Property Tax Assessment Reform: A Source of Local Revenue Windfall or Fiscal Retrenchment

Abstract . Researchers, state officials and taxpayers have often speculated that property tax assessment reform would lead to an increase in the overall tax burden. They contend that, given the large non-discretionary increase in the tax base during the reform, local governments can raise more resources without increasing the nominal tax rate. An empirical analysis of 74 towns in New York supports that position. However, two types of tax shifts that occurred in the wake of reassessment—interclass shifts of tax burden to the owners of residential propertieskovn the other property classes and intra-class shifts observed among residential property owners—have caused significant moderation in this pattern of local government behavior. Therefore, tax reform, while it bestows revenue windfalls upon some local governments, may require fiscal retrenchment by others.     

The giving standard: conditional cooperation in the case of charitable giving

• In this study, we make a first attempt to investigate the mechanisms of conditional cooperation in giving outside experiments, using retrospective survey data on charitable giving (the Giving the Netherlands Panel Study 2005 (GINPS05, 2005 ; N = 1474)). Our results show that in the case of door‐to‐door donations, social information affects perceived social norms for giving and, through this perception, influences the level of actual donations. The effect of social information on actual door‐to‐door donations is fully mediated by perceived social norms for giving. Furthermore, we found empirical support for the giving standard hypothesis. People in different income categories donate roughly the same amounts in separate instances (they use the same social information), and as a result people in lower income households donate a higher percentage of their income to charitable organizations.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tourism donations in sacred settings: an exploratory study of visitor donations in an English cathedral

• This paper explores visitor behaviour in relation to making donations for Chichester Cathedral upkeep. It found that 94% of respondents were aware of the donation appeals and that 71% of them went on to make a donation, with the visitors aged 50 to 69 years and living within 25 mi of the Cathedral being the most frequent and generous donors. When asked to suggest what they would consider an appropriate donation, 44% of respondents gave a figure between £1 and £2. This paper argues that the present donation management measures at Chichester Cathedral are insufficient to bring the desired income and makes recommendations on the measures that Cathedral managers can implement to increase visitor donations. Among these recommendations, the most significant are the profiling of visitors, the identification and targeting of donors' personal meanings to give a donation and, in the case of Chichester Cathedral, to specifically target these meanings on their local, middle‐aged visitors.

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Use of donor‐specified donation splitting: a technique to understand the impact of financial management on donor trust

• Two experiments investigated donors' willingness to split their donation into a proportion that the charity could use for administration costs and a portion that could be used to deliver the charity's services. Experiment 1 found that participants in the condition given the opportunity to split their donation into an amount for administration costs and an amount for service delivery gave a significantly smaller proportion of their overall donation to administration costs, when compared with participants in another condition who were simply asked what proportion of their donation they would be happy for the organization to use for administration costs. Experiment 2 manipulated the amount of information participants (donors) received about the breakdown of a charity's administration costs but found no significant change in the amount donated to administration. Both experiments show that donors were willing to donate approximately 15% of their donation directly to charity administration costs. Results are discussed in terms of understanding how a charity's financial management might be influencing donor's trust in the charity and providing charities with a degree of certainty in the proportion of donations they can spend on administration costs.

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

To pay or not to pay — the role of monetary incentives in an optimal blood donation service bundle

• This study derives four attributes that make up the typical blood donation service bundle. It focuses on the role of monetary incentives in such bundles, but also discusses three other attributes, namely the offering organization, the distance to donation location, and the donation time. Each attribute is discussed in the context of a blood donation marketing mix. In an empirical conjoint study, 529 potential blood donors evaluate different designs of blood donation service bundles. Monetary incentives are found to be the most important factor when donors compare different blood donation service bundles. It is found that the distance to the donation location is almost as important as monetary incentives. Blood donation organizations aiming to collect all blood donations from unremunerated blood donors should therefore shape their service bundles to be attractive for potential blood donors. It is concluded that nonpaying blood donation organizations have to offer superior convenience to their donors to be able to compensate for not offering monetary incentives. Operating with mobile donation teams is one of the concrete suggestions for blood donation marketing that are given in this study.

Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Motivation for alumni donations: a social identity perspective on the role of branding in higher education

• As a result of decreasing government funds and increasing competition, institutions of higher education have propelled themselves into business practices such as branding. Despite the growing literature on branding in higher education, there is little research on the relationship between alumni donor motivations and the university brand. This study explores donor motivations from social identity and self‐congruity theoretical perspectives. The authors used zero‐inflated negative binomial regression to assess the relationship between identification and count of donations. The results showed that if the level of identification with the university increased, the expected number of donations would also increase. The study further assessing the “zeros” (non‐donors), the results suggested that if an alumnus were to identify with the university, he would be 43% less likely to be “certain zero” (definitive non‐donor) and would find a way to give money. Additionally, the authors analyzed responses about why alumni donate and why they choose not to donate. The authors offered observations on the basis of respondent commentary and also raised the question of what happens when university branding efforts conflict with the perceptions of a large stakeholder group such as alumni.

