Effects of the Price of Charitable Giving: Evidence from an Online Crowdfunding Platform / Jonathan Meer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Meer, Jonathan.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w19082.

NBER working paper series no. w19082

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

crowdfunding--eng.

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2013.

Summary:

A long literature has examined the effects of the price of giving - that is, the amount an in-dividual must give for one dollar to accrue to the charitable activity itself - on donative behavior. We use data from DonorsChoose.org, an online platform linking teachers with prospective donors, that are uniquely suited to addressing this question due to exogenous variation in overhead costs. An increased price of giving results in a lower likelihood of a project being funded. We also calculate the price elasticity of giving, finding estimates between -0.8 and -2; these are likely to be upper bounds on the tax price elasticity of charitable donations. Finally, we examine the effect of competition on giving and find that increased competition reduces the likelihood of a project being funded. These results provide insight into the workings of the market for charitable gifts.

Notes:

Print version record

May 2013.