Can Science Save Development Aid?
Randomized controlled trials are the popular centerpiece of an emerging data-driven approach to figuring out precisely the best way to end poverty. Can a return to the scientific method fix the global aid industry?
Philanthropy
Need for Speedrunning
Gamers have found a way to get a younger generation excited about raising millions for charity. And they don’t even need to put down their controllers.
Silicon Valley Is the Best and Worst Thing That Ever Happened to Art
When tech workers are considered the true “creative class,” artists don’t appear to win.
A Discussion About Local Grantmaking in Silicon Valley
The Silicon Valley Community Foundation responds to a story from Pacific Standard partner site Capital & Main.
Beware Billionaires Bearing Gifts
This new wave of high-profile donations from tech moguls may be generous, but it is not a win for populism. It's the modern Carnegie.
Silicon Valley: Wealth Redistribution, One-Percent Style
The charities that keep on ... taking?
In Times of Corporate Troubles, Altruism Helps
Research shows that philanthropy is a valuable strategy when big companies like HSBC get into trouble.
How Do You Make a Living, Auctioneer?
Noah Davis talks to CK Swett, a rising star in the auctioneering world, about the secret to raising millions of dollars, how he lands his gigs, and why auctioneering is a young man's game.
The 30 Top Thinkers Under 30: Felix Ruano, 19, Economics
For the month of April we're profiling the individuals who made our inaugural list of the 30 top thinkers under 30, the young men and women we predict will have a serious impact on the social, political, and economic issues we cover every day here at Pacific Standard.
Why Won't the Red Cross Tell Us How It Spent Donations After Sandy?
Donors gave $312 million after the storm, but it’s not clear where exactly the money went.
What Happens to All Those Hotel Soap Bars?
The Global Soap Project aims to tidy those slivers’ trip to the landfill by sending reclaimed soap to poor countries.
Humanitarian Aid: Moving the Dialogue Toward Prevention
Studies of international aid back up the old expression that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
One Laptop Per Child Redux
Declared dead just two years ago, the plan to provide every child in the developing world with a computer shows signs of life.
Childhood Memories Provoke Charitable Behavior
New Harvard University research suggests childhood memories stimulate selflessness.
Foreign Aid for a Frugal Age
There are international development programs that actually do help the world's poorest people. Dean Karlan can show you the proof.
Microfinance: Back to the Drawing Board
Despite the hype surrounding microfinance as an answer to solving world poverty, new research shows it isn't the savior economists envisioned.
The Poisonous Proceeds of Penny-Pinching
Researchers report the shame evoked by miserly behavior may have negative long-term health consequences.
Continental’s Charitable Donations May Be In Departure Lounge
Continental and United’s proposed merger entails a relocation of Continental’s headquarters to Chicago. Houstonians (rightfully) fear that this means a relocation of charitable contributions, too.
Letting Your Good Intentions Backfill My Budget
Researchers investigate whether that dollar of foreign aid just frees up money for the recipient to spend elsewhere.
Computer Error?
There appear to be cheaper, more effective ways to improve education in developing nations than the glitzy One Laptop per Child program.
The Oxymoron of ‘Business Ethics’ Proves Its Worth
Among financial services firms, those who ranked near the bottom on ethics scoreboards are near the top in the tsunami of financial crisis headlines.
'Small P' Philanthropy: The Sentimentality of Crowds
Charities wonder if giving donors control over their donations makes for wise policy.