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Education'S Gambling Problem: Earmarked Lottery Revenues And Charitable Donations To Education

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  • Daniel B. Jones

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="ecin12194-abs-0001"> I examine the impact that lotteries introduced to support education have on voluntary contributions to education. State lotteries, and the causes they are introduced to support, are highly publicized. This provides the opportunity to assess whether donors are crowded-out by government spending of which they are almost certainly aware. Using donor-level survey data and nonprofits' tax returns, I find that donations to education-related organizations fall with the introduction of a lottery. This result is driven by donors' response to the new (highly publicized) government revenue source (rather than a decrease in nonprofit fundraising efforts) . ( JEL D64, H3, H75)

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel B. Jones, 2015. "Education'S Gambling Problem: Earmarked Lottery Revenues And Charitable Donations To Education," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 53(2), pages 906-921, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:53:y:2015:i:2:p:906-921
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Celeste K. Carruthers & Kara D. Smith, 2020. "Are “Education Lotteries” Less Regressive? Evidence from Texas," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(3), pages 1019-1040, January.
    3. Alexander Fink, 2018. "The Political Economy of State-Owned Lotteries," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 257-272, September.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • H3 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare

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