Texas A&M University, USA
IZA World of Labor role
Author
Current position
Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Texas A&M University (2014–)
Research interest
Charitable giving and the economics of education
Website
Past positions
Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution (Fall 2015); Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research (2015–); Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University (2009–2014)
Qualifications
PhD Economics, Stanford University, 2009
Selected publications
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“Does fundraising create new giving?” Journal of Public Economics (Forthcoming).
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“The impact of teacher-student gender matches: Random assignment evidence from South Korea.” Journal of Human Resources (Forthcoming) (with J. Lim).
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“A field experiment on directed giving at a public university.” Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (Forthcoming) (with C. Eckel and D. Herberich).
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“Effects of the minimum wage on employment dynamics.” Journal of Human Resources 51:2 (2016): 500–522 (with J. West).
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“Brother, can you spare a dime: Peer pressure in charitable solicitation.” Journal of Public Economics 95:7–8 (2011): 926–941.
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Are overhead costs a good guide for charitable giving?
Donors rely on overhead costs to evaluate charities, but that reliance creates disincentives for charities to hire skilled workers
Jonathan Meer, January 2017Charity rating agencies often focus on overhead cost ratios in evaluating charities, and donors appear to be sensitive to these measures when deciding where to donate. Yet, there appears to be a tenuous connection between this widely-used metric and a charity’s effectiveness. There is evidence that a focus on overhead costs leads charities to underinvest in important functions, especially skilled workers. To evaluate policies that regulate overhead costs, it is necessary to examine whether donors care about overhead costs, whether they are good measures of charity effectiveness, and what effects a focus on overhead costs has on charities.MoreLess