Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • Article
  • Public Finance Review

How Did the Great Recession Affect Charitable Giving?

By: Arthur C. Brooks
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

A great deal of research has studied the effects of income and tax changes on charitable giving. However, little work has focused on how these relationships were affected by the Great Recession. This article estimates the tax and income effects using the 2009 Panel Study of Income Dynamics. The estimates are notably different than the typical findings from before the recession. Most importantly, tax effects are higher and income effects are lower. These unusual patterns are more pronounced for secular giving than for religious giving, and the effects are muted when only considering tax itemizers. The estimates are used to develop policy analytic results, considering the effects of the 2013 personal income tax rate increases and possible tax deduction limits currently under consideration. I find the tax increases to have a moderately stimulative impact on giving but predict a cap on charitable deductions would have a large negative impact.

Keywords

Charitable Giving; Great Recession; Philanthropy; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Financial Crisis; Taxation; Policy

Citation

Brooks, Arthur C. "How Did the Great Recession Affect Charitable Giving?" Public Finance Review 46, no. 5 (September 2018): 715–742.
  • Find it at Harvard

About The Author

Arthur C. Brooks

General Management
→More Publications

More from the Author

    • September 28, 2023
    • The Atlantic

    How to Build a Life: Eight Ways to Banish Misery

    By: Arthur C. Brooks
    • September 21, 2023
    • The Atlantic

    How to Build a Life: Feeling Burned Out? Here’s What to Do.

    By: Arthur C. Brooks
    • September 12, 2023
    • The Atlantic

    How to Build a Life: Three Myths and Four Truths About How to Get Happier

    By: Arthur C. Brooks
More from the Author
  • How to Build a Life: Eight Ways to Banish Misery By: Arthur C. Brooks
  • How to Build a Life: Feeling Burned Out? Here’s What to Do. By: Arthur C. Brooks
  • How to Build a Life: Three Myths and Four Truths About How to Get Happier By: Arthur C. Brooks
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College