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Gender Differences in Altruism: Responses to a Natural Disaster

Author

Listed:
  • Lilley, Matthew

    (Harvard University)

  • Slonim, Robert

    (University of Sydney)

Abstract

High-profile disasters can cause large spikes in philanthropy and volunteerism. By providing temporary positive shocks to the altruism of donors, these natural experiments help identify heterogeneity in the distributions of the latent altruism which motivates donors. This study examines gender heterogeneity of volunteer response by blood donors following the most devastating Bushfires in Australia's history. Using difference in differences analyses, we observe a sharp increase in blood donations after the 2009 Victorian Bushfires. Several key features of this increase are consistent with the predictions of a model where the distribution of latent altruism has smaller variance among women than men. First, the highest increase in donations occurs among previous non-donors, lapsed donors and less frequent donors. Further, the increase in donations following the Bushfires, compared to non-disaster periods, is substantially greater for females than males; the proportional increase in the number of females donating for the first time after the disaster is approximately twice the proportional increase for men. Notably, this gender gap decreases with the frequency with which people have previously donated.

Suggested Citation

  • Lilley, Matthew & Slonim, Robert, 2016. "Gender Differences in Altruism: Responses to a Natural Disaster," IZA Discussion Papers 9657, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9657
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    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp9657.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. James Andreoni & Lise Vesterlund, 2001. "Which is the Fair Sex? Gender Differences in Altruism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(1), pages 293-312.
    2. Garbarino, Ellen & Slonim, Robert & Wang, Carmen, 2013. "The multidimensional effects of a small gift: Evidence from a natural field experiment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 120(1), pages 83-86.
    3. Catherine Eckel & Philip J. Grossman & Angela Milano, 2007. "Is More Information Always Better? An Experimental Study of Charitable Giving and Hurrican Katrina," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 74(2), pages 388-411, October.
    4. Stefano DellaVigna & John A. List & Ulrike Malmendier & Gautam Rao, 2013. "The Importance of Being Marginal: Gender Differences in Generosity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(3), pages 586-590, May.
    5. Rachel Croson & Uri Gneezy, 2009. "Gender Differences in Preferences," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(2), pages 448-474, June.
    6. John A. List, 2011. "The Market for Charitable Giving," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(2), pages 157-180, Spring.
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    Cited by:

    1. Saeed, Abubakr & Riaz, Hammad & Liedong, Tahiru Azaaviele & Rajwani, Tazeeb, 2022. "The impact of TMT gender diversity on corporate environmental strategy in emerging economies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 536-551.
    2. Exley, Christine L. & Petrie, Ragan, 2018. "The impact of a surprise donation ask," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 152-167.
    3. Carlo Perroni & Kimberly Scharf & Sarah Smith & Oleksandr Talavera & Linh Vi, 2024. "Local Crime and Prosocial Attitudes: Evidence from Charitable Donations," Discussion Papers 24-02, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender; natural experiment; altruism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments

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