Corporations are under increasing pressure to provide information about their corporate social responsibility activities. However, there is limited work on how firms measure the value of their philanthropic giving. The value of a philanthropic act can be difficult to ascertain as it often relates to unique goods that do not have a market value. The paper examines the processes a sample of (mainly family-run) private corporations follow to value their donations to a not-for-profit cultural festival. The findings suggest that while giving to the festival is seen as a contribution to the local community, there are additional motivations for donating. Moreover, the firms do not attempt to formally assess the value of their act, which they believe is hard (if not impossible) to measure. Our case highlights a more complex system influencing philanthropic acts of private firms.

中文翻译：

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慈善事业：衡量文化捐赠价值的挑战

公司面临越来越大的压力，要求他们提供有关其企业社会责任活动的信息。然而，关于公司如何衡量其慈善捐赠价值的工作有限。慈善行为的价值可能难以确定，因为它通常与没有市场价值的独特商品有关。本文研究了一些（主要是家族经营的）私营公司样本遵循的流程，以评估他们对非营利文化节的捐赠。调查结果表明，虽然捐赠节日被视为对当地社区的贡献，但捐赠还有其他动机。此外，这些公司并不试图正式评估其行为的价值，他们认为这很难（如果不是不可能的话）衡量。