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01-03-2021

The association between charitable giving and happiness: Evidence from the Chinese General Social Survey

Authors: Xiaoting Zheng, Jiayue Chen, Yipeng Li

Published in: Quality & Quantity | Issue 6/2021

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Abstract

Using the 2012 Chinese General Social Survey data set and the ratio of charitable giving at the community level as the instrumental variable, we investigated the non-instantaneous impacts of charitable giving on the donor’s subjective well-being (SWB). The results indicate that charitable giving is positively correlated with SWB in the ordinary least squares regressions, ordered probit and 2SLS regressions. The above results are robust after eliminating students from the sample, using the propensity score matching method, or converting SWB to a dummy variable. There is no evidence that fundraising in state-owned enterprises will have a detrimental effect on the SWB of donors.

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http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2018-09/21/content_5324340.htm

https://givingusa.org/tag/giving-usa-2018/

https://www.cafonline.org/docs/default-source/about-us-publications/caf_wgi2018_report_webnopw_2379a_261018.pdf

The CAF World Giving Index 2018 examined three specific giving behaviors: donating money, volunteering time, and helping a stranger.

Andreoni (2006), Andreoni and Payne(2013) and Zheng and Qian(2014) present detailed literature reviews on charitable giving. Bekkers and Wiepking (2011) reviewed studies from different disciplines and categorized all motives into eight mechanisms as the most important forces that drive charitable giving: (a) awareness of need; (b) solicitation; (c) costs and benefits; (d) altruism;(e) reputation; (f) psychological benefits; (g) values; (h) efficacy.

See Bekkers and Wiepking (2011) and Table 11 for details.

There is a question in the CGSS 2012 that “In 2011, did you donate to the following specific charity sectors respectively? How much is the donation to each sector respectively in RMB? 1. Religious;2. Poverty Alleviation and Disaster Relief; 3. Health and Medical; 4. Education; 5. Environment and Animal Protection; 6. Culture and Art Protection; 7. Neighborhood and Community service;8. Comprehensive; 9. Others”.

The corresponding question is: ‘‘In our society, some people are in the upper classes of society, while some people are in the lower classes of society. Which level do you think you are in?’’ The question displays a scale of answer options range from 1 to 10 and a higher number indicates higher social status.

“ratio of giving” equals to the total number of donors in a community divided by the total number of respondents in a same community. If the respondent is a donor, the corresponding “ratio of giving” is the total number of donors minus 1 divided the total number of respondents in a community.

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Title: The association between charitable giving and happiness: Evidence from the Chinese General Social Survey
Authors: Xiaoting Zheng
Jiayue Chen
Yipeng Li
Publication date: 01-03-2021
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: Quality & Quantity / Issue 6/2021
Print ISSN: 0033-5177
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7845
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-021-01104-y

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