Economics of Associations and Volunteering

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.