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

Sarah Smith, Frank Windmeijer and Edmund Wright ()

The Centre for Market and Public Organisation from The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK

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. We analyse a unique dataset of donations to online fundraising pages to provide evidence on the direction and magnitude of peer effects – we find that a £10 increase in the mean of past donations increases giving by £3.50, on average. We also explore potential explanations for why peers matter. We find no evidence that donations provide a signal of charity quality, nor any role for fundraising targets. Our preferred explanation is that donors benchmark themselves against the distribution of donations from their peers.

Keywords: charitable giving; peer effects; donations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2012-06
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Peer Effects in Charitable Giving: Evidence from the (Running) Field (2015)
Working Paper: Peer effects in charitable giving: Evidence from the (running) field (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bri:cmpowp:12/290

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