  PubDate: Sat, 29 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/oep/gpad030
  Issue No: Vol. 75, No. 4 (2023)
How does less public spending affect the motivation of citizens to
contribute to nature conservation'
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  Pages: 1093 - 1104
  Abstract: AbstractContributions to public goods, such as nature areas, are often made by private actors, as well as governmental agencies. Typically, the motivation of citizens to voluntarily contribute depends on how the distribution of such tasks has evolved between public and private actors, and wider contextual factors. Therefore, it is unclear whether decreased public spending on nature areas affects private funding. We conduct an economic experiment in The Hague Forest in the Netherlands and ask citizens to perform a task that generates funding for the forest. In the treatment condition, we describe the ongoing policy changes, which implies less state funding and greater dependency on private actors. We find that highlighting a greater need for private funding reduces individual contributions significantly, which is mostly due to a drop in motivation of frequent visitors. Overall, our study suggests that decreasing public spending may have unexpected repercussions on citizens’ motivation to contribute.
  PubDate: Tue, 18 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/oep/gpad025
  Issue No: Vol. 75, No. 4 (2023)