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AbstractThe debate on volunteering has paid insufficient attention to the relationship between public spending and volunteering. Recently, the importance of this relationship was highlighted by the current British government's "Big Society" plan, which asserts that withdrawing public agencies and spending will be compensated by an increase in volunteering. This idea is based on the widely held belief that a high degree of government intervention decreases voluntary activities. This paper uses a multidisciplinary approach to develop a more refined understanding of how public spending affects the decision to volunteer. A theoretical model conceptualizes this relationship in terms of time donation by employed individuals. The model is empirically developed through an econometric analysis of two survey data sets and interpretative analysis of narratives of local volunteers and public professionals. The results suggest that volunteering is likely to decline when government intervention is decreased and recommend a collaborative approach to sustaining volunteering.Keywords: volunteering, labor supply, public goods, altruism. and taxation, the Conservative Party proposed a radical turn to a small government and a "Big Society". Eventually, the Conservatives formed a coalition government with the Liberal-Democrats and launched their plan for the Big Society. The main idea is that "rolling back big government" will lead "communities" to start running public services (Cabinet Office 2010). The idea that voluntary activity should, can, and will emerge as a perfect substitute for the welfare state has reinvigorated debate on the relationship between government and society, or, more specifically, between public spending and volunteering. The analysis concludes that less public spending reduces the likelihood of (successful)volunteering. Lower public spending increases the probability of setbacks and frustrations for volunteers and decreases the availability of adequate support structures and professional skills. This leads to three conclusions and recommendations: (1) public spending is needed to prevent volunteering levels to drop, (2) employed individuals do voluntary work if they see it as worth their time, and (3) for public spending to increase volunteering, governments and voluntary organizations should cultivate local abilities and volunteering infrastructure based on collaborative relationships.
Public Spending and Volunteering by Employed IndividualsThe literature provides important insigh...