The economic dimension of international students' volunteering – Opportunities for Central Europe

Abstract

AbstractThere is a growing body of literature that recognizes the importance of volunteering. The economic impact of volunteering has been studied in previous decades, but scientists have not examined that of international students' volunteer activities fully. Therefore, the current paper aims to identify the economic potential of ingoing Erasmus students volunteering in Visegrad 4 countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia). The study uses a quantitative method to investigate Erasmus students' economic potential for volunteering, which is estimated by using two hypothetical situations. First, 90% of the international students shall volunteer for 4 h per month of their stay. Second, only 10% of the international students shall volunteer for 4 h per month. Replacement median wages were used to quantify the economic value of volunteering. This value is represented by an interval estimate with upper and lower bound. Results indicate the importance of international students' volunteer activity, as the potential volunteer hours and their economic value is calculated.