Matching ~Subsidies and Voluntary Contributions: a review

an article by Raphael Epperson (University of Mannheim, Germany) and Christiane Reif (Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems, Halle, Germany) published in Journal of Economic Surveys Volume 33 Issue 5 (December 2019)

Abstract

This paper provides a synthesis of the experimental literature on matching subsidies in the context of charitable giving.

We classify results according to four different outcome variables frequently considered in the literature and address:

1. short-term effects of linear matching,
2. the role of the matching rate,
3. context-dependence of behavioural responses,
4. the relevance of the price of giving,
5. long-term effects, and
6. nonlinear matching schemes.

Based on this comprehensive review, we highlight several avenues for future research, such as putting stronger emphasis on competition in fundraising, long-term effects or heterogeneity in responses.

Full text (PDF 24pp)

Labels:
charitable_giving, experiments, fundraising, matching_subsidy, voluntary_public_good_provision,

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