IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/15493.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Family Bonding with Universities

Author

Listed:
  • Jonathan Meer
  • Harvey S. Rosen

Abstract

One justification offered for legacy admissions policies at universities is that that they bind entire families to the university. Proponents maintain that these policies have a number of benefits, including increased donations from members of these families. We use a rich set of data from an anonymous selective research institution to investigate which types of family members have the most important effect upon donative behavior. We find that the effects of attendance by members of the younger generation (children, children-in-law, nieces and nephews) are greater than the effects of attendance by the older generations (parents, parents-in-law, aunts and uncles). Previous research has indicated that, in a variety of contexts, men and women differ in their altruistic behavior. However, we find that there are no statistically discernible differences between men and women in the way their donations depends on the alumni status of various types of relatives. Neither does the gender of the various types of relatives who attended the university seem to matter. Thus, for example, the impact of having a son attend the univer-sity is no different from the effect of a daughter.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathan Meer & Harvey S. Rosen, 2009. "Family Bonding with Universities," NBER Working Papers 15493, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15493
    Note: PE
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w15493.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Meer, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S., 2009. "The impact of athletic performance on alumni giving: An analysis of microdata," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 287-294, June.
    2. Monks, James, 2003. "Patterns of giving to one's alma mater among young graduates from selective institutions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 121-130, April.
    3. Huck, Steffen & Rasul, Imran & Shephard, Andrew, 2012. "Comparing charitable fundraising schemes: Evidence from a field experiment and a structural model," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Economics of Change SP II 2012-303, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    4. James Andreoni & Lise Vesterlund, 2001. "Which is the Fair Sex? Gender Differences in Altruism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(1), pages 293-312.
    5. Jonathan Meer & Harvey S. Rosen, 2009. "Altruism and the Child Cycle of Alumni Donations," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 258-286, February.
    6. Ronald G. Ehrenberg & Christopher L. Smith, 2001. "The Sources and Uses of Annual Giving at Private Research Universities," NBER Working Papers 8307, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Brendan M. Cunningham & Carlena K. Cochi-Ficano, 2002. "The Determinants of Donative Revenue Flows from Alumni of Higher Education: An Empirical Inquiry," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 37(3), pages 540-569.
    8. Marc Ground & Steven F. Koch, 2007. "Hurdle Models of Alcohol and Tobacco Expenditure in South African Households," Working Papers 200703, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    9. Thomas J. Espenshade & Chang Y. Chung, 2005. "The Opportunity Cost of Admission Preferences at Elite Universities," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 86(2), pages 293-305, June.
    10. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    11. Christen Lara & Daniel Johnson, 2014. "The anatomy of a likely donor: econometric evidence on philanthropy to higher education," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 293-304, June.
    12. Cameron Howell & Sarah E. Turner, 2003. "Legacies in Black and White: The Racial Composition of the Legacy Pool," NBER Working Papers 9448, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Florkowski, Wojciech J. & Moon, Wanki & Resurreccion, Anna V. A. & Jordanov, Jordan & Paraskova, Pavlina & Beuchat, Larry R. & Murgov, Kolyo & Chinnan, Manjeet S., 2000. "Allocation of time for meal preparation in a transition economy," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 173-183, March.
    14. Ehrenberg, R. G. & Smith, C. L., 2003. "The sources and uses of annual giving at selective private research universities and liberal arts colleges," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 223-235, June.
    15. Marc Ground & Steven F Koch, 2008. "Hurdle Models Of Alcohol And Tobacco Expenditure In South African Households1," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 76(1), pages 132-143, March.
    16. Leung, Siu Fai & Yu, Shihti, 1996. "On the choice between sample selection and two-part models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1-2), pages 197-229.
    17. Holmes, Jessica, 2009. "Prestige, charitable deductions and other determinants of alumni giving: Evidence from a highly selective liberal arts college," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 18-28, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bae, Kee-Hong & Kim, Seung-Bo & Kim, Woochan, 2012. "Family control and expropriation at not-for-profit organizations: evidence from korean private universities," MPRA Paper 44029, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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. repec:pri:cepsud:224rosen is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Meer, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S., 2011. "The ABCs of charitable solicitation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(5), pages 363-371.
    3. Jonathan Meer & Harvey S. Rosen, 2009. "Family Bonding with Universities," Working Papers 1163, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    4. repec:pri:cepsud:187rosen is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Jonathan Meer & Harvey S. Rosen, 2009. "Family Bonding with Universities," NBER Working Papers 15493, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Meer, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S., 2012. "Does generosity beget generosity? Alumni giving and undergraduate financial aid," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 890-907.
    7. Meer, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S., 2012. "Does generosity beget generosity? Alumni giving and undergraduate financial aid," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 890-907.
    8. Jonathan Meer & Harvey S. Rosen, 2011. "Does Generosity Beget Generosity? Alumni Giving and Undergraduate Financial Aid," Working Papers 1361, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    9. repec:pri:cepsud:173rosen is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Meer, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S., 2011. "The ABCs of charitable solicitation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(5-6), pages 363-371, June.
    11. Jonathan Meer & Harvey S. Rosen, 2008. "The ABCs of Charitable Solicitation," Working Papers 1057, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    12. Meer, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S., 2009. "The impact of athletic performance on alumni giving: An analysis of microdata," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 287-294, June.
    13. Phanindra V. Wunnava & Albert A. Okunade, 2013. "Do Business Executives Give More to Their Alma Mater? Longitudinal Evidence from a Large University," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(3), pages 761-778, July.
    14. Meer, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S., 2009. "The impact of athletic performance on alumni giving: An analysis of microdata," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 287-294, June.
    15. Jonathan Meer & Harvey S. Rosen, 2008. "The Impact of Athletic Performance on Alumni Giving: An Analysis of Micro Data," Working Papers 1046, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    16. repec:pri:cepsud:162rosen is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Jeffrey R. Brown & Stephen G. Dimmock & Scott Weisbenner, 2012. "The Supply of and Demand for Charitable Donations to Higher Education," NBER Chapters, in: How the Financial Crisis and Great Recession Affected Higher Education, pages 151-174, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Meer, Jonathan, 2011. "Brother, can you spare a dime? Peer pressure in charitable solicitation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7-8), pages 926-941, August.
    19. Leiyu Mo & Yuting Zhu, 2022. "How Is Alumni Giving Affected by Satisfactory Campus Experience? Analysis of an Industry-Research-Oriented University in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-17, June.
    20. Jonathan Meer & Harvey S. Rosen, 2007. "Altruism and the Child-Cycle of Alumni Giving," NBER Working Papers 13152, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Bao, Jingyuan & Durango-Cohen, Elizabeth J. & Levontin, Liat & Durango-Cohen, Pablo L., 2022. "Analysis of factors influencing recurring donations in a university setting: A compound poisson mixture regression model," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 489-503.
    22. Jonathan Meer, "undated". "Brother Can You Spare a Dime? Peer Effects in Charitable Solicitation," Discussion Papers 08-035, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    23. Marr, Kelly A. & Mullin, Charles H. & Siegfried, John J., 2005. "Undergraduate financial aid and subsequent alumni giving behavior," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 123-143, February.
    24. Christen Lara & Daniel Johnson, 2014. "The anatomy of a likely donor: econometric evidence on philanthropy to higher education," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 293-304, June.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:nbr:nberwo:15493. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    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.