IU Indianapolis ScholarWorks :: Browsing by Author "Steinberg, Richard"

Browsing by Author "Steinberg, Richard"

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Charitable Giving in Nonprofit Service Associations: Identities, Incentives, and Gender Differences
(Sage, 2017) Qu, Heng; Steinberg, Richard; Economics, School of Liberal Arts
Nonprofit service associations, such as the Lions Clubs, Rotaries, and Kiwanis, provide collective goods. Membership in a service association involves two essential elements: members’ shared interest in the club’s charitable service and private benefits stemming from social interactions with other members, such as networking, fellowship, and fun. We report results from a laboratory experiment designed to test the effect of membership and priming on charitable giving. The two experimental conditions activate chains of associative memory linked to the service or socializing aspects of membership. We find that female subjects give significantly smaller donations after receiving the socializing stimulus. Male subjects are less sensitive to our experimental conditions, giving slightly more in the socializing condition, but the differences are not statistically significant. We discuss three mechanisms that may explain our results: social identity theory, reputation and image motivations, and quality inference.
Effect Specification, Identification, Estimation, and Inference in a Fractional Outcome Regression Model with an Endogenous Causal Variable
(2024-08) Cheong, Taul; Terza, Joseph V.; Gupta, Sumedha; Steinberg, Richard; Liu, Ziyue
Empirical economic research is primarily driven by the desire to offer scientific evidence that helps assess policy relevant cause-and-effect. The approach most often applied in pursuit of this objective involves regression modeling and estimation. In this dissertation, we focus on the specification, identification, estimation, and causal inference of a causal effect (CE) in the context of the fractional regression model (FRM) for which the support of the outcome variable of interest is restricted to the unit interval. Empirical applications of such models abound in health economics, health services research and health policy literatures. Examples from other disciplines include labor economics, development economics, political economics, commerce or finance. Various full information maximum likelihood and quasi-maximum likelihood regression estimators and nonlinear least squares approach have been proposed to account for the inherent nonlinearity in the FRM due to the unit interval support restriction (UISR) on the outcome variable. Additional nonlinearity is induced in the FRM when the presumed causal variable is subject to unobservable confounding (UC) [i.e., when the presumed causal variable is endogenous]. In such cases, the additional analytic and implementation effort required to account for both sources of nonlinearity (fractional outcome and UC) while avoiding UC bias (which precludes causal interpretability) can be daunting. We seek to develop and implement regression model specifications that account for the inherent nonlinearity implied by this restriction, as well as the nonlinearity that could be additionally imposed by the endogeneity of the presumed causal variable. We focus on the case where the presumed causal variable is continuous. We develop new models for FRM-based CE estimation that implement two-stage residual inclusion (2SRI) methods, as suggested by Terza et al. (2008). We assess the accuracy of our proposed new methods and compare them with extant 2SRI approaches using simulation study. An empirical application demonstrates the working of our proposed method.
Giving: The Next Generation – Parental Effects on Donations
(2003-06) Steinberg, Richard; Wilhelm, Mark
This paper provides a summary of what is known from social science research about the effects parents have on the donations of their children. It then goes on to summarize two on-going research projects. The first project provides estimates of the strength of the relationship between the charitable giving of parents and that of their adult children. The second provides estimates of the effect of inheritances on charitable donations. Both projects use data from the Center on Philanthropy Panel Study (COPPS); accordingly, the paper provides an introduction to these data. Finally, the paper draws implications for fundraisers from the two on-going projects, and suggests several other areas in which COPPS can generate knowledge to improve the practice of fundraising.
