Investigating Factors Affecting Community Participation in Donation and Its Amount: Focus on Different Religiosity Aspects (Case Study: Abdanan City)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Ahl-al-Bait Studies, University of Isfahan

2 Graduate of Islamic Economics

3 Graduate of Economics

Abstract

Charity is one of the religious practices in Islam and can perform various functions such as poverty alleviation and inequality reduction in a high-capacity Islamic financial system. However, a large amount of this capacity has not yet been used, perhaps due to a lack of studies on the motivations of the donors. The present study is a field study that examines the demographic variables and motivations of people in charity in Abdanan city of Ilam province with a focus on religiosity aspects. The sample size of this study was 370 persons. After collecting data, factors affecting participation in charity and its amount were analyzed using Heckman two-stage model. In this model, first, the factors affecting charity and non-charity are investigated and then in the second stage, the factors affecting the rate of payment among donators are evaluated. The results of this study showed that at 95% confidence level, among the variables studied, variables of charity statehood, type of job (public or private), commitment to obligatory acts and inviolable ordinances of God, and the amount of performing public rituals in the first stage affect participation in charity.  Also, in the second stage and among those who donate, the variables of belief in productivity and profitability of charity, belief in satisfaction of charity, moral integrity and the amount of performing social rituals, affect the  amount of charity.

Keywords