Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/35540 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 4016
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper explores the capability of the state to affect the individual's decision to work for free. For this purpose we combine individual-level data from the European and World Values Survey with macroeconomic and political variables for OECD member countries. Empirically we identify three channels for crowding out of voluntary labor. Firstly, an increase in public social expenditure decreases the probability that the individual will volunteer (fiscal crowding out). Secondly, a political consensus between individuals and the government also induces volunteers to reduce their unsalaried activities (consensual crowding out). And finally, the more a government supports democratization, the lower is the individual's engagement (participatory crowding out). Religiosity and a more unequal income distribution in a country increase individuals' willingness to volunteer.
Subjects: 
Volunteering
voluntary labor supply
private provision of public goods
public social expenditure
political consensus
democratization
JEL: 
H41
H44
H31
J22
I38
H11
D30
D64
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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