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Peer effects in charitable giving: Evidence from the (running) field

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Listed:
  • Sarah Smith
  • Frank Windmeijer
  • Edmund Wright

Abstract

There is a widespread belief that peer effects are important in charitable giving, but surprisingly little evidence on how donors respond to their peers in practice. Analysing a unique dataset of donations to online fundraising pages, we show that peer effects are positive and sizeable: a £10 increase in the mean of past donations increases giving by £2.50, on average. We show that donations respond to large and small donations and to changes in the mode. We find little evidence that donations signal charity quality – our preferred explanation is that donors use information on (the distribution of) earlier donations to decide what is appropriate for them to give.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Smith & Frank Windmeijer & Edmund Wright, 2013. "Peer effects in charitable giving: Evidence from the (running) field," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 13/302, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    • Handle: RePEc:bri:cmpowp:13/302
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    File URL: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/cmpo/publications/papers/2013/wp302.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    charitable giving; peer effects; donations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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