Government Funding and Failure in Nonprofit Organizations
(2011-03-15) Vance, Danielle L.; Bielefeld, Wolfgang; Lenkowsky, Leslie, 1946-; Steinberg, Richard
For nonprofit organizations, securing and sustaining funding is essential to survival. Many nonprofit managers see government funding as ideal because of its perceived security (Grønbjerg, 1993; Froelich, 1999). However, there is little evidence to support the claim that such funds actually make nonprofits more sustainable, and some research has even suggested that nonprofits receiving “fickle” government funds are more likely to fail (Hager et al., 2004). The primary purpose of this work is to examine the relationship between government funding and nonprofit failure. Its secondary purpose is to understand the relationships between failure, government funding, and the causes for failure suggested by previous research—instability of the funding source and low funding diversification. To examine these relationships, I chose to use survival analysis and employed the Cox regression technique. Here, I analyzed the NCCS-Guidestar National Nonprofit Research Database, which archives nonprofit IRS filings from 1998 to 2003. This data set is noteworthy for its level of detail and its comprehensive nature. I found that organizations receiving government funding are less likely to fail, especially if this funding is part of a balanced portfolio. Organizations with higher percentages of nonprofit funding and organizations with less diversified overall portfolios do not. Furthermore, nonprofit organizations with less diversified portfolios were more likely to fail, and, among organizations receiving government funding, those with the highest percentage of their revenue from the government were more likely to fail than their counterparts with less funding.
The impact of federal government welfare expenditures on state government expenditures and philanthropic giving to human service organizations (HSOs) : 2005-2006
(2014-06-12) Kim, Sung-Ju; Vernon, Robert, 1947-; Adamek, Margaret E.; Walker, Marquita; Steinberg, Richard
A sizeable body of research has attempted to examine the interaction between government spending and private giving known as the crowd-out effect. Most researchers reported that increases of government spending cause decreases of philanthropic giving to different types of nonprofits. However, few studies have attempted to indicate the interaction between government welfare expenditures and private giving to human service organizations even though human service organizations are the most sensitive to the changes of government spending. Additionally, the estimated crowd-out effects with a simple crowd-out model have been criticized for potential endogeneity bias. This paper investigates the total effect of federal government welfare spending on state government expenditures and philanthropic giving to human service organizations (known as joint crowd-out). I used the 2005 wave of the Center on Philanthropy Panel Study (COPPS) to estimate the effect of federal human service grants on state government spending on, and donations to human services. From these reduced-form estimates I infer the levels of simple and joint crowd-out. I found that indicate federal spending on public welfare crowds out private giving to human service organizations while holding control variables constant in the donations equation. However, federal government spending on public welfare crowds in state government spending on public welfare.
Inheritance and Charitable Donations
(12/30/2002) Steinberg, Richard; Wilhelm, Mark; Rooney, Patrick; Brown, Eleanor
In this paper, we employ a unique new data set (the Philanthropy Panel Study (PPS), a module within the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID)) to test whether the propensity to donate out of inherited wealth is equal to the propensities to donate out of other wealth, earned income, and transfer payments. We find that the elasticity of giving from non-inherited wealth is much greater than from inherited wealth for total giving and gifts to religion, combined causes, people in need, health, education, and other causes. The effects of income derived from inherited wealth and labor income are similar in terms of elasticities, although inherited wealth creates a higher marginal propensity to donate. Transfer income has either a small or no apparent effect on donations.
Intellectual Structure and Dynamics of Novelty Within Philanthropic and Nonprofit Studies: A Computational and Structural Analysis
(2024-07) Ai, Jin; Badertscher, Katherine; Guo, Chao; Steinberg, Richard; Andersson, Fredrik; King, David
This dissertation examines scholarship within the emerging interdisciplinary field of philanthropic and nonprofit studies. The field has experienced significant shifts due to evolving societal and technological landscapes. To facilitate the effective and sustainable growth of the field, the study first seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of its intellectual structure using computational methods. To sort out the pattern and impact of novel research, the study then introduces a new typology of research novelty. Drawing upon network analytics, and theories of scientific discovery and innovation, four types of novelty are proposed, including Pioneer Novelty (introducing a new topic to the field, and the topic thereafter becoming central to the field), Periphery Novelty (introducing a new topic to the field, but the topic remains peripheral to the field), Shortener Novelty (reducing the connection distance between two topics that are previously disconnected or indirectly connected, and subsequently reshape the direction of the field evolution), and Strengthener Novelty (reinforcing the connection between two topics that are previously weakly connected, and subsequently change the centrality of the topics). The study identifies twenty knowledge clusters by analyzing a dataset of 60,399 articles gathered from the Web of Science database using a curated keyword list. The structure and scope of the clusters suggest that the field of philanthropic studies is changing from its interdisciplinary roots in social sciences and humanities to a broader spectrum, including social sciences, life science & biomedicine, arts & humanities, technology, and physical sciences. Further, analysis of novelty uncovers complexities in the relationship between research novelty and impact. Notably, Pioneer/Periphery Novelty is positively correlated with citation impact, while Shortener Novelty is negatively related and Strengthener Novelty shows varied relationships. These findings suggest the need to reevaluate the theoretical and methodological approaches that have been engaged in investigating the field, and the need for an evaluation framework that acknowledges and rewards various novel endeavors in advancing the progress of the field. In summary, by mapping the intellectual structure and analyzing the dynamics of novelty within philanthropic studies, the study enhances a ‘sense of intellectual continuity and coherence’ within and beyond the philanthropic studies community.
