Using Field Experiments and Naturally Occurring Data to Understand How State Policies Impact Charitable Giving

利用实地实验和自然发生的数据了解国家政策对慈善捐赠的影响本项目采用实验方法研究慈善捐赠的驱动因素以及国家税收政策对慈善机构之间竞争和整体慈善捐赠的影响。总体目标是确定慈善捐款的动机，以及改变向指定慈善机构捐款的税后成本的税收政策如何影响慈善机构的选择、捐款的分配和捐赠总额。在框架内的实地实验中，受试者将在自己和选定的慈善组织之间分配固定的金额。处理方法将突出表明，对某些慈善机构的捐款可以获得税收抵免，并改变可以选择作为潜在接受者的合格和不合格慈善机构的数量和组合。该实验将使研究人员能够确定税收抵免是否会影响(1)选择哪些慈善机构作为接受者，(2)个人捐赠的可能性，(3)跨组织捐赠的分配，以及(4)捐赠的总金额。该研究还使用了亚利桑那州慈善税收抵免计划的数据，并结合美国国税局的数据来探索(i)推动慈善捐赠的因素，（ii）国家税收政策对捐赠给合格慈善机构的影响，以及（iii）政策对捐赠给不符合税收抵免资格的慈善组织的影响。为了实现这些目标，该提案概述了一项计量经济学分析，该分析将利用亚利桑那州税法的变化对慈善机构产生的不同影响，来研究机会成本和收入如何影响慈善机构之间的捐赠行为和竞争。该项目研究提供了一种新的实证方法来理解是什么驱动了慈善捐款。具体而言，研究将确定捐助者如何应对机会成本的降低和对捐赠的流动性限制的放松。其次，它促成了一项新兴的研究，探讨慈善机构之间的竞争，以及改变向一个组织捐赠成本的政策如何影响对其他组织的捐赠。第三，这项研究将有助于越来越多的利用实验方法为政策设计提供信息的工作。它通过探索一种新的应用来扩展这一文献：使用这些工具来理解各州如何设计税法来增加对特定慈善事业的私人支持以及对整个慈善部门的后续影响。最后，这项研究对非预期后果的文献有所贡献，但它是第一个在日益流行的政策工具背景下这样做的：使用税收抵免作为个人将一般税收收入重新定向到特定用途的手段。这项研究将影响围绕如何为选定的慈善事业增加资金的政策辩论。实现这一目标的一项创新政策是赋予个人纳税人将税收收入直接捐给他们选择的慈善机构的权力。首先，通过提高对捐赠动机的理解，这项研究将为此类项目的设计提供信息，并为各州为选定的慈善事业刺激私人资金提供新途径。其次，州一级的税收抵免可能会挤掉对其他慈善机构的支持。了解这些后果对于设计有效的公共政策至关重要。第三，这项研究支持了一个长期存在的问题的答案，即增加对特定慈善机构的捐赠是扩大了慈善事业的蛋糕，还是仅仅挤占了对其他慈善机构的捐赠。第四，该研究将利用与非营利组织的伙伴关系来传播研究结果，并促进在慈善捐赠领域使用循证方法。

Using Field Experiments and Naturally Occurring Data to Understand How State Policies Impact Charitable GivingThis project uses experimental methods to investigate the drivers of charitable contributions and the impact of state tax policy on competition among charities as well as on overall charitable contribution. The overall aim is to identify motives for charitable contributions and how tax policy that changes the after-tax cost of giving to designated charities affects charitable selection, allocation of contributions, and total giving. In the framed field experiment subjects will allocate a fixed amount between themselves and selected charitable organizations. Treatments will make salient that a tax credit is available for contributions to certain charities and vary both the number and mix of eligible and ineligible charities that can be selected as potential recipients. The experiment will allow the researchers to identify whether tax credits impact (i) which charities are selected as recipients, (ii) the likelihood an individual gives, (iii) the allocation of donations across organizations, and (iv) the overall amount given. The research also uses data on a charitable tax credit program in Arizona combined with IRS data to explore (i) the factors that drive giving to charities, (ii) the impact of state tax policy on giving to eligible charities, and (iii) the impact of the policy on giving to charitable organizations not eligible for tax credits. To achieve these aims, the proposal outlines an econometric analysis that will use changes in the Arizona tax code that have differential impacts across charities to examine how opportunity cost and income affect donor behavior and competition among charities.The project research provides a novel empirical approach to understand what drives charitable contributions. Specifically, the research will identify how donors respond to decreasing opportunity cost and relaxing liquidity constraints on giving. Second, it contributes to a burgeoning literature exploring competition among charities and how policies that change cost of giving to one organization impact donations to others. Third, the research will contribute to a growing body of work using experimental methods to inform policy design. It extends this literature by exploring a new application: the use of such tools to understand how states can design tax codes to increase private support for specific charitable causes and the subsequent impacts on the charitable sector as a whole. Finally, the research contributes to the literature on unintended consequences but is the first to do so in the context of an increasingly popular policy instrument: the use of tax credits as a means for individuals to redirect general tax revenues to specific uses. This research will impact the policy debate surrounding ways to increase funding for selected charitable causes. One innovative policy to achieve such aims is to give individual taxpayers the power to direct tax revenues to charities of their choosing. First, by improving the understanding of what drives giving, the research will inform the design of such programs and identify new ways for states to stimulate private funding for selected charitable causes. Second, state level tax credits may crowd out support for other charities. Knowledge of such consequences is essential to the design of effective public policy. Third, this research supports answers to the longstanding question of whether increased giving to particular charities expands the charitable pie or merely crowds out giving to other charities. Fourth, the research will utilize partnerships with nonprofit organizations to disseminate findings and promote the use of evidence-based methods in the charitable giving sector.