IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeborg/v214y2023icp148-183.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic freedom and philanthropy

Author

Listed:
  • Jackson, Jeremy
  • Beaulier, Scott

Abstract

The correlations between economic freedom and human capabilities (e.g., income, health, education, happiness) are robust and well-documented. Current research has focused on whether exposure to free markets and economic freedom increases virtue or leads to moral decay. We explore the relationship between economic freedom and virtues like love and altruism, which are expressed through philanthropic donations to charity. Using panel data for US charitable donations from itemized tax returns and the Economic Freedom of North America (EFNA) Index, we examine the state-level correlation between economic freedom and philanthropy in America. Contrary to common discourse, which points to economic freedom as a source of cultural and civic erosion, we find a strong positive correlation between economic freedom and charitable giving.

Suggested Citation

  • Jackson, Jeremy & Beaulier, Scott, 2023. "Economic freedom and philanthropy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 148-183.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:214:y:2023:i:c:p:148-183
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2023.08.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016726812300286X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jebo.2023.08.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. A. Abigail Payne & Justin Smith, 2015. "Does income inequality increase charitable giving?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(2), pages 793-818, May.
    2. Gehring, Kai, 2013. "Who Benefits from Economic Freedom? Unraveling the Effect of Economic Freedom on Subjective Well-Being," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 74-90.
    3. Andreoni, James & Payne, A. Abigail, 2011. "Is crowding out due entirely to fundraising? Evidence from a panel of charities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(5), pages 334-343.
    4. Easton, Stephen T & Walker, Michael A, 1997. "Income, Growth, and Economic Freedom," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 328-332, May.
    5. Megan V. Teague & Virgil Henry Storr & Rosemarie Fike, 2020. "Economic freedom and materialism: an empirical analysis," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 1-44, March.
    6. Christian Bjørnskov & Axel Dreher & Justina Fischer, 2007. "The bigger the better? Evidence of the effect of government size on life satisfaction around the world," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 130(3), pages 267-292, March.
    7. Ryan Compton & Daniel Giedeman, 2011. "Panel evidence on finance, institutions and economic growth," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(25), pages 3523-3547.
    8. McCloskey, Deirdre Nansen, 2006. "The Bourgeois Virtues," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226556635, December.
    9. Berggren, Niclas, 2003. "The Benefits of Economic Freedom: A Survey," Ratio Working Papers 4, The Ratio Institute.
    10. Andreoni, James & Payne, A. Abigail & Smith, Justin & Karp, David, 2016. "Diversity and donations: The effect of religious and ethnic diversity on charitable giving," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 47-58.
    11. Jonathan E. Booth & Daniela Lup & Mark Williams, 2017. "Union Membership and Charitable Giving in the United States," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 70(4), pages 835-864, August.
    12. Niclas Berggren & Therese Nilsson, 2013. "Does Economic Freedom Foster Tolerance?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(2), pages 177-207, May.
    13. Cai, Meina & Caskey, Gregory W. & Cowen, Nick & Murtazashvili, Ilia & Murtazashvili, Jennifer Brick & Salahodjaev, Raufhon, 2022. "Individualism, economic freedom, and charitable giving," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 868-884.
    14. Hirschman, Albert O, 1982. "Rival Interpretations of Market Society: Civilizing, Destructive, or Feeble?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 20(4), pages 1463-1484, December.
    15. Jeremy Jackson & Art Carden & Compton, 2015. "Economic freedom and social capital," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(54), pages 5853-5867, November.
    16. Helms, Sara E. & Thornton, Jeremy P., 2012. "The influence of religiosity on charitable behavior: A COPPS investigation," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 373-383.
    17. Jeremy Jackson, 2017. "Free to Be Happy: Economic Freedom and Happiness in US States," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1207-1229, August.
    18. Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham & Isaac Sorkin & Henry Swift, 2020. "Bartik Instruments: What, When, Why, and How," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(8), pages 2586-2624, August.
    19. Daniel M. Gropper, Robert A. Lawson, and Jere T. Thorne Jr., 2011. "Economic Freedom and Happiness," Cato Journal, Cato Journal, Cato Institute, vol. 31(2), pages 237-255, Spring/Su.
    20. Kingma, Bruce Robert, 1989. "An Accurate Measurement of the Crowd-Out Effect, Income Effect, and Price Effect for Charitable Contributions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1197-1207, October.
    21. James Andreoni & Justin M. Rao & Hannah Trachtman, 2017. "Avoiding the Ask: A Field Experiment on Altruism, Empathy, and Charitable Giving," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(3), pages 625-653.
    22. Niclas Berggren & Henrik Jordahl, 2006. "Free to Trust: Economic Freedom and Social Capital," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 141-169, May.
    23. Arthur C. Brooks, 2005. "Does Social Capital Make You Generous?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 86(1), pages 1-15, March.
    24. Gwartney, James & Lawson, Robert, 2003. "The concept and measurement of economic freedom," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 405-430, September.
    25. Niclas Berggren & Therese Nilsson, 2014. "Market institutions bring tolerance, especially where there is social trust," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(17), pages 1234-1237, November.
    26. Daniel L. Bennett, 2021. "Local economic freedom and creative destruction in America," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 333-353, January.
    27. Belasen, Ariel R. & Hafer, R.W., 2013. "Do Changes in Economic Freedom affect Well-Being?," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 43(1).
