Local Crime and Prosocial Behaviours: Evidence from Charitable Donations

Abstract

We study the relationship between local crime and residents’ charitable donations and explore the mechanisms underlying this relationship. The analysis combines longitudinal postcode-level data on charitable donations made through a UK giving portal with publicly available data on local crime and neighbourhood characteristics. Our main results suggest that an increase in local crime corresponds to a significant rise in the size of unscheduled charitable donations. This pattern is primarily driven by the donation choices of female and gender-unclassified donors. The strength of the relationship between local crime and donation amounts also varies with postcode-specific population characteristics, such as religiosity, age, and mental health.