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Charity and the Bequest Motive: Evidence from Seventeenth-Century Wills

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  • Leslie Moscow McGranahan

Abstract

This paper researches motivations for charitable bequests by looking at gifts to the poor in wills written in Suffolk, England, in the 1620s and 1630s. The findings that wealthier and more religious individuals and those with fewer children give more to the poor support an altruistic model of testator utility. However, the result that individuals who give to more people outside of their immediate families are more likely to give to the poor contradicts the simple altruism model. This result is consistent with a model that suggests that charitable giving is partially driven by the approbation granted to charitable behavior.

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  • Leslie Moscow McGranahan, 2000. "Charity and the Bequest Motive: Evidence from Seventeenth-Century Wills," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(6), pages 1270-1291, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:v:108:y:2000:i:6:p:1270-1291
    DOI: 10.1086/317685
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    Cited by:

    1. Alma’amun, Suhaili, 2012. "Searching for Bequest Motives and Attitudes to Leaving a Bequest Among Malaysian Muslims," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 46(1), pages 73-84.
    2. Valencia Caicedo, Felipe, 2020. "Historical Econometrics: Instrumental Variables and Regression Discontinuity Designs," CEPR Discussion Papers 15208, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Jeffrey R. Brown & Courtney C. Coile & Scott J. Weisbenner, 2010. "The Effect of Inheritance Receipt on Retirement," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(2), pages 425-434, May.
    4. Abu Siddique, 2021. "Behavioral Consequences of Religious Education," Munich Papers in Political Economy 10, Munich School of Politics and Public Policy and the School of Management at the Technical University of Munich.
    5. Säve-Söderbergh, Jenny, 2005. "Who is Willing to Let Ethics Guide His Economic Decision-Making? Evidence from Individual Investments in Ethical Funds," Working Paper Series 7/2005, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    6. Konow, James, 2010. "Mixed feelings: Theories of and evidence on giving," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(3-4), pages 279-297, April.
    7. McGranahan, Leslie, 2009. "The widow's offering: Inheritance, family structure, and the charitable gifts of women," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 356-367, July.
    8. Christiansen, Charlotte & Jansson, Thomas & Kallestrup-Lamb, Malene & Noren, Vicke, 2023. "Households' investments in socially responsible mutual funds," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 46-67.
    9. Rocio Sánchez-Mangas & Virginia Sánchez-Marcos, "undated". "Reconciling female labor participation and motherhood: the effect of benefits for working mothers," Studies on the Spanish Economy 195, FEDEA.

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