Kimberley Scharf, CES guest in April 2014
Tax Relief for Charitable Donations
The trend towards increased inequality in many developed countries has heightened tensions between the philanthropic pursuits of large and small donors. At the same time, the number of charities has proliferated, each pursuing distinct (albeit overlapping) missions.
In this context, Kimberley Scharf is examining two key issues: Do tax relief provisions for charitable donations unduly favour higher-income donors? What are the costs and benefits of diversity in the charitable sector, and should such diversity be limited by imposing more restrictive criteria on charities and donations in determining their eligibility for preferential treatment under the law?
During her stay at CESifo, Ms Scharf will be focusing on one aspect of this debate: Do wealthy donors influence the philanthropic agenda in a manner that is disproportionate to the size of their financial contributions, and should public funds be used — through tax expenditures — to support them in their aims?
Kimberley Scharf is a CESifo Research Network Fellow, Research Theme Director at the Warwick ESRC funded Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE), and Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick. She has been, or is currently, on the editorial boards of the Journal of Public Economics, International Tax and Public Finance, and Fiscal Studies.
She is also an elected member of Council of the Royal Economics Society (RES), a mentor for the RES Women’s Committee, a Research Associate at CEPR, and an Associate at the London School of Economics. She has been supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (UK), the European Research Council (Marie Curie), the Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and the British Academy.
She is a founding member (along with Tim Besley and Michael Keen) and main organiser of Public Economics UK, a consortium of UK public economists and policymakers, whose main aim is to eliminate the disconnects that exist between academic research of public economics and practise of public policymakers. She has published in, amongst others, the International Economic Review, the Review of Economic Studies, the Journal of Public Economics, the Economic Journal, Oxford Economic Papers, the Canadian Journal of Economics, and International Tax and Public Finance.