What Drives Giving in Extensive Welfare States? The Case of Germany

Considerable empirical research exists on donations in the US and their determinants, including estimations of the income and price elasticity of giving. By contrast, less is known about the determinants of countries with an extensive welfare state. We address this deficiency by studying the drivers of charitable giving in Germany, a country with a highly developed welfare state, using tax return data of the years 2001 to 2003. Our study not only expands the literature by adding another country. Moreover, it uses modern econometric methods which account for the selection process inherent in charitable contributions. Our results suggest no significant differences between donors in the US and Germany with respect to income and price elasticities indicating that the mechanisms underlying the act of giving are similar for countries with highly different welfare state traditions. --private donations,income elasticity,price elasticity,welfare state

Social return on investment of mutual support based housing projects: Potential for socio-economic cost savings and higher living quality

Our paper describes the results of a Social Return on Investment analysis of four new housing projects in Germany. A common characteristic of all projects is the central importance of mutual neighborly support to meet the demand for the assistance of older residents. All projects share some common architectural features and infrastructural characteristics. Furthermore, in each housing project, some form of support by social workers takes place. Using a propensity score matching approach, we compare for the first time systematically the costs for support of older people in mutual support based housing projects with a control group of people living in conventional settings. Our results, based on a sample of more than 700 residents, point not only to improvements in living satisfaction, but indicate also a huge potential for socio-economic cost savings. This can partly be explained by better development of residents' health status. --Senior Housing,Cohousing,Mutual support,Assisted Living,Long term care

What drives giving in extensive welfare states : the case of Germany

Considerable empirical research exists on donations in the US and their determinants, including estimations of the income and price elasticity of giving. By contrast, less is known about the determinants of countries with an extensive welfare state. We address this deficiency by studying the drivers of charitable giving in Germany, a country with a highly developed welfare state, using tax return data of the years 2001 to 2003. Our study not only expands the literature by adding another country. Moreover, it uses modern econometric methods which account for the selection process inherent in charitable contributions. Our results suggest no significant differences between donors in the US and Germany with respect to income and price elasticities indicating that the mechanisms underlying the act of giving are similar for countries with highly different welfare state traditions

Small is beautiful: Experimental evidence of donors' preferences for charities

This paper studies the effect of information about a charity's size on individuals' donations to that charity. We conducted a framed field experiment with a non-student sample, in which subjects had the opportunity to donate for various charitable purposes. The results show that if subjects are to choose between large organizations with high annual revenues and small organizations with low revenues, they prefer the small organizations. We also provide insights why donors prefer the small organizations and discriminate between different theoretical approaches. --charitable contributions,information,framed field experiment,fundraising

Social return on investment of mutual support based housing projects : potential for socio-economic cost savings and higher living quality

Our paper describes the results of a Social Return on Investment analysis of four new housing projects in Germany. A common characteristic of all projects is the central importance of mutual neighborly support to meet the demand for the assistance of older residents. All projects share some common architectural features and infrastructural characteristics. Furthermore, in each housing project, some form of support by social workers takes place. Using a propensity score matching approach, we compare for the first time systematically the costs for support of older people in mutual support based housing projects with a control group of people living in conventional settings. Our results, based on a sample of more than 700 residents, point not only to improvements in living satisfaction, but indicate also a huge potential for socio-economic cost savings. This can partly be explained by better development of residents’ health status

Small is beautiful : experimental evidence of donors preferences for charities

This paper studies the effect of information about a charity’s size on individuals’ donations to that charity. We conducted a framed field experiment with a non-student sample, in which subjects had the opportunity to donate for various charitable purposes. The results show that if subjects are to choose between large organizations with high annual revenues and small organizations with low revenues, they prefer the small organizations. We also provide insights why donors prefer the small organizations and discriminate between different theoretical approaches

On the construction of social preferences in lab experiments

This paper studies the construction of social preferences in the lab. Experimental subjects have the opportunity to donate to a charity and to allocate money in a conventional dictator game. The results show that charitable donations and dictator game allocations are positively correlated. The correlation is only significant, however, if the dictator game follows the donation decision. Furthermore, while donation behavior is independent from the order of play, dictator game behavior is not. In line with the constructive-preference approach, we argue that preferences are instable and sensitive to outside influences when subjects are confronted with a new decision situation, while in a well-known situation preferences are more stable

Philanthropy in a secular society

In this study we investigate the relationship between religious and charitable giving. We test how income, the tax-price of giving and the German church tax, differently affect charitable donations of church members, individuals leaving church and nonchurch members. We find crowding in between the church tax and charitable giving for church members, but not for the church-leavers. In contrast to church members, donations of church-leavers and non-members are also highly responsive to the tax deductibility. Additionally, non-donors exhibit a significantly increased probability of leaving church compared to donors. Finally, we demonstrate that leaving church increases donations on the extensive margin but decrease giving along the intensive margin

Verteilungseffekte der öffentlichen Finanzierung der Hochschulbildung in Deutschland: Eine Längsschnittbetrachtung auf der Basis des Sozioökonomischen Panels

Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die Verteilungswirkungen der Hochschulabsolventen in Form der Hochschulbildung erhalten, werden den hochschulbezogenen (Steuer-)Lasten der Hochschulabsolventen gegenübergestellt. Es zeigt sich, dass Hochschulabsolventen von positiven Nettoeffekten der öffentlichen Hochschulfinanzierung profitieren, da sie die Kosten der Hochschulausbildung nicht durch entsprechende Steuerzahlungen zurückerstatten. Besonders hohe Nettoeffekte ergeben sich für Mediziner, besonders geringe dagegen für Rechts-, Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftler. Die Ergebnisse unterstützen die Forderung nach einem differenzierten Studienentgeltsystem, das die nach Hochschulart und Fächergruppe unterschiedlichen Nettoeffekte berücksichtigt