- Back to Faculty -

Professor Mark Wilhelm

Education:
Ph.D., Economics, 1990, New York University.
M.S.E., Electrical Engineering, 1980, The University of Michigan.
B.S.E.E., Electrical Engineering, 1979, The Johns Hopkins University


Office: CA 521
mowilhel@iupui.edu
Faculty Website

Professor Wilhelm does empirical research on the economics of prosocial behavior. Much of his research is focused on charitable giving. Professor Wilhelm is the Founding Director of the Center on Philanthropy Panel Study, a project that gathers high-quality survey data on giving and volunteering from 8,000 American families as a part of the Panel Study on Income Dynamics. His most recent analyses of these data are about the intergenerational transmission of generosity, generational change in giving, and adolescent experiences of family disruption and low income and subsequent giving in young adulthood. He has also recently completed work on empathy and moral principles as correlates of helping behavior and the use of specification tests in censored regression models. Professor Wilhelm’s other prosocial behavior research has dealt with voter support for public assistance to the poor and help within the family. Professor Wilhelm’s research has been featured in media publications such as Business Week, Forbes, the New York Times, and Science and Theology News.

Selected Publications:

• “Changes in Religious Giving Reflect Changes in Involvement: Age and Cohort Effects in Religious Giving, Secular Giving, and Attendance,” with Patrick Rooney and Eugene Tempel, forthcoming in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.
• “The Quality and Comparability of Survey Data on Charitable Giving,” forthcoming in the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.
• “New Data on Charitable Giving in the PSID,” Economics Letters, July 2006 92(1):26-31.
• “Exchange, Role Modeling and the Intergenerational Transmission of Elder Support Attitudes: Evidence from Three Generations of Mexican-Americans,” with David Ribar, Journal of Socio-Economics, June 2006 35(3):514-531.
• “Estimating Charitable Deductions in Giving USA,” with Partha Deb, Patrick Rooney and Melissa Brown. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (4, December 2003): 548-567.
• “Altruistic and Joy-of-Giving Motivations in Charitable Behavior,” with David Ribar, Journal of Political Economy, April 2002.
• “Income Mobility, Inequality and Social Welfare,” with John Creedy, Australian Economic Papers, June 2002.
• “The Role of Intergenerational Transfers in Spreading Asset Ownership,” Assets for the Poor: The Benefits of Spreading Asset Ownership, eds. Shapiro, Thomas and Wolff, Edward, Russell Sage Foundation, New York, 2001.
• “Taxation and the Labor Supply Decisions of the Affluent,” with Robert Moffitt, Does Atlas Shrug? The Economic Consequences of Taxing the Rich, eds. Selmrod, Joel, Russell Sage Foundation & Harvard Press, New York, 2000.
• “The Demand for Welfare Generosity,” with David Ribar, Review of Economics and Statistics, February 1999.
• “The Decline of Welfare Benefits in the U.S.: The Role of Wage Inequality,” with Robert Moffitt and David Ribar. Journal of Public Economics June 1998.
• “Inheritance, Steady-State Consumption Inequality, and the Lifetime Earnings Process,” The Manchester School, 466-476, September 1997.
• “The Effects of Economic Conditions and Access to Reproductive Health Services on State Abortion and Birth Rates,” with Stephen Matthews and David Ribar. Family Planning Perspectives Vol. 29, No. 2, 52-60, March/April 1997.
• “Bequest Behavior and the Effect of Heirs' Earnings: Testing the Altruistic Model of Bequests,” American Economic Review, 874-892, September 1996.
• “Welfare Generosity: The Importance of Administrative Efficiency, Community Values, and Genuine Benevolence,” with David Ribar. Applied Economics, 1045-1054, August 1996.
• “Charitable Contributions to International Relief and Development,” with David Ribar. National Tax Journal, 229-244 June 1995.
• “Patterns of Support Given by Older Americans to Their Children,” with David Eggebeen. In Bass, Scott A. (ed.) Older and Active: How Americans Over 55 Are Contributing to Society, Yale University Press, New Haven, 122-168, 1995.
• “Inheritance and Labor Supply,” with David Joulfaian. Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 29, No. 4, 1205-1234, Fall 1994.