Determinants for giving preferences: Ethnic-based versus mainstream Giving

초록

What determines where immigrants give and why? In this research, we investigate two distinctive forms of charitable giving: (1) Ethnic-based giving, donation made to ethnic-based organizations that promote ethnic specific causes; and (2) mainstream giving, donation directed to mainstream organizations that are tailored to the promotion of causes for the general U.S. population. Particularly, we pay special attention to immigrants’ resources, including human and social and their acculturation process. Using a large-scale Asian American Philanthropic Survey conducted in California during the spring 2009, we construct a bivariate probit regression model to estimate giving practices among Korean immigrants, the sub-Asian immigrant population, in the U.S. Our empirical finding suggests that social resources (or capital) and acculturation are vital ingredients for mainstream giving practices. Also, interestingly, human resources such as the level of education earned from the U.S., not from the native country, is the significant predictor for mainstream giving practices, while immigrants’ household income is effective for explaining ethnic-based giving practices.