The Intergenerational Transmission of Generosity
(2008-02) Ottoni-Wilhelm, Mark; Brown, Eleanor; Rooney, Patrick; Steinberg, Richard
The Center on Philanthropy Panel Study (COPPS) has provided the first data on the giving of parents and their children. COPPS has found that adult children whose parents give currently are much more likely to be donors themselves than are children whose parents do not give currently; they are also far more likely to give more money than children of non-donors. In addition, parents' religious giving emerges as an engine for religious generosity, affecting the religious giving of their adult children, but having no effect on children's "secular" giving (e.g., to United Way, help the poor, education, etc. ). No relationship exists between the adult children's religious affiliation and their secular giving (except among those of the Jewish faith, who also make large donations to secular causes). There is a significant relationship between parents’ secular giving and their adult children's secular giving; Parents who give generously to secular causes have adult children with higher probability of giving to secular causes and who give at higher amounts than are seen among adult children whose parents do not give as generously to secular causes. This suggests a transmission of values for secular giving.
Networked Civil Society: Three Essays on the Government–Nonprofit Relationship in China
(2018-11) Ma, Ji; Steinberg, Richard; Pasic, Amir; Lenkowsky, Leslie; Ottoni-Wilhelm, Mark
This dissertation has two goals: 1) Introducing data science methodologies to nonprofit studies; 2) Examining the impact of social relations on nonprofits’ social and economic behaviors. Ultimately, this dissertation provides empirical evidence for a new paradigm which is just in formation by a few scholars: a holistic network theory of government–nonprofit relationship. Chapter 2 establishes a robust and generalpurpose database which has the potential to support the development of a research topic. It also introduces the methodology for data management in contemporary quantitative social science. Based on the database established, Chapter 3 approaches the research question on nonprofit’s autonomy using network theory and finds that, although nonprofit organizations in China may lose their autonomy because of government officials on board, these organizations still enjoys a substantial level of freedom in the organizational network. The Chinese nonprofit sector suggests the existence of autonomous order theorized by political philosophers and observed in liberal societies. Chapter 4 reconsiders a classic research question in public economics – the crowd-out/in effect of government funding on private donations to nonprofits. This chapter proposes an innovative theoretical perspective for understanding the role of social relations in crowding mechanism: compensating mode and amplifying mode. Analysis suggests that, although government funding to a nonprofit may crowd out the private donations to the same organization, private donations are not reduced but redistributed to other nonprofits in the organizational network. This chapter also uses standardized data workflow to boost the research life-cycle, information extraction techniques to construct structured dataset from semi-structured raw data files, demonstrates how data science methodologies can help causal inference in classic econometrics.
Patterns of Giving in COPPS 2001
(11/17/2003) Steinberg, Richard; Wilhelm, Mark
Serious researchers of philanthropy have bemoaned the lack of panel datasets for studying giving behavior. That gap is beginning to be filled with the start of the Center on Philanthropy Panel Study (COPPS). COPPS provides the first comprehensive panel study of giving and volunteering in the U.S., and one of the only such studies worldwide to date. Previous U.S. panels studies of giving have employed tax return data, which are limited to gifts of money and property by (in most years) itemizers and include only the financial and limited demographic data reported on those returns.

Browsing by Author "Steinberg, Richard"

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