Hello Yi-Yang, thank you for this fantastic write-up. I am considering doing such research and motivating other Eastern Europe countries to do the same, and this was highly valuable. The reason why I want to do this, and one not mentioned here is: Many charities and individuals are limited in who they can donate to, usually geographically. For example taxpayers in a country may only be able to donate their tax-deduction money to NGOs that help people in that country (I know that in China even stricter rule applies, that all fundraising in China can only go to local NGOs that work locally). In this case, people in a country have no idea what is the most effective cause to donate to, and there may be sizable gains on the margin from producing and publishing research that LPR might produce. It may guide government efforts, private donations, and local Charity clubs (such as Rotary, UN funds, and Red Cross), by creating a guide to causes in that country. Even if it creates no additional donations (and it might), just helping people donate to counterfactually better causes is a net positive.
Let me know your thoughts, and I’ll be reading much more about this before starting anything for sure—but thank you for having a great resource for getting started!
Hello Yi-Yang, thank you for this fantastic write-up. I am considering doing such research and motivating other Eastern Europe countries to do the same, and this was highly valuable. The reason why I want to do this, and one not mentioned here is:
Many charities and individuals are limited in who they can donate to, usually geographically. For example taxpayers in a country may only be able to donate their tax-deduction money to NGOs that help people in that country (I know that in China even stricter rule applies, that all fundraising in China can only go to local NGOs that work locally). In this case, people in a country have no idea what is the most effective cause to donate to, and there may be sizable gains on the margin from producing and publishing research that LPR might produce. It may guide government efforts, private donations, and local Charity clubs (such as Rotary, UN funds, and Red Cross), by creating a guide to causes in that country. Even if it creates no additional donations (and it might), just helping people donate to counterfactually better causes is a net positive.
Let me know your thoughts, and I’ll be reading much more about this before starting anything for sure—but thank you for having a great resource for getting started!