Charitable giving under inequality aversion and social capital.

Yamamura, Eiji (2012): Charitable giving under inequality aversion and social capital.

Abstract

A Japanese General Social Survey is used to re-examine how voluntary giving is associated with inequality aversion, and how the relationship differs between high- and low-income groups. This paper also investigates how social capital influences that relationship. The key findings are that (1) the level of voluntary giving increases with inequality aversion for high-income groups, but not for low-income groups, and (2) social capital accumulated in the respondent’s residential area reinforces the positive influence of inequality aversion on voluntary giving for high-income groups only.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Inequality aversion, charitable contribution, trust, private provision of public goods
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D6 - Welfare Economics > D63 - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement; H - Public Economics > H4 - Publicly Provided Goods > H41 - Public Goods; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z13 - Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology ; Social and Economic Stratification

References

Becker, G. 1974. Theory of social interaction. Journal of Political Economics 82, 1063–1093.

Becker, G. 1996. Accounting for Tastes. London, Harvard University Press.

Derin-Güre, P., Uler, N. 2010.Charitable giving under inequality aversion. Economics Letters 107, 208-210.

Fehr, E., Schmidt, K.M., 1999. A theory of fairness, competition, and cooperation. Quarterly Journal of Economics 114(3), 817-868.

Hayami, Y. 2001. Development economics: From poverty to the wealth of nations. (second edition). New York: Oxford University Press.

Japan Broadcasting Corporation. 1997. Data Book: Survey on Consciousness of Prefecture Residents (Zenkoku Kenmin Ishiki Chosa 1996). Tokyo: Japan Broadcasting Corporation Press.

Putnam, R. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, A Touchstone Book, New York.

Wooldridge, J.M. 2002. Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. London: MIT Press.

Yamamura, E., 2012. Effect of social capital on income redistribution preferences: comparison of neighborhood externality between high- and low-income households, mimeo.

Zullo, R., 2011.Labor unions and charity. Industrial and Labor Relation Review 64(4), 699-711.