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Investigating the U-Shaped Charitable Giving Profile Using Register-Based Data

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  • Benediktson, Mathias Nylandsted

    (University of Southern Denmark, COHERE - Centre of Health Economics Research)

Abstract

The present paper investigates the relationship between income and the proportion of income donated by use of register-based data merged with individual data on charitable giving, in a European setting. This paper contributes to the very scarce European literature concerning the U-shaped charitable giving profile. We find a strong, negative relationship between income and the proportion of income donated for the total donor population as well as for specific income groups. This contradicts some of the previous literature on the subject. With information on actual donations, we find evidence of a ‘standard of giving’ that is very likely to be an important explanation to the higher proportion of income donated amongst low-income individuals. Our findings suggest that researchers and policy makers should be careful when drawing conclusions regarding charitable giving from US-based studies to Europe and vice versa.

Suggested Citation

  • Benediktson, Mathias Nylandsted, 2018. "Investigating the U-Shaped Charitable Giving Profile Using Register-Based Data," DaCHE discussion papers 2018:1, University of Southern Denmark, Dache - Danish Centre for Health Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sduhec:2018_001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Philanthropy; charitable giving; nonprofit; register data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General

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