Income inequality in Italian regions: an empirical study on the mitigating role of organisation-based volunteering

Umberto Maggio (), Giuseppe Notarstefano () and Giuseppe Terzo ()
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Umberto Maggio: Libera Università Maria SS. Assunta, Department of Law, Economics and Communication
Giuseppe Notarstefano: Libera Università Maria SS. Assunta, Department of Law, Economics and Communication
Giuseppe Terzo: Libera Università Maria SS. Assunta, Department of Law, Economics and Communication

The Annals of Regional Science, 2025, vol. 74, issue 2, No 3, 25 pages

Abstract: Abstract This article examines the relationship between organisation-based volunteering and income inequality in Italian NUTS-2 regions. We propose a conceptual framework that illustrates how formal volunteering, through various mechanisms, broadens citizens’ opportunities and fosters equality of opportunity, ultimately contributing to a more equitable economic welfare. We test this framework through an econometric analysis on a panel of 21 Italian NUTS-2 regions covering the period from 2010 to 2020. Consistent with theoretical expectations, we find a negative relationship between organisation-based volunteering and household income inequality. These results, which are robust across several issues and scenarios, emphasise the need to design regional welfare policies where organised civil society might play, in a circular welfare perspective, a pivotal role in producing goods and services of general interest that are essential to support people’s empowerment and ensure more inclusive regional development paths.

JEL-codes: D64 I31 J24 L31 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s00168-025-01372-8

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