Volunteer rates vary greatly across Europe despite the voluntary sector’s common history and tradition. This contribution advances a theoretical explanation for the variation in volunteering across Europe—the capability approach—and tests this approach by adopting a two-step strategy for modeling contextual effects. This approach, referring to the concept of capability introduced by Sen (Choice, welfare and measurement, Oxford University Press, 1980/1982), is based on the claim that the demand and supply sides of the voluntary sector can be expected to vