TY - JOUR

T1 - Does it Pay to Work for Free?

T2 - Negative Selection and the Wage Returns to Volunteer Experience

AU - Cozzi, Guido

AU - Mantovan, Noemi

AU - Sauer, Robert M

PY - 2017/12

Y1 - 2017/12

N2 - This paper offers the first instrumental variables estimates of the wagereturns to volunteer experience. The returns are substantial and dierconsiderably by gender. The results imply that the unequal valuationof volunteer experience by gender is more important in explaining thegender earnings gap than is the unequal valuation of part-time paid workexperience. The results also indicate negative selection into unpaid work.In a simple model of optimal volunteering, negative selection implies thata lower cost of volunteering would produce both an expanded and higher-skilled pool of volunteers, and greater societal benets from volunteerwork.

AB - This paper offers the first instrumental variables estimates of the wagereturns to volunteer experience. The returns are substantial and dierconsiderably by gender. The results imply that the unequal valuationof volunteer experience by gender is more important in explaining thegender earnings gap than is the unequal valuation of part-time paid workexperience. The results also indicate negative selection into unpaid work.In a simple model of optimal volunteering, negative selection implies thata lower cost of volunteering would produce both an expanded and higher-skilled pool of volunteers, and greater societal benets from volunteerwork.

KW - Volunteering

KW - Unpaid work

KW - Gender Differences

KW - Instrumental variables

KW - Negarive Selection

U2 - 10.1111/obes.12183

DO - 10.1111/obes.12183

M3 - Article

VL - 79

SP - 1018

EP - 1045

JO - Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics

JF - Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics

SN - 1468-0084

IS - 6

ER -