In this article, several econometric problems arising from estimating models of charitable contributions are examined. An instrumental variable technique proposed by Clotfelter is used to reduce the bias of the estimated price effect and compare it with other methods. Linear dependence between...

This paper updates a review conducted by CBO in 1996 in which the agency evaluated the academic research on the effects of changes in after-tax wages on labor supply in the U.S. economy. That review concluded that substitution elasticities were larger in absolute value than income elasticities...

This study uses a large panel of tax returns from 1999 to 2008 to investigate how taxes affect the decision to realize gains. The study distinguishes the persistent effect of tax changes from the transitory effect. Similar to earlier studies in the literature, we use the generalized Tobit model...

Recent years have seen tremendous changes in tax law. For example, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA 2001) phases out the estate tax over 10 years until it is fully repealed in 2010. Those changes reduce federal revenues but also alter various incentives. For...

Labor supply elasticities are often used to evaluate the effect of changes in tax rates on the total hours worked in the economy. Historically, married women have tended to have larger labor supply elasticities than their spouses because they were the secondary earners in a couple. However,...

We measure the change in household spending caused by receipt of the economic stimulus payments of 2008, using questions added to the Consumer Expenditure Survey and variation from the randomized timing of disbursement. Households spent 12-30 percent (depending on specification) of their...

Many studies have focused on the relationship between income and charitable donations either by comparing income and percentage of income donated to construct a “giving curve†or by calculating the income elasticity of giving. In this article, the authors relate these two types of...

This article investigates the heterogeneity in the tax elasticities of personal capital gains realizations. We first examine the skewed nature of both capital gains assets ownership and their realizations. We then briefly review earlier studies, including Dowd, McClelland, and Muthitacharoen...

This article reviews the basic mechanisms of federal tax incentives, the current level, sources and recipients of charitable donations, and the estimated magnitude of the response to tax incentives. In addition, we discuss the possible effects of recent tax proposals on charitable giving. These...