The Economic Value of Volunteer Work

Abstract

Despite the socioeconomic interest that is associated with volunteer work, the practice of valuing it is limited, and few scientific advances have been made. In this context, this study first analyses why these advances are scarce, paying special attention to the limitations of micro- and macro-accounting systems, including volunteer work accounts. It then proposes a method with heuristic capacity for valuing the various economic dimensions of volunteer work. The third part of this article applies this proposal to social and environmental volunteer work in the Spanish region of Valencia. The conclusions bring to focus the fact that whereas the technical obstacles faced in conducting empirical analysis are not insurmountable, obstacles of a sociopolitical nature and of scientific mindsets continue to hinder the advance of research in this field of the social sciences.