Income inequality and charitable giving to different causes in China: a distribution perspective

Abstract In contexts with high-income inequality, are people more or less inclined to support those in need through philanthropy? Using data from the 2016 wave of the China Labor-Force Dynamics Study, this study examines (i) how income inequality is associated with charitable giving to high-redistributive (e.g., poverty alleviation) and low-redistributive (e.g., arts and culture) causes and (ii) the household and contextual level variation for this relationship. We conduct this study in the unique context of China, where the Communist Party and Chinese government actively encourage charitable giving to play a role in diminishing income inequality. Empirical results show that in China, income inequality has no significant relationship with charitable giving to high-redistributive causes. We do find some support for a small moderating effect of education. Those with a higher level of education living in provinces with higher income inequality give more to high-distributive causes. We also find support for a small negative association with charitable giving to low-redistributive causes, which indicates that people in a context with higher income inequality are less inclined, although not substantially, to give to low-redistributive causes.