Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/107327 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 5135
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
Since giving to religious organizations constitutes a substantial portion of total charitable giving, an understanding of the determinants of religious giving is a vital policy concern. Drawing on a novel congregation-level panel dataset, we examine whether religious giving is driven by preferences for racial group affinity, that is, loyalty to one's own racial group. To address endogeneity concerns, we combine a fixed effects estimation framework with an instrumental variable approach. We find robust evidence consistent with the racial group affinity motive: a decrease in the percent of whites in the county is ceteris paribus associated with a decrease in the total giving receipts collected by predominantly white congregations.
Subjects: 
religious giving
racial group affinity
diversity
congregations
JEL: 
D64
L31
Z12
J15
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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