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Voluntary work and cultural capital: an exploratory analysis for Italian regional data

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Abstract

This paper addresses the relationship between voluntary work and cultural capital, providing a conceptual framework by moving from a cultural economics standpoint to a relational goods theory approach. The two main hypotheses relate to a positive relationship between cultural capital and voluntary work and a significant relationship between relational cultural goods and voluntary work. We corroborate these assumptions empirically by applying a two-stage least squares regression to Italian data at the regional level. The data are drawn from official sources and cover 20 Italian regions over the span of 2005–2013. The results show that volunteering is stimulated by cultural participation in more niche cultural goods and is shared by individuals with some knowledge and human and artistic sensitivity. Moreover, the consumption of specific cultural goods with a strong relational component, such as museums, exhibitions and theatre, has a significant impact on volunteer activity.

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Notes

  1. The study has been contracted by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) to GHK and is managed by the Directorate General for Education and Culture (DG EAC) of the European Commission.

  2. The region-specific variable is a time-invariant variable and captures how each region deviates from the total average (the regional fixed effect).

  3. It is the time-specific variable, activated by time dummies, useful to purify the structural relationship, which is common to all regions, from cyclical variations that are also common to all regions.

  4. https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/volontariato (last access February, 2017).

  5. That is, estimates that do not take into account spatial dependence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophical, Pedagogical and Economic-Quantitative Sciences, University “G. D’Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara, Viale Pindaro 42, 65127, Pescara, Italy

    Donatella Furia & Alessandro Crociata

  2. Department of Economic and Legal Studies, University of Naples “Parthenope”, Via Ammiraglio Ferdinando Acton, 38, 80133, Naples, Italy

    Massimiliano Agovino

Authors
  1. Donatella Furia
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  2. Alessandro Crociata
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  3. Massimiliano Agovino
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Correspondence to Donatella Furia.

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Furia, D., Crociata, A. & Agovino, M. Voluntary work and cultural capital: an exploratory analysis for Italian regional data. Econ Polit 35, 789–808 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40888-017-0070-6

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