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Charitable giving in the German welfare state: fiscal incentives and crowding out

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  • Timm Bönke
  • Nima Massarrat-Mashhadi
  • Christian Sielaff

Abstract

There are two ways that government activities influence private charitable giving: (1) government spending on the provision of public goods may cause crowding out of private charitable contributions; and (2) tax incentives may boost private charitable giving. From a sample of German income tax returns, we estimate the elasticity of charitable giving relative to tax incentives, income, and government spending. Using censored quantile regression analysis, we derive results for different points of the underlying distribution of charitable giving. Evaluating overall treasury efficiency, the tax deductibility of charitable donations fosters enough private giving to offset foregone tax revenues. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Timm Bönke & Nima Massarrat-Mashhadi & Christian Sielaff, 2013. "Charitable giving in the German welfare state: fiscal incentives and crowding out," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 154(1), pages 39-58, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:154:y:2013:i:1:p:39-58
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-011-9806-y
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    Cited by:

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    2. Peter Backus & Nicky Grant, 2016. "Consistent Estimation of the Tax-Price Elasticity of Charitable Giving with Survey Data," Economics Discussion Paper Series 1606, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    3. Adena, Maja, 2021. "Tax-price elasticity of charitable donations – evidence from the German taxpayer panel," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 219-235.
    4. Sarah Brown & Karl Taylor, 2019. "Charitable Behaviour and Political Ideology: Evidence for the UK," Working Papers 2019002, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics.
    5. Simixhiu, Amantia & Ziegler, Andreas, 2018. "On the relevance of income and behavioral factors for absolute and relative donations: A framed field experiment," VfS Annual Conference 2018 (Freiburg, Breisgau): Digital Economy 181600, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. YoungRok Kim, 2023. "Effects of tax benefits on the price elasticity of charitable contributions in South Korea," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 206-217, May.
    7. Giedre Lideikyte Huber & Marta Pittavino, 2022. "Who donates and how? New evidence on the tax incentives in the canton of Geneva, Switzerland," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(3), pages 758-797, September.
    8. Joern Block & Reza Fathollahi, 2023. "Foundation ownership and firm growth," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(8), pages 2633-2654, November.
    9. Wodon, Quentin & Alleyne, Betty & Cong, Lin & Mulusa, Judy & Niami, Farhad, 2014. "Accounting for Trends in Charitable Tax Deductions: Framework and Application to the District of Columbia," MPRA Paper 45392, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Bönke, Timm & Werdt, Clive, 2015. "Charitable giving and its persistent and transitory reactions to changes in tax incentives: Evidence from the German taxpayer panel," Discussion Papers 2015/2, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Charitable giving; Crowding out; Price and income elasticity; Censored quantile regression; Income tax return data; C31; H31; H53;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs

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