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  • 2016
  • Working Paper

Gender Differences in Altruism: Responses to a Natural Disaster

By: Matthew Lilley and Robert Slonim
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
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Abstract

High-profile disasters can cause large spikes in philanthropy and volunteerism. By providing temporary positive shocks to the altruism of donors, these natural experiments help identify heterogeneity in the distributions of the latent altruism which motivates donors. This study examines gender heterogeneity of volunteer response by blood donors following the most devastating Bushfires in Australia's history. Using difference in differences analyses, we observe a sharp increase in blood donations after the 2009 Victorian Bushfires. Several key features of this increase are consistent with the predictions of a model where the distribution of latent altruism has smaller variance among women than men. First, the highest increase in donations occurs among previous non-donors, lapsed donors and less frequent donors. Further, the increase in donations following the Bushfires, compared to non-disaster periods, is substantially greater for females than males; the proportional increase in the number of females donating for the first time after the disaster is approximately twice the proportional increase for men. Notably, this gender gap decreases with the frequency with which people have previously donated.

Keywords

Altruism; Charitable Behavior; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Gender; Behavior

Citation

Lilley, Matthew, and Robert Slonim. "Gender Differences in Altruism: Responses to a Natural Disaster." IZA (Institute of Labor Economics) Discussion Paper Series, No. 9657, January 2016.
  • SSRN

More from the Authors

    • 2017
    • Faculty Research

    Peer Effects on the United States Supreme Court

    By: Matthew Lilley, Richard Holden and Michael Keane
    • 2016
    • Faculty Research

    Market Design for Altruistic Supply: Evidence from the Lab

    By: Robert Slonim and Carmen Wang
    • Spring 2014
    • Journal of Economic Perspectives

    The Market for Blood

    By: Robert Slonim, Carmen Wang and Ellen Garbarino
More from the Authors
  • Peer Effects on the United States Supreme Court By: Matthew Lilley, Richard Holden and Michael Keane
  • Market Design for Altruistic Supply: Evidence from the Lab By: Robert Slonim and Carmen Wang
  • The Market for Blood By: Robert Slonim, Carmen Wang and Ellen Garbarino
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