THE IMPACT OF TAX PRICE CHANGES ON CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NEEDY

Eliminating or reducing the federal charitable deduction can have serious impacts on the level of charitable donations. Tax price elasticity estimates from a multivariate sample selection model indicate that changing the deduction to a 12% tax credit would have reduced individual donations in 2012 by 18.9% if applied to itemizing taxpayers and by 10.5% if extended to nonitemizers. Elimination of the deduction would have led to a 35% reduction in individual charitable donations. Even if coupled with cuts in marginal tax rates, eliminating the charitable deduction will still likely result in substantial reductions given the inelastic income elasticities of charitable donations. The estimates justify the ardent opposition of many in the nonprofit sector to the more radical proposals for changing the tax treatment of charitable contributions. (JEL D34, C34)     

人民币汇率与股票价格关系的实证研究

本文以我国2005年7月21日汇率形成机制改革为界,分别分析了我国2001年1月2日～2005年7月20日(Ⅰ段)和2005年7月21日～2007年12月28日(Ⅱ段)人民币兑美元汇率中间价与上证综指收盘价之间的关系。结果表明:实行有管理的浮动汇率制后,人民币兑美元汇率对上证综指有着显著的短期动态影响,且两变量序列之间存在协整关系;人民币兑美元汇率与上证综指间存在显著的双向波动溢出,且波动溢出均存在不对称性。实行有管理的浮动汇率制后,两市场间的波动溢出效应更为显著。     

Nutrition and the fertility of younger women in Kinshasa,Zaire

This paper examines the relationship between various measures of household nutrition and fertility in Zaire (where malnutrition is rampant), in particular, the total effect of these nutrition measures on the length of time between births when infant mortality rates are held constant. Closed birth intervals (including average birth interval and length of 1st and 2nd closed birth intervals) and probability of occurrence of 2nd birth after the 1st birth, whether or not the 2nd birth occurred before the survey date, are examined to provide support to the hypothesis that there is a negative relationship between calorie consumption and interval between births. Data used for analysis are households (taken from the 1969 Socio-Economic Survey of Kinshasa) headed by a man with only 1 wife (aged 20-24 years at survey date). The main policy implication of the study is that rises in calorie consumption associated with the early stages of modernization may be expected to increase fertility in noncontracepting populations if there is no change in infant mortality rates. If infant mortlaity declines, the total effect of an increase in calorie consumption on the fertility of women is ambiguous. Another implication is that if calorie consumption can be held constant and protein consumption increases, both infant mortality and fertility may fall. A fall in infant mortality may result in a fall in fertility, although the average length of the period of postpartum amenorrhea may fall. A combined examination of similar data from other cities of Zaire and a cross time study of other data sets may help unravel the complex biological and behavioral determinants of fertility.     

中国富人慈善事业的现状与对策——基于社会交换理论的分析

由于受传统文化、激励机制不完善、相关法律法规滞后的影响,中国的富人慈善事业存在着捐赠量较小、捐赠领域不均衡、慈善载体公信力不足等问题,未充分发挥其在实现社会公平方面的作用。文章利用社会交换理论,分析了从事社会慈善事业给富人自身及其拥有的企业、基金会等带来的内在和外在的收益,并有针对性地对其进一步发展提出了建议。     

Precautionary savings and the governance of nonprofit organizations

We present a model of nonprofit governance built on two assumptions: (1) organizations wish to hold precautionary savings in order to smooth expenditures; and (2) it is relatively easy for managers to divert these funds for personal use. Hence, donors face a trade off between expenditure smoothing and donation dissipation. We examine the model's predictions using panel data on U.S. nonprofits. We show that organizations in states with poor government oversight have managerial compensation that is more highly correlated with inflows of donations and allocate a smaller percentage of donations to the endowment for future expenditures relative to organizations in strong oversight states.     

Donations in a recursive dynamic model

Abstract.  This paper studies how donations respond to unexpected permanent changes in income and tax rates in a recursive dynamic model. The dynamic approach yields several interesting insights. If marginal tax rates are progressive, a permanent jump in a household's income increases its consumption and donations in the short run, but has no effect in the long run. The permanent income elasticity of current donations is likely to exceed one. If the marginal tax rate is flat, the jump in income raises consumption and donations in both the short and the long run. A permanent marginal tax rate cut raises consumption and donations in the long run if marginal tax rates are progressive, while it reduces donations in the short run if it has little direct impact on tax payments. If the marginal tax rate is flat, a tax cut has a positive effect on consumption in both the short and the long run, but has an ambiguous effect on donations.     

