The idea of a ''third sector'' beyond the arenas of the state and the market is probably one of the most perplexing concepts in modern political and social discourse, encompassing as it does a tremendous diversity of institutions and behaviors that only relatively recently have been perceived in public or scholarly discourse as a distinct sector, and even then with grave misgivings.

This article explores alternative approaches for measuring the economic value of volunteer work, develops a methodology for producing global estimates of this value using existing data sources, and identifies a new data source that promises to yield significantly improved data on which to base such estimates in the future at both the global and national levels. Both volunteering through organizations and directly for individuals are considered. Different approaches to valuation, including the replacement cost, opportunity cost, and social benefits approaches and both observed and reported market proxies, are examined. Based on a number of criteria, the replacement cost method using observed market wages is recommended. Using this method, the article estimates that 'volunteerland,' if it were its own country, would have the second largest adult population of any country in the world, and would be the world's seventh largest economy. The article concludes by discussing a new International Labour Organization Manual on the Measurement of Volunteer Work that adopts the basic method for defining and valuing volunteer work outlined here and promises to generate a much more robust and coherent body of data on volunteer work than has ever been available both globally and nationally. Medida del valor económico del voluntariado: conceptos, estimaciones y hoja de ruta para el futuro El articulo examina enfoques alternativos para medir el valor económico del trabajo voluntario, desarrolla una metodologia para elaborar estimaciones globales de este valor utilizando las bases de datos existentes, e identifica una nueva fuente de información que promete proporcionar datos significativamente mejores sobre los que basar en el futuro las estimaciones, simultáneamente en los niveles global y nacional. Se consideran los dos tipos de voluntarios existentes, los que actúan a través de las organizaciones y los que lo hacen directamente. Se examinan diferentes enfoques de evaluación, comprendidos los costes de sustitución y de oportunidad, como también se observan y describen las aproximaciones por los beneficios sociales y las predicciones del mercado. Basado en un cierto número de criterios, el método del coste de sustitución *

No abstract

Using the data from a survey undertaken in the United States in 1992, this article examines the effects of altruism, self-interest and social ties on motivations to give and volunteer, as well as the effects of volunteering on definitions of life goals. Social ties with non-profit organisations were good predictors of both the value of charitable contributions and the time volunteered for charitable causes. The level of prior philanthropic activism and social connections with philanthropic institutions had an effect on life goals. Altruism and the desire for self~improvement had effects on volunteering, but not on giving. Utilitarian motives (expected career advancement) had no observable effects on volunteering or giving. Based on those findings, a general microstructural model of philanthropic behaviour is proposed.