Q. Chen et al 2009 EPL 88 38001 doi:10.1209/0295-5075/88/38001
Q. Chen, C. Wang and Y. Wang
Show affiliationsThe power law or Zipf's law phenomena in human behaviors have been widely observed and attracted intensive attention. In this letter, a new evidence on personal donation is presented and analyzed. A sample of donation to the victims of Sichuan earthquake in 2008 demonstrates that donation distribution has a particular pattern. The upper part is governed by Zipf's law and the lower part exhibits a uniform distribution. We propose a theoretical model in which people's wealth distribution follows a power law, they are willing to donate a random part of their wealth and have preferences on some specific numbers. This model provides us not only a reasonable explanation on the empirical donation pattern but also an effective method to get access to large-scale personal-wealth distributions.
89.65.Gh Economics; econophysics, financial markets, business and management
Issue 3 (November 2009)
Received 30 September 2009, accepted for publication 21 October 2009
Published 4 November 2009
Q. Chen et al 2009 EPL 88 38001
M. P. Muno et al. 2009 ApJS 181 110