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JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.Abstract. Volunteers make an important contribution to Canadian society. What motivates people to volunteer, and do they respond to government expenditure decisions? We address this question with the use of a 1987 microdata set and find that while the level of government spending influences the decision to volunteer, it has no effect on the number of hours donated. Furthermore, the nature of this relationship depends upon the particular type of government expenditures. For instance, the number of volunteers contracts when expenditures on certain economy-related activities fall, while reductions in health care spending bring about an increased number of volunteers.

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Using the 1987 Survey of Volunteer Activity in Canada, we examine whether differential returns to volunteer work in the paid labour market can explain part of the male-female earnings gap. Male volunteers earn, on average, about 11% higher incomes than their non-volunteering counterparts as a result of their volunteer experience, whereas comparable female volunteers and non-volunteers earn similar incomes. This differential return across the sexes may be partially explained by the type of volunteer activity undertaken. Our results indicate that as much as one third of the male-female earnings gap may be attributable to the fact that the labour market rewards male and female volunteers differently.