Voluntary labour supply by birth cohort: empirical evidence from Germany

This paper examines the relationship between the volunteer labour supply as a component of social capital accumulation and birth cohorts. Using cross-sectional data from Germany, we apply pseudo time series and panel methods to study the connection between volunteering, active membership status, and public and private good motivations to capture an apparently changing perception of volunteer work. Our results suggest that volunteering establishes itself as a stable behaviour. Active membership and motives to volunteer to do something for a common good have predictive power. The results suggest that the volunteer labour supply is associated with some kind of institutionalised structures and a public good orientation rather than 'just having a good time'.