Dan Hungerman — assistant professor of economics at Notre Dame and Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research — joins Tony to discuss his pathbreaking research on how government and other secular entities compete with religious organizations.  The first half of the podcast is devoted to Prof. Hungerman’s research on how government welfare spending and taxation “crowds out” religiously-provided services and charitable giving.  Dan shows how FDR’s New Deal during the Great Depression led to a significant decline in church-based welfare, which can be attributed directly to a “crowding out” effect.  We turn our attention to the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, which represented a rollback of several social service programs.  Dan discusses his research showing that the Presbyterian Church responded by increasing its provision of welfare to communities facing a reduction in federal aid.  The effect of government welfare and taxation on individual charitable contributions becomes the focus of our discussion and we examine how the racial diversity of a community can affect “warm glow” giving.  The podcast concludes with an examination of how the elimination of “blue laws” allowed shopping malls and other secular activities to compete for people’s attention on Sunday mornings and how this reduced church attendance and tithing.  Dan offers his thoughts about the relationship between the National Football League and religion in this concluding segment.  Recorded: August 30, 2010.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Dan Hungerman’s website.

“Faith-Based Charity and Crowd Out During the Great Depression,” by Jonathan Gruber and Daniel Hungerman.  NBER Working Paper.

“Are Church and State Substitutes? Evidence from the 1996 Welfare Reform,” by Daniel Hungerman. (Also published in Journal of Public Economics.)

“Diversity and Crowd Out: A Theory of Cold Glow Giving,” by Daniel Hungerman.  NBER Working Paper. (Also published in Journal of Public Economics.)

“The Church vs. the Mall: What Happens When Religion Faces Increased Secular Competition?” by Jonathan Gruber and Daniel Hungerman.  NBER Working Paper.  (Also published in Quarterly Journal of Economics.)

RELATED PODCASTS

Jay Hein on the Faith-Based and Community Iniative.

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One Response to “Dan Hungerman on Religious Charity and Crowding Out”

1. Research On Religion | David Wills on Religious Charity and Taxes says:

   April 11, 2011 at 4:05 am

   […] Dan Hungerman on Religious Charity and Crowding Out. […]

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