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Economics of Associations and Volunteering

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The Palgrave Handbook of Volunteering, Civic Participation, and Nonprofit Associations

Abstract

This chapter reviews economic approaches to volunteers and nonprofit organizations (NPOs), especially membership associations (MAs). Because volunteers work without (significant) pay, volunteering has no market price. Still, volunteering has economic value, as would become evident if all volunteers stopped working simultaneously. Estimating the monetary value of volunteering is a second emphasis of this chapter. The economic contribution of volunteers and MAs (or NPOs generally) has been neglected for a long time. Due to minimal data, the economic relevance of the nonprofit sector has long remained invisible. In recent years, some effort has been made to obtain more information on volunteering, mainly fostered by the academic world, but increasingly recognized and supported by governments. As a third emphasis, this chapter provides a comprehensive overview of relevant, existing data.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Austria

    Eva More-Hollerweger

  2. USA

    Woods Bowman

  3. Slovakia

    Beata Gavurova

  4. Slovakia

    Helena Kuvikova

  5. Korea

    Tye-kyu Park

Authors
  1. Eva More-Hollerweger
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  2. Woods Bowman
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  3. Beata Gavurova
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  4. Helena Kuvikova
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  5. Tye-kyu Park
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More-Hollerweger, E., Bowman, W., Gavurova, B., Kuvikova, H., Park, Tk. (2016). Economics of Associations and Volunteering. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Volunteering, Civic Participation, and Nonprofit Associations. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-26317-9_44

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-26317-9_44

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-26316-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-26317-9

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