Abstract Based on the unbalanced panel data of 2,937 charitable foundations in China from 2005 to 2020, this study empirically examines the impact of government funding on the social donation income of charitable foundations and its underlying mechanisms, and extends the analysis to the market spillover effects of government funding. The results show that government funding increases the social donation income of charitable foundations and activates the philanthropic enthusiasm of different donors. The mechanism at work is that government funding increases public donations by encouraging charitable foundations to actively participate in fundraising activities and enhancing the organizational reputation of charitable foundations. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that this crowd-in effect is more pronounced for charitable foundations with greater philanthropic experience, larger organizational scales, and those located in cities with lower administrative levels. Furthermore, government funding has a significant positive spillover effect on the social donation income of other charitable foundations in the philanthropic market that have a higher “ degree of intimacy ” with the funded foundations. Different types of government funding significantly crowd-in the social donation income of charitable foundations. The aforementioned conclusions provide practical references for optimizing fiscal policies and promoting the high-quality development of the philanthropic sector.
ZHANG Qilin,ZHANG Caijing. Can Government Funding Boost Universal Charitable Giving: Empirical Evidencefrom Chinese Charitable Foundations ——Evidence from Chinese Foundations. Economic Survey, 2025, 42(1): 0133.
2025, Vol. 42 
