Revisiting the Price Elasticity of Charitable Giving: Meta-Analysis of Tax Incentives and Matching Donations

Gwen-Jiro Clochard, Shubham Dey, Shusaku Sasaki and Taisuke Imai

ISER Discussion Paper from Institute of Social and Economic Research, The University of Osaka

Abstract: This paper presents the first quantitative meta-analysis of the price elasticity of charitable giving under both rebate and matching schemes. We compile 151 elasticity estimates from 33 experimental studies and synthesize them using random-effects and multi-level models. Charitable giving is highly price-responsive: the pooled meta-analytic mean elasticity of total donations is −1.25, indicating that lowering the effective price of giving substantially increases charitable revenue. Althoughwe observe considerable between-study heterogeneity and some evidence of publication bias, bias-adjusted estimates remain negative. Furthermore, elasticity is substantially more negative under matching (−1.98) than under rebate (−0.87), contradicting the theoretical prediction of equivalence but aligning with the original experimental findings in this literature. The rebate-matching difference is attenuated when moving from laboratory to field settings, although it persists.

Date: 2025-12
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dpr:wpaper:1299

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