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Balance sheet insolvency and contribution revenue in public charities

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  • Homonoff, Tatiana
  • Spreen, Thomas Luke
  • St. Clair, Travis

Abstract

Using Form 990 data reported by public charities, we document significant bunching of nonprofits at near-zero net assets, the threshold for insolvency. Bunching occurs despite the fact that creditors cannot force insolvent nonprofits into involuntary bankruptcy. We show that the extent of bunching is greater among organizations that rely more heavily on contribution revenue, and that by inflating their net assets, bunching organizations are able to increase their contribution revenue relative to firms that report negative net assets. Charitable donors appear to use the net assets threshold as a heuristic for a charity's financial health; nonprofit managers, in turn, respond to the preferences of their donors.

Suggested Citation

  • Homonoff, Tatiana & Spreen, Thomas Luke & St. Clair, Travis, 2020. "Balance sheet insolvency and contribution revenue in public charities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:186:y:2020:i:c:s0047272720300414
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104177
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    Cited by:

    1. Mayo, Jennifer, 2021. "How do big gifts affect rival charities and their donors?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 575-597.
    2. Jonathan Oxley, 2021. "Does Additional Mandatory Reporting Alter Charity or Donor Behavior?---Examining the 2006 Pension Protection Act," Working Papers wp2021_01_02, Department of Economics, Florida State University.
    3. Slava Mikhed & Sahil Raina & Barry Scholnick & Man Zhang, 2022. "Debtor Fraud in Consumer Debt Renegotiation," Working Papers 22-35, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    4. Oxley, Jonathan, 2022. "Does additional mandatory reporting alter charity or donor behavior? Examining the 2006 Pension Protection Act," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 738-751.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bunching; Charitable giving; Nonprofit finance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L31 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship
    • L39 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Other
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household

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