汇率波动、货币政策传导渠道及有效性——兼论"不可能三角"在我国的适用性

本文尝试把人民币汇率波动纳入货币政策中介目标监控体系,采用1996年1季度至2008年2季度的季度数据进行实证检验。研究表明:(1)我国货币政策是通过货币渠道来影响实际经济总量的,并且狭义货币供应量更能实现对实际产出目标的传导和调控;(2)人民币汇率波动的扩大会减少货币供应量;(3)不可能三角在我国是成立的;(4)将人民币汇率波动纳入货币政策中介目标监控体系能提高货币政策的有效性。     

论公司慈善捐赠的信息披露——制度构建的必要性与可行性研究

公司慈善捐赠信息披露问题在国内外存在很大争议。是否要求公司强制披露慈善捐赠信息要考虑公司慈善捐赠对理性投资者的影响以及公司保护自身商业秘密的需求,而公司慈善捐赠信息披露对伦理投资者的投资选择也有重大影响。公司具有自愿披露慈善捐赠信息的动机,但在我国建立以强制性信息披露为主的慈善捐赠信息披露制度。是为了保护公司利益相关者的知情权、规制公司经营者在慈善捐赠中可能出现的自利行为和不负责行为。当前我国公司慈善捐赠信息披露还存在很大的随意性和不一致性,我国《公司法》、《征券法l-》应明确规定公司慈善捐赠信息披露的形式、内容,要求公司强制披露重大慈善捐赠的决策主体、决议程序、捐赠数额、捐赠对象、受赠人与公司经营层的关系等信息,并建立信息披露豁免配套制度。     

中美两国基础研究社会捐赠比较及对我国的启示

鼓励多元化投入基础研究的国家政策频繁出台，使社会捐赠作为基础研究投入来源引起学者普遍关注。美国运用社会资本进行科研捐赠具有多年发展经验，在支持生命科学、数学、物理学等前沿基础研究领域取得较好成效。为考察我国基础研究社会捐赠现状，对中美两国社会捐赠框架、科研投入多元化格局、捐赠激励政策、非营利机构布局及社会捐赠瓶颈等内容进行对比，从增设基础研究捐赠类目、成立基础研究专项基金会、完善基础研究捐赠税收优惠政策和积极吸收社会小额捐款4个方面提出适合我国国情的基础研究社会捐赠政策措施。     

Are contributions of time and money substitutes or complements?

This article empirically investigates the relationship between donations of time and money using Canadian tax policy reforms that changed the tax price of charitable donations. The 1988 reform where a charitable tax deduction was converted to a credit and the 2000 reform in provincial income taxes provide tax price variations plausibly exogenous to individuals’ unobserved heterogeneity. Our estimates on cross-price effects imply that individuals make more time donations as the tax price of charitable donations increases and hence money and time donations are substitutes, as some theories would imply. This contrasts with earlier findings using cross-sectional data.     

Competition, Contractibility, and the Market for Donors to Nonprofits

This article investigates theoretically and empirically theeffects of competition for donors on the behavior of nonprofitorganizations. Theoretically, we consider a situation in whichnonprofit organizations use donations to produce some commodity,but the use of donations is only partially contractible. Themain results of the model indicate that an increase in competition(i) decreases the fraction of donations allocated to perquisiteconsumption and (ii) increases the fraction of donations allocatedto promotional expenditures. Moreover, the effects of competitionare magnified by the ability to contract on the use of donations.These hypotheses are tested with data on the expenditures ofnonprofit organizations in a number of subsectors where competitionis primarily local. We use across–metropolitan statisticalareas' variation to measure differences in competition and proxycontractibility by the importance of tangible assets, whichare more easily observed by donors. The estimated effects ofcompetition and contractibility are consistent with our model.     

政治关联、慈善捐赠与政府补助*--来自中国亏损上市公司的经验证据

文章以2009－2012年中国亏损上市公司作为研究样本,运用社会网络理论,分析和检验了高管的政治关联对亏损企业通过慈善捐赠行为获得政府补助的影响。研究结果表明：第一,有政治关联的亏损企业比无政治关联的亏损企业更容易出于获取政府支持而进行慈善捐赠,高管的政治关联广度相对于其政治关联深度对亏损企业慈善捐赠的正向影响更大,同时高管的地方政治关联相对于其中央政治关联对亏损企业慈善捐赠的正向影响也更大;第二,基于“利益互惠”的原则以及对企业积极履行社会责任的鼓励,政府通常会倾向于对进行慈善捐赠的企业给予更多的补助;第三,相对于无政治关联的亏损企业,有政治关联的亏损企业的慈善捐赠能够帮助其获得更多的政府补助,相对于中央政治关联,地方政治关联对亏损企业通过慈善捐赠获得政府补助的“支持效应”更加明显,同时政治关联广度更宽的亏损企业也通过慈善捐赠获得了更多的政府补助。文章的研究结论深化了对中国亏损上市公司慈善捐赠的动机及其经济后果的认识,为相关部门规范企业慈善行为也提供了有益的启示。     

Does It Matter if You Are Observed by Others? Evidence from Donations in the Field*

We investigate whether people's donations in the field are affected by the presence of others. In the analysis, we distinguish between individuals who arrived at a national park alone and those who arrived as members of a group. We also investigated the effect of donations being made in the presence of a third party made in the presence of a third party. We find that donations are significantly more frequent for individuals who are members of a group. When a third party is present, we find that the total donations by individuals who are a part of a group are significantly higher than those of lone travelers, mainly because of the increased probability of donating.     

