Entrepreneurial Philanthropy and University Creation: An Economic Model

Abstract

A century ago, great entrepreneurs of American capitalism created major research universities. Today, donations are largely being channeled to the most successful universities. This paper explores the impact of entrepreneurial philanthropy on the creation and endowment of universities. It presents an integro-differential model that yields a nonlinear relation between university endowment and quality. Empirical tests validate the model, showing that university quality bears a nonlinear (quadratic) relationship with private giving (endowments).