Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Understanding Philanthropy And Inequality In The United States Through Probabilistic Regressions, Drew Evans

Economics Theses

This paper seeks to analyze and understand the dynamics between charitable donations and income inequality in the United States. Through the theoretical lens of financialization and income inequality, we analyze data from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics. We utilize probabilistic regression models to find and compare the impact of demographics on the likelihood of an American household donating to charity. Our results show that age, sex, and income have positive impacts on donation likelihoods, while non-white racial groups can be seen having a lower probability of donation. Analyzing household data from lower-income groups allows for a recognizing of the …