    28. Andreoni, James, 1989. "Giving with Impure Altruism: Applications to Charity and Ricardian Equivalence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(6), pages 1447-1458, December.
    29. Martin Rode, 2013. "Do Good Institutions Make Citizens Happy, or Do Happy Citizens Build Better Institutions?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(5), pages 1479-1505, October.
    30. Johan Graafland & Bart Compen, 2015. "Economic Freedom and Life Satisfaction: Mediation by Income per Capita and Generalized Trust," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 789-810, June.
    31. Schneider, Eric B., 2020. "Collider bias in economic history research," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    32. Daniel A. Broxterman & William D. Larson, 2020. "An empirical examination of shift‐share instruments," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 677-711, September.
    33. Berggren, Niclas & Nilsson, Therese, 2016. "Tolerance in the United States: Does economic freedom transform racial, religious, political and sexual attitudes?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 45(S), pages 53-70.
    34. Jeremy J. Jackson, 2017. "Economic freedom and social capital: pooled mean group evidence," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(6), pages 370-373, March.
    35. Bakija, Jon & Heim, Bradley T., 2011. "How Does Charitable Giving Respond to Incentives and Income? New Estimates From Panel Data," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 64(2), pages 615-650, June.
    36. Jeremy Horpedahl & Jeremy Jackson & David Mitchell, 2019. "Is Economic Freedom the Hidden Path to Social Justice?," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 34(Winter 20), pages 55-74.
    37. Mark W. Frank, 2009. "Inequality And Growth In The United States: Evidence From A New State‐Level Panel Of Income Inequality Measures," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 47(1), pages 55-68, January.
    38. Boris Nikolaev, 2014. "Economic Freedom and Quality of Life: Evidence from the OECD’s Your Better Life Index," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 29(Fall 2014), pages 61-96.
    39. Leily Farrokhvar & Azadeh Ansari & Behrooz Kamali, 2018. "Predictive models for charitable giving using machine learning techniques," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(10), pages 1-14, October.
    40. Daniel L. Bennett, 2021. "Local institutional heterogeneity & firm dynamism: Decomposing the metropolitan economic freedom index," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 493-511, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jeremy Jackson, 2017. "Free to Be Happy: Economic Freedom and Happiness in US States," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1207-1229, August.
    2. Cai, Meina & Caskey, Gregory W. & Cowen, Nick & Murtazashvili, Ilia & Murtazashvili, Jennifer Brick & Salahodjaev, Raufhon, 2022. "Individualism, economic freedom, and charitable giving," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 868-884.
    3. Jeremy Horpedahl & Jeremy Jackson & David Mitchell, 2019. "Is Economic Freedom the Hidden Path to Social Justice?," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 34(Winter 20), pages 55-74.
    4. Graafland, Johan, 2023. "Economic freedom and life satisfaction: A moderated mediation model with individual autonomy and national culture," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    5. Johan Graafland, 2020. "When Does Economic Freedom Promote Well Being? On the Moderating Role of Long-Term Orientation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 127-153, May.
    6. Olalekan Charles Okunlola & Anthony E. Akinlo, 2021. "Does economic freedom enhance quality of life in Africa?," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 68(3), pages 357-387, September.
    7. Arye L. Hillman & Niklas Potrafke, 2018. "Economic Freedom and Religion," Public Finance Review, , vol. 46(2), pages 249-275, March.
    8. Choi, Ginny Seung & Storr, Virgil Henry, 2023. "The morality of markets in theory and empirics," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 590-607.
    9. Arye L. Hillman & Niklas Potrafke, 2016. "Economic Freedom and Religion: An Empirical Investigation," CESifo Working Paper Series 6017, CESifo.
    10. Johan Graafland, 2023. "On Rule of Law, Civic Virtues, Trust, and Happiness," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 1799-1824, August.
    11. Berggren, Niclas & Nilsson, Therese, 2016. "Tolerance in the United States: Does economic freedom transform racial, religious, political and sexual attitudes?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 45(S), pages 53-70.
    12. Harris, Colin & Myers, Andrew & Kaiser, Adam, 2023. "The humanizing effect of market interaction," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 489-507.
    13. Daniel L. Bennett & Boris Nikolaev, 2017. "Economic Freedom & Happiness Inequality: Friends Or Foes?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(2), pages 373-391, April.
    14. Callais, Justin & Harris, Colin & Borchard, Ben, 2022. "The moral costs of markets: Testing the deterioration hypothesis," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 200-220.
    15. Hadsell, Lester & Jones, Adam T, 2020. "The company you keep: Satisfaction with life, economic freedom, and preference-policy mismatch," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 642-657.
    16. Hans Pitlik & Martin Rode, 2014. "Free to Choose? Economic Freedom, Relative Income, and Life Control Perceptions," WIFO Working Papers 482, WIFO.
    17. Johan Graafland & Bart Compen, 2015. "Economic Freedom and Life Satisfaction: Mediation by Income per Capita and Generalized Trust," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 789-810, June.
    18. Berggren, Niclas & Nilsson, Therese, 2021. "Economic freedom and antisemitism," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 289-304, April.
    19. Joshua C. Hall & Brad R. Humphreys & Jane E. Ruseski, 2015. "Economic Freedom and Participation in Physical Activity," Working Papers 15-17, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    20. Niclas Berggren & Therese Nilsson, 2013. "Does Economic Freedom Foster Tolerance?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(2), pages 177-207, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:214:y:2023:i:c:p:148-183. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jebo .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.