How Close to Home Does Charity Begin?

Abstract

This paper uses a field experiment to analyse the extent to which people are more inclined to support a charity focused on people or causes in their own region, compared to regions in other parts of the country. New Zealand land owners were incentivised to take part in an online survey by being told they could choose a charity from a list of four that would receive a $10 donation if they completed the survey. Importantly, the charities are based in different regions of the country. We find evidence of a significant declining radius of altruism: not only do people prefer to support charities in their own area, the further away a charity is located the less likely people are to support it.