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Vermont Land Gains Tax Experience With It Provides a Useful Lesson in the Design of Modern Land Policy

Abstract . Vermont is currently the only state which employs a special capital gains tax on certain land sales. A comparison between the Vermont land gains tax and Henry George's Single Tax provides a useful lesson in the design of modern land policy. The Vermont tax is aimed at discouraging short run land speculation, while the Single Tax seeks to discourage the long term quasimonopoly of land ownership. The Single Tax would capture unearned increments to land value while the Vermont tax applies only to realized capital gains and tends to reward long term speculators. An empirical analysis of the Vermont tax reveals that tax revenues have been small, and that the tax has not prevented a rise in land values. In fact, the Vermont tax may have increased land prices by restricting available land supply. Although the Vermont tax intended to curb speculation and reduce land subdivision activity, it is not a substitute for land use planning and carefully designed growth control ordinances and regulations.     

Federal deductibility and local property tax rates

Recent econometric work has suggested that federal deductibility of state and local taxes has raised the proportion of these taxes—especially property taxes—in local budgets. This paper lends additional support to these earlier findings by showing that one channel through which deductibility leads to higher local property tax revenues is by increasing the rate of local property taxation. Specifically, we find that if deductibility were eliminated, the mean property tax rate in our sample would fall by 0.00715 ($7.15 per $1000 of assessed property), or 21.1% of the mean tax rate.     

Money donations,volunteering and organizational efficiency

The purpose of this article is to explain the cross-sectional variation in money donations to charities at the organizational level. Using a unique data base which includes volunteer labor data, this article tests the hypotheses that money donations are positively related to volunteering and the technical efficiency of the firm. Technical efficiency is measured by a number of non-parametric indices. The empirical results indicateinter alia that the more technically efficient the charity, the more money donations it is able to raise. Moreoer, at least for one model, money donations and volunteering are found to be complementary at the organizational level. In addition, the results in this article are not consistent with the well-known hypothesis that government financing crowds out private donations.     

Testing block‐diagonal covariance structure for high‐dimensional data

A test statistic is developed for making inference about a block‐diagonal structure of the covariance matrix when the dimensionality p exceeds n, where n = N ? 1 and N denotes the sample size. The suggested procedure extends the complete independence results. Because the classical hypothesis testing methods based on the likelihood ratio degenerate when p > n, the main idea is to turn instead to a distance function between the null and alternative hypotheses. The test statistic is then constructed using a consistent estimator of this function, where consistency is considered in an asymptotic framework that allows p to grow together with n. The suggested statistic is also shown to have an asymptotic normality under the null hypothesis. Some auxiliary results on the moments of products of multivariate normal random vectors and higher‐order moments of the Wishart matrices, which are important for our evaluation of the test statistic, are derived. We perform empirical power analysis for a number of alternative covariance structures.     

Volunteerism,compassion and religiosity as drivers of donations practices

• The topic of donations is one of high relevance and has been widely covered in contemporary marketing literature. It is a topic of interest to both theoreticians and practitioners alike, particularly due to its implicit links to fundraising activities and research. The reality of what makes an individual donor ultimately part with his money and give it away to a nonprofit organization is a hot contemporary topic. This study looks into the role of religiosity as a predictor of donations practices. Also volunteerism and compassion, two acts of pro‐social behaviour are analysed as predictors of donations practices. Using data collected from a survey of 612 charity donors in Portugal, the results show unequivocally that religiosity does influence donations practices, and so being a predictor of donations practices. Moreover, pro‐social behaviour is a predictor of donations practices when in the case of volunteerism, but not in the form of compassion.
• The findings are particularly useful for nonprofit organizations that want to attract and retain individual charitable donors and may also help to increase donation regularity, to obtain higher amounts, and donations both to religious and to secular organizations. Finally, it can be stated that the understanding of religiosity sheds light on knowledge about donations practices, and that this study also makes an important contribution to academia, as it is the first study conducted in Portugal that assesses the drivers of donations practices.

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Perceived value of corporate donations: an empirical investigation

• There is current recognition that value is the fundamental basis for all marketing activities. The present research provides an empirical examination of perceptions of value within the voluntary sector and specifically donations made by organisations towards the funding of charitable projects. The impact of a number of charity and project‐related variables on the formation of value and the corresponding effect of value on satisfaction and behavioural variables are examined.
• The results support claims that past experience with and information about a charity as well as information about a specific project are significant determinants of value. However, the impact of these constructs is differential between the two components of value (i.e. get/benefits and give/sacrifices). We confirm the significant effect of value on satisfaction and indicate that satisfaction and benefits derived from a donation have a direct impact on behavioural intention.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fertility, Labor Force Participation and the Relative Income Hypothesis:

Abstract . AN empirical test with Canadian data was made of the relative income hypothesis which states that fertility and labor force participation depend upon relative income, where relative income refers to the current family income level relative to the family's desired income level. The interpretation of the desired income level is modified slightly to mean that it is determined not by the past parental income, as originally formulated, but by contemporaneous income levels of other age groups. An empirical model of labor force participation is estimated for the post-war period. The results on the whole tend to provide empirical support for the relative income hypothesis. The post-war baby boom, which led to a decline in the income of young adults relative to that of older age groups, had the effect of increasing participation rates of young adults, especially of young (married) women.     

