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The Role of Volunteers in German Refugee Crisis and their Contribution to the Local Government Expenditure

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  • Chang Woon Nam
  • Peter Steinhoff

Abstract

This study deals with a specific volunteering aspect revealed in the German refugee crisis 2015/16. German federalism prescribing interjurisdictional assignments of tasks for designing, financing and implementing services for refugees and their geographic distribution have made municipalities and cities primarily responsible for solving problems of refugees’ accommodation, integration and health care. Based on a survey recently carried out in the district of Erding, it firstly demonstrates distinctive characteristics of the individual volunteers engaged in such related local activities (gender and age; income structure; donation types; working hours), followed by an attempt to measure economic values of volunteering. Despite some methodological weaknesses, this study highlights the monetary significance of volunteers’ hidden contribution to overcoming the crisis and the relatively huge scope of possible savings in local expenditure, compared to an assumed situation if such voluntary activities were fully substituted by those of full-time civil servants.

Suggested Citation

  • Chang Woon Nam & Peter Steinhoff, 2018. "The Role of Volunteers in German Refugee Crisis and their Contribution to the Local Government Expenditure," CESifo Working Paper Series 7352, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7352
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Arthur C. Brooks, 2003. "Do Government Subsidies To Nonprofits Crowd Out Donations or Donors?," Public Finance Review, , vol. 31(2), pages 166-179, March.
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    5. Walter O. Simmons & Rosemarie Emanuele, 2004. "Does Government Spending Crowd Out Donations of Time and Money?," Public Finance Review, , vol. 32(5), pages 498-511, September.
    6. Romano, Richard & Yildirim, Huseyin, 2001. "Why charities announce donations: a positive perspective," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(3), pages 423-447, September.
    7. Banuri, Sheheryar & Keefer, Philip, 2016. "Pro-social motivation, effort and the call to public service," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 139-164.
    8. Alessandro Sola, 2018. "The 2015 Refugee Crisis in Germany: Concerns about Immigration and Populism," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 966, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    9. Duncan, Brian, 2004. "A theory of impact philanthropy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 2159-2180, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Peter Bednarek & Daniel Marcel te Kaat & Chang Ma & Alessandro Rebucci, 2021. "Capital Flows, Real Estate, and Local Cycles:Evidence from German Cities, Banks, and Firms," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(10), pages 5077-5134.
    2. Florian W. Bartholomae & Chang Woon Nam & Pierre Rafih, 2020. "The Impact of Welfare Chauvinism on the Results of Right-Wing Populist Voting in Germany after the Refugee Crisis," CESifo Working Paper Series 8629, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    volunteer activity; German refugee crisis; economic value of volunteering; local government expenditure; district of Erding;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • E65 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Studies of Particular Policy Episodes
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures

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