An urban grants economy revisited: Corporate charitable contributions in the twin cities, 1979-81, 1987-89

To examine whether corporate giving had changed during the 1980s, I studied charitable contributions in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota in 1979-81 and 1987-89. There was no support for hypotheses that charitable contributions had decreased, became more tightly coupled to market position, or were less influenced by chief executive officers' social networks. In neither period did the percent of sales to consumers affect contributions; labor intensities had a weak negative effect in 1979-81 and a strong negative effect in 1987-89; and in both periods social network ties to local philanthropic leaders, company performance, and size were positively related to giving, while CEO ownership had a negative effect. Only when firms came under the control of a large outside investor was the effect of network position on contributions significantly weakened.