public funding and the voluntary sector
TRANSCRIPT
Public funding and the voluntary sector
Arjen de Wit Philanthropic Studies, VU University Amsterdam
ESRC Public Policy Seminar University of Kent, Canterbury
17 September 2015
Theories of altruism
Behavioural economics
Utility function includes preference for provision of public good
Public good can be provided in different ways
Theories of altruism
Behavioural economics
Utility function includes preference for provision of public good
Public good can be provided in different ways
voluntary work, charitable donations and government expenditures are substitutes
Giving money or giving time?
People who volunteer are…
Older
Higher educated
Higher incomes
Wealthier
Frequent churchgoers
Giving money or giving time?
People who volunteer are…
Older
Higher educated
Higher incomes
Wealthier
Frequent churchgoers
People who give are…
Older
Higher educated
Higher incomes
Wealthier
Frequent churchgoers
Giving money or giving time?
Profile of volunteers and charitable donors are quite similar
Besides altruism, there are many other mechanisms like ‘warm glow’ of giving, values, social pressure, etc. etc.
So maybe giving and volunteering are complements
Giving money or giving time?
Profile of volunteers and charitable donors are quite similar
Besides altruism, there are many other mechanisms like ‘warm glow’ of giving, values, social pressure, etc. etc.
So maybe giving and volunteering are complements
and _
Giving money or giving time?
Profile of volunteers and charitable donors are quite similar
Besides altruism, there are many other mechanisms like ‘warm glow’ of giving, values, social pressure, etc. etc.
So maybe giving and volunteering are complements
and ! _
“Civic core”
(Reed & Selbee, 2001)
Local active citizenship in The Netherlands
Shifting policies
The crowding-out hypothesis
Alexis de Tocqueville 1840
Robert Nisbet 1953
Milton Friedman 1962
The crowding-out hypothesis
“For every welfare state, if social obligations become increasingly public, then its institutional arrangements crowd out private obligations or make them at least no longer necessary” (Van Oorschot and Arts 2005: 2)
Alexis de Tocqueville 1840
Robert Nisbet 1953
Milton Friedman 1962
Possible welfare state effects
Altruism: Donors and volunteers provide services that are left over
Organisations: Public funding changes reputations and strategies of nonprofit organisations
Resources: Welfare state arrangements affect levels of income, wealth, education
Values: People adopt values of universalism, solidarity from the institutions surrounding them
What's the evidence?
What's the evidence?
What's the evidence?
What's the evidence?
Valid testing?
Laboratory experiments in which undergraduate students don't decide over their own money, are aware of participating in research and have full information
Aggregate measures of non-profit revenue sources
How about volunteering?
A closer look
Macro: what are the rates of voluntary contributions across welfare states?
Meso: How are changes in subsidies related to changes in voluntary contributions to organisations?
Micro: how do people respond to actual policy changes?
A closer look
Macro: what are the rates of voluntary contributions across welfare states?
Meso: How are changes in subsidies related to changes in voluntary contributions to organisations?
Micro: how do people respond to actual policy changes?
Cross-country comparison
European Social Survey 2002
Donations to “For each of the voluntary organisations I will now mention, please use this card to tell me whether any of these things apply to you now or in the last 12 months, and, if so, which”
− Donated money
− Voluntary work
Country-level: IMF/OECD 2001
Cross-country comparison
Cross-country comparison
Cross-country comparison
Cross-country comparison
Cross-country comparison
Cross-country comparison
A closer look
Macro: what are the rates of voluntary contributions across welfare states?
Meso: How are changes in subsidies related to changes in voluntary contributions to organisations?
Micro: how do people respond to actual policy changes?
Subsidies and donations over time
The Giving in the Netherlands Panel Survey (GINPS)
– n = 1,879
Central Bureau on Fundraising (CBF)
– 17 organisations
Newspaper articles through LexisNexis
No clear trend
Budget cuts on development aid
More subsidies to the Salvation Army
Budget cuts are covered in the news
...but what about extra funding?
No strong association on average
Results from first-difference regression models with fixed-effects for organization and year
No strong association on average
Results from first-difference regression models with fixed-effects for organization and year
No strong association on average
Results from first-difference regression models with fixed-effects for organization and year
No strong association on average
Results from first-difference regression models with fixed-effects for organization and year
*
A closer look
Macro: what are the rates of voluntary contributions across welfare states?
Meso: How are changes in subsidies related to changes in voluntary contributions to organisations?
Micro: how do people respond to actual policy changes?
How the Dutch respond to cutbacks
Giving in the Netherlands Panel Survey 2012 (n=1,448)
“With your household you donated €100 to health in the past year. If the government cuts 5% in this area, how would you react?”
How the Dutch respond to cutbacks
Why don't we find crowding-out?
Why don't we find crowding-out?
It doesn't exist
Why don't we find crowding-out?
It doesn't exist
The Netherlands is different from the US
Why don't we find crowding-out?
It doesn't exist
The Netherlands is different from the US
People don’t know about all government policies
Why don't we find crowding-out?
It doesn't exist
The Netherlands is different from the US
People don’t know about all government policies
There are many more reasons to donate
Why don't we find crowding-out?
It doesn't exist
The Netherlands is different from the US
People don’t know about all government policies
There are many more reasons to donate
Other mechanisms (organisations, resources, values) suppress the effect
Why don't we find crowding-out?
It doesn't exist
The Netherlands is different from the US
People don’t know about all government policies
There are many more reasons to donate
Other mechanisms (organisations, resources, values) suppress the effect
It depends on the organisational context
Summing up
Theories of altruism predict that volunteering can be substituted by charitable giving or public funding
This is not likely to occur
Same predictors of giving money and giving time
People don’t know and don’t care about government subsidies
