Uncharitable Acts in Charity: Socioeconomic Drivers of Charity‐Related Fraud

In: Social science quarterly, Band 101, Heft 4, S. 1397-1412

Abstract

ObjectiveThis article examines determinants of charity‐related crimes, focusing on socioeconomic influences. Charity crimes have proliferated in recent years but formal research on their causes is limited.MethodEstimation methods using robust regression and two‐stage least squares are used, employing data across states in the United States obtained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other government sources.ResultsThe estimation results show that states with heightened cases of identity theft have greater charity‐related crimes. However, I found no contagion from border identity theft or border charity crimes. With regard to other social factors, race and ethnic homogeneity were associated with charity crimes. Among economic factors, economic prosperity and economic disparity did not matter, but unemployment was associated with more charity crimes. Different dimensions of charity markets did not significantly matter.ConclusionThe findings show that other white‐collar crimes such as identity theft might be crucially driving charity crimes.