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Generosity Across the Income and Wealth Distributions

Author

Listed:
  • Jonathan Meer
  • Benjamin A. Priday

Abstract

Despite widespread interest, there is little systematic evidence on the relationship between income, wealth, and charitable giving. We use the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to provide descriptive statistics on this relationship. We find that, irrespective of specifica­tion, donative behavior increases with greater resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathan Meer & Benjamin A. Priday, 2020. "Generosity Across the Income and Wealth Distributions," NBER Working Papers 27076, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27076
    Note: PE
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Cotofan, Maria & Dur, Robert & Meier, Stephan, 2024. "Does growing up in economic hard times increase compassion? The case of attitudes towards immigration," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 245-262.
    2. Levin, Tova & Levitt, Steven D. & List, John A., 2023. "A Glimpse into the world of high capacity givers: Experimental evidence from a university capital campaign," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 644-658.
    3. Johnston, David W. & Menon, Nidhiya, 2022. "Income and views on minimum living standards," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 18-34.
    4. Aryadimas Suprayitno & Weni Hawariyuni & Wahyu Ario Pratomo & Widya Sartika Hasibuan & Monika Andrasari & Tika Widiastuti & Arva Athallah Susanto, 2025. "Long term nexus between digitalization and macroeconomy on zakat collection in Indonesia," Review of Islamic Social Finance and Entrepreneurship, Center for Islamic Economics and Development Studies [P3EI], vol. 4(2), pages 141-153.
    5. Felix Chopra & Armin Falk & Thomas Graeber, 2024. "Intertemporal Altruism," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 329-357, February.
    6. Maria Cotofan & Robert Dur & Stephan Meier, 2021. "Does growing up in a recession increase compassion? The case of attitudes towards immigration," CEP Discussion Papers dp1757, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    7. Elizabeth A. Keenan & Anne V. Wilson & Leslie K. John, 2022. "When Less is More: Consumers Prefer Brands that Donate More in Relative versus Absolute Terms," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 31-43, March.
    8. Marius A. K. Ring & Thor Olav Thoresen, 2022. "Wealth Taxation and Charitable Giving," CESifo Working Paper Series 9700, CESifo.
    9. Rémi Suchon & Vincent Theroude, 2025. "Cooperation across the inequality divide: the effect of the magnitude of inequality," Working Papers halshs-05042251, HAL.
    10. Cools, Angela, 2025. "Faith and philanthropy: Megachurch scandals and charitable giving," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    11. Kotsadam, Andreas & Somville, Vincent, 2024. "Wealth and charitable giving – Evidence from an Ethiopian lottery," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    12. Rebecca Lessem & Sarah Niebler & Carly Urban, 2023. "Do house prices affect campaign contributions?," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(2), pages 629-660, July.
    13. Wan, Hua & Zhang, Chunli & Huang, Chang & Wang, Yan, 2024. "Regional criminal offense rates, labor mobility, and firms’ financial generosity," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    14. Yulin Liu & Qiao Zu, 2024. "Who is more generous over a life cycle? Evidence from China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 171(2), pages 729-748, January.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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