The social support returns to college education in China: Evidence from online medical crowdfunding

Xiaoting Zheng, Anqi Wu and Xuejing Wei

China Economic Review, 2023, vol. 79, issue C

Abstract: Attaining a college education bestows advantages in the labor market, but it is undetermined whether a college education could also benefit those in need of assistance. Using a unique dataset from a large online medical crowdfunding platform based in China, this paper investigates the social support returns to college education. Our study finds that patients attaining college education would raise 88.1% more funds through medical crowdfunding. A variety of identification strategies suggest that the relationship is causal. By examining the potential mechanism, we conclude that college-educated patients have more detailed narratives and have more school-related social connections who are willing to verify and distribute the campaigns, attracting more supporters and ultimately raising more funds.

Keywords: Medical crowdfunding; Social support; Social network; Fundraising; Returns to Education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chieco:v:79:y:2023:i:c:s1043951x23000639

DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2023.101978

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