Functionality development dynamism in a diffusion trajectory: A case of Japan's mobile phones development

While it is generally accepted that Information Technology (IT) has a self-propagating function which ensures that the more widespread its use, the greater its functionality, its emerging dynamism remains a black box.This paper attempts to shed some light on this dynamism through utilizing monthly trend data for the number of Japan's mobile phone subscribers over the last 12 years. A bi-logistic growth model demonstrating the diffusion trajectory initiated by both generations of mobile phones was constructed, with the goal of identifying the increase in the functionality development in the transition from traditional mobile phones with a simple communication function (1st wave mobile phone) to mobile phones with an Internet protocol function (2nd wave mobile phone).Through an empirical analysis utilizing the bi-logistic growth model, it was determined that the 2nd wave mobile phone emerged at an earlier stage of diffusion trajectory than the 1st stage mobile phone, which enabled a sustainable functionality development in Japan's mobile phones over the decade.Factors governing a dramatic decrease in mobile phones prices were analyzed, utilizing the result of the measurement of functionality development. This led to the discovery that while an increase in functionality development enhanced the price of mobile phones, this increase accelerated self-propagating diffusion, thereby enabling a dramatic reduction in prices through the effects of learning exercise and economies of scale.Based on the foregoing findings, the driving forces of self-propagating functionality development were analyzed, and it was determined that effective utilization of potential resources in innovation (e.g., assimilation of spillover technology and learning effects) is the key driving forces behind self-propagating functionality development.     

The information matrix test: Simplified calculation via a score test interpretation

In Chesher (1982) I show that the Information Matrix test introduced by White (1982) is a score test for parameter constancy. In this letter I show that this result leads to a simple computational procedure for calculating the Information Matrix test. The procedure involves computing, for a sample of n observations, n times the R² from the least squares regression of a column of ones on a matrix whose elements are functions of 1st and 2nd derivatives of the log density function.     

Is the income elasticity of environmental improvements less than one?

We estimated the income elasticity of environmental improvements for a number of European data-sets. The value of this parameter is consistently found to be less than one, with few exceptions. Our findings are compared with state-of-the-art contingent valuation studies from other countries. We also compared our findings with those reported in the literature on charitable donations and corporate donations. These studies show a similar pattern; donations decrease as a percentage of income, as income increases.     

AN EVALUATION OF FINANCIAL INCENTIVE POLICIES FOR ORGAN DONATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES

This paper examines the association between financial incentives and organ donations. Although the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 prohibits financial compensation for organs for transplant, we focus on the impact of laws that influence the relative cost of deceased and live organ donations on the supply of organs for transplant. First, we hypothesize that states that have relatively stringent funeral regulations, which have been associated with higher whole‐body donations, will have fewer organ donations. Second, we examine the impact of two common state laws that offer financial compensation to live donors: one that allows a tax deduction for costs incurred and the other which entitles government employees up to 30 days of paid leave. We find no evidence to support that these laws affect organ donations. (JEL I11, I18)     

Donation Payment Mechanisms and Contingent Valuation: An Empirical Study of Hypothetical Bias

Donation payment mechanisms are well suited forsome contingent valuation studies. In aneffort to better understand the discrepancythat has been consistently found between actualand hypothetical donations, we investigate anapproach to estimating actual willingness todonate using contingent donations with afollow-up question in which respondents ratethe level of certainty about their response tothe contingent donation question. The approachallows us to estimate the magnitude of thehypothetical bias and identify the respondentsresponsible for the bias. Identification ofthe respondents responsible for thehypothetical bias is the first step towarddeveloping an understanding of the causes andpossible remedies. In this study we find thatmost of the respondents (80%) to thecontingent donation question provide a responseconsistent with how we predict they wouldrespond in an actual donation situation.     

The impact of taxes and wasteful government spending on giving

We examine how taxes impact charitable giving and how this relationship is affected by the degree of wasteful government spending. In our model, individuals make donations to charities knowing that the government collects a flat-rate tax on income (net of charitable donations) and redistributes part of the tax revenue. The rest of the tax revenue is wasted. The model predicts that a higher tax rate increases charitable donations. Surprisingly, the model shows that a higher degree of waste decreases donations (when the elasticity of marginal utility with respect to consumption is high enough). We test the model’s predictions using a laboratory experiment with actual donations to charities and find that the tax rate has an insignificant effect on giving. The degree of waste, however, has a large, negative and highly significant effect on giving.

     

A restriction on lobbyist donations

This paper studies the consequences of a fine for violating a ceiling on permissible donations in a competition for a political prize. Increasing the fine can increase or decrease the amount of expected donations in equilibrium.