Effects of Volunteering for Nonprofit Organizations on Social Capital Formation: Evidence from a Statewide Survey

Jane Kolodinsky, Garret Kimberly and Jonathan Isham ()

Middlebury College Working Paper Series from Middlebury College, Department of Economics

Abstract: As membership in traditional civic organizations declines in the United States (Putnam, 2000), could volunteering for nonprofit organizations be an alternative source of social capital formation? We use an updated household production framework (Becker, 1996) to theoretically connect volunteering with two forms of social capital: social connections and civic capacity. Using a unique statewide data set from Vermont, we then use the Cragg (1971) model to estimate the determinants of the probability of receiving a social capital benefit, and the level of such a benefit. We first show that the probability of receiving a social connection or a civic capacity benefit from one's most important nonprofit organization is increased: (a) if it is a religious or social service organization; (b) if one increases their volunteering for the organizations; and (c) if one is female, college educated or in a two-parent family. However, the relative magnitude of volunteering is similar, or relatively small, compared to the other significant determinants. We then show that an increase of volunteer hours does increase the levels of social connection and civic capacity, but the magnitude of this effect is also relatively small.

Keywords: household production; civic engagement; social capital; volunteering (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2004-08
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Working Paper: The Effects of Volunteering for Non-profit Organizations on Social Capital Formation: Evidence from a Statewide Survey (2003)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mdl:mdlpap:0305r

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