Charitable Giving and Tax Policy
A Historical and Comparative Perspective
Studies of Policy Reform Series

Over the past couple of decades, differentials in the level of private contributions to charitable organizations have become a central matter of public policy. Because private charitable contributions finance many socially valuable activities (for example, education and the arts), many governments have tried to boost private philanthropy through various active policy interventions. Furthermore, the temptation to rely on private contributions to finance the provision of public goods has increased substantially in recent years as fiscal constraints have become tighter. Yet there is little robust quantitative evidence regarding the differentials in private charitable giving across countries, and more importantly very little consensus on why these differentials may exist. This volume provides an original, comparative, and historical analysis of charitable giving and of tax policies towards private philanthropy across different countries. It sheds new light on the determinants of private philanthropy and offers interesting practical insights for improving tax policies towards charitable giving.

Gabrielle Fack is an Associate Professor at the Paris School of Economics and a CEPR Research Affiliate. Her research focuses on the optimal provision of education and public goods. Her papers have been published in the Journal of Public Economics, American Economic Journal, Economic Policy, and Labour Economics. Camille Landais is Associate Professor in Economics at the London School of Economics and co-editor of the Journal of Public Economics. His research focuses on the optimal design of tax and social insurance systems and has published in the American Economic Review, the American Economic Journal, Economic Policy, the Journal of Public Economics, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics.