Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item Increasing Charitable Giving Using Subsidies: Theory and Experiments(2024) Higgs, Zed; Uler, Neslihan; Agricultural and Resource Economics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation combines theoretical analysis with economic experiments to advance our understanding of why people give. In particular, this dissertation focuses on the use of subsidies for giving---e.g., rebates and matches---as a tool for increasing charitable giving. The research included in this dissertation provides important guidance to charitable organizations seeking to design fundraisers optimally to maximize charitable receipts. Furthermore, this research also provides important guidance to policy-makers seeking to better understand the interplay between tax policy and charitable giving. The results of this dissertation can contribute to more effective fundraising campaigns and more efficient tax policy. Chapter 1 challenges the well-established result among existing experimental studies that donations are significantly more responsive to matches than to rebates. In previous experimental studies the budget sets available to subjects under rebates are constrained relative to those available under matches, biasing estimates of the rebate-price elasticity. We conduct a novel experiment that removes the constraint under rebates, producing equal budget sets for price-equivalent rebates and matches. Contrary to previous studies, we find dramatically smaller differences in donations under price-equivalent matches and rebates. More importantly, we find no statistical difference between our estimated rebate- and match-price elasticities. Furthermore, we show that the constraint under rebates affects the entire distribution of observed behavior, not only the behavior of individuals for whom the constraint is binding. This chapter contributes to theories of charitable giving and has important implications for tax policy. Chapter 2 studies how donor uncertainty affects their response to match subsidies in the context of charitable giving. It explores whether donors are responsive to exogenous changes in the probability of receiving a match. I develop a theoretical model of giving that incorporates uncertainty around matches. I demonstrate the model is capable of explaining the discrepancies in match-price elasticities of giving observed across previous field experiments and observational studies. I then derive testable hypotheses from the model, and design and run an economic experiment to test these hypotheses. The results of my experiment provide clear evidence that donors are responsive to changes in the probability of receiving a match. As a result, the same donor may respond differently to match subsidies depending on the setting. This work identifies an important aspect of donor decision making, contributing to a better understanding of why people give. It has important implications for theories of giving, the optimal design of fundraisers, and tax policy. Chapter 3 builds on Chapter 2 to continue studying how donor uncertainty affects their response to match subsidies in the context of charitable giving. It explores whether donors are responsive to endogenous changes in the probability of receiving a match resulting from changes in fundraiser characteristics. The results provide strong evidence supporting the notion that changes in fundraiser characteristics can affect donors' beliefs about the probability of receiving a match, in turn affecting their donation decisions and the observed response to match subsidies. The effectiveness of a match subsidy varies depending on the characteristics of the fundraiser, so that the optimal fundraising strategy varies across fundraisers. This chapter provides new guidance for fundraisers interested in increasing charitable donations through the use of match subsidies.Item State-level Differences in Charitable Giving in the United States(2022) Wu, Zhongsheng; Bies, Angela; Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Previous studies usually posit that heterogeneity in charitable giving within countries is less than the variation between them, yet the philanthropic landscapes in the states of the United States have more differences than expected. Substantial variations in both the level and rate of charitable giving exist across the states in the U.S., yet empirical evidence on why there are such substantial differences across the states is very limited and inconclusive. To address the gap in the literature, this study collected individual and/or state level data from multiple sources to answer whether and how state-level political, social, and cultural factors can explain the geographical variations in the level and rate of charitable giving across the states in the U.S. Based on statistical analyses using multiple regressions and multilevel modelling, the results indicate that state-level factors, including political ideology, public welfare expenditure, social capital, income inequality, and cultural capital contributed to the variations in both the level and rate of charitable giving at the state level. Specifically, state-level political ideology is found to have significant relationships with both the level and rate of charitable giving, while the marginal effects of political ideology on both the level and rate of charitable giving are moderated by the public welfare expenditure per capita at the state level. In addition, the density of associational organizations is found to consistently have a significant negative correlation with both the level and rate of charitable giving, while the impacts of the density of charitable organizations on both the level and rate of charitable giving are moderated by income inequality. This study contributes to the literature by revealing a more complex and nuanced picture on why there are substantial regional differences in both the level and rate of charitable giving across the states in the U.S. Specifically, the findings can help challenge the notions that “red (Republican-leaning) states are more donative”, that “higher density of nonprofits attracts more donations”, and that “government spending crowds out private contributions”. This study also shows the necessity to differentiate the impacts of the density of charitable organizations and the density of associational organizations on the level and rate of charitable giving at the contextual level1. What’s more, this study is the first empirical research that not only explored both the level and rate of charitable giving at the contextual level at the same time, but also compared the two stages of charitable giving, and revealed that different factors might behave differently on the level and the rate of charitable giving at the state level.Item ONLINE NETWORKS AND PROSOCIAL BEHAVIORS: EMPIRICAL STUDIES OF CHARITABLE DONATIONS AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY(2013) Yim, Dobin; Viswanathan, Siva; Lucas, Hank C; Business and Management: Decision & Information Technologies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)My dissertation seeks to understand how online networks promote prosocial behaviors in creating social value. The first essay examines the use of Twitter on charitable giving behavior in online fundraising campaigns. Using a unique dataset from one of the first nonprofit organizations to conduct an online fundraising campaign via Twitter, the goal of this essay is to understand how social media and the interpersonal communications it facilitates influences donation outcomes. I find that generic content sent through a mass broadcast mode has a negative influence, whereas personalized content sent through a narrowcast mode has a positive influence on a focal agent's donation behavior. I further show that different types of persuasive content have varied impacts on outcomes. In the interpersonal context, content related to maintaining social relationships such as the visibility of other members' donations, the diversity of sources advocating action, and strengthening interpersonal bonds, positively influence donation behavior, especially for those whose social ties with the charitable organization are weak. The second essay examines the design of online communities in supporting grassroots movements towards environmental sustainability. Using a dataset from one of the early pioneers of "green" online communities, the goal of this essay is to understand how online networks impact sustainable behaviors. Drawing from literature on observational learning and environmental sustainability, I show that a member's total carbon savings is mainly influenced by the exposure to relevant others' "green" behaviors. More specifically, a member's decision to commit and perform a sustainable act is determined by the organizational structure and strength of relationships with fellow members. While organizing members into groups decreases individual's environmental effectiveness in terms of total carbon savings, especially in larger groups, a higher frequency of communications among members increases sustainable behavior by enhancing interpersonal connections. Overall, the two studies provide important theoretical and practical implications for prosocial behaviors supported by online networks.