Henry George and the Institution of Private Property in Land: A Property Rights Approach

Abstract . Conflicting statements concerning whether the implementation of Henry George's single tax proposal would destroy the institution of private property in land have appeared in the literatures of economics and other disciplines. A number of writers have implied that the taxation of Ricardian rent is equivalent to land nationalization. In the main, followers of George have denied that the single tax would abolish private property in land. Their claim is based on the fact that land titles would remain in private hands under the single tax. Since the whole question of private property is beset with ideological difficulties, a property rights approach is applied to this issue in an attempt to resolve the controversy. The conclusions are that the actual implementation of George's system would not destroy private property in land and that it is incorrect to equate the single tax with land nationalization.     

Investigating online recognition for blood donor retention: an experiential donor value approach

• Recognising that charitable behaviour can be motivated by public recognition and emotional satisfaction, not-for-profit organisations have developed strategies that leverage self-interest over altruism by facilitating individuals to donate conspicuously. Initially developed as novel marketing programmes to increase donation income, such conspicuous tokens of recognition are being recognised as important value propositions to nurture donor relationships. Despite this, there is little empirical evidence that identifies when donations can be increased through conspicuous recognition. Furthermore, social media's growing popularity for self-expression, as well as the increasing use of technology in donor relationship management strategies, makes an examination of virtual conspicuous tokens of recognition in relation to what value donors seek particularly insightful. Therefore, this research examined the impact of experiential donor value and virtual conspicuous tokens of recognition on blood donor intentions. Using online survey data from 186 Australian blood donors, results show that in fact emotional value is a stronger predictor of intentions to donate blood than altruistic value, whereas social value is the strongest predictor of intentions if provided with recognition. Clear linkages between dimensions of donor value (altruistic, emotional and social) and conspicuous donation behaviour (CDB) were identified. The findings provide valuable insights into the use of conspicuous donation tokens of recognition on social media and contribute to our understanding into the under-researched areas of donor value and CDB.

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of donation button design on aid agency transactional trust

• The effects of web page donation link (donation button) design on aid agency transactional trust was examined in a survey and in two experiments. Experiment 1 compared three donation button designs, which were developed on the basis of study 1, which was a survey of 559 charity websites, and found no significant effects on rated transactional trust. Experiment 2 attempted to manipulate transactional uncertainty through donation button design by incorporating crisis/need and aid agency response photographs. These button design manipulations significantly increased rated transactional trust. In both experiments, transactional trust ratings were significantly correlated with donation compliance ratings. These results suggest that transactional trust can be enhanced through the considered design of the donation button, and increasing transactional trust in this manner may result in more online donations.

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

公司捐赠与经济理性——汶川地震后中国上市公司捐赠行为的再检验

中国公司捐赠主要是经理人员自利行为还是价值提升行为,文章利用"5.12汶川大地震"后上市公司的捐赠数据进行了检验。研究发现,消费者口碑敏感型行业公司和高毛利率公司,其捐赠比例更高、捐赠更及时、捐赠金额更大,而捐赠与否、捐赠及时性和捐赠力度还与公司盈利状况正相关。研究结论表明公司捐赠更多地体现了价值提升的理性动机。     

Second‐gift behaviour of first‐time donors to charity: an empirical study

• This study examined the second‐time charity giving behaviour of a sample of 551 young people during a 2‐year period following the occurrence of their first ever significant donation. It explored the factors that encouraged an individual to make a second gift, the probabilities that a donation would be made within certain time intervals after the initial gift (3 months, 6 months, a year, etc.) and the variables that influenced whether the second donation would go to the charity receiving the person's first gift or to a different charity. Relevant issues were investigated via a Cox proportional hazards regression analysis and through a binary logistic regression. Covariates employed in the course of the study included the degree of emotional uplift a person experienced and the level of mind‐set change that took place consequent to a first donation, donor confusion with the range and variety of charities available and the reputation and image congruity of the second charity to which the participant had contributed. The roles of personal inertia and social pressure when making donation decisions were also examined.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Examination into the Relevance of the Median Voter Model: Empirical Evidence Offers Support for the Model and Certain Uses

Abstract . This study analyzes some criticisms of the empirical use of the median voter model. In an attempt to evaluate these criticisms, a local school expenditure model is constructed which incorporates various income measures and various measures of tax price. Results indicate that median income outperforms other income measures. This empirical evidence offers support for the median voter model and its use in empirical work. The median tax price measure proved not to be of statistical significance. It should not be used without independent validation. Moreover, it does not outperform other tax price measures, in this test, at least. Further research is needed to explain this seeming anomaly.     

论我国现行土地制度对物业税的影响

本文基于土地所有权与土地使用权可以相对分离,土地使用权具有物权特性,土地使用权人享有相应期限内的土地收益权,对土地使用权课征不动产税可以弥补土地出让制度的缺陷,可以规范中央与地方的财政分配关系等方面的分析认为,虽然中外土地制度存在差异,但是中国土地公有制并不能成为开征不动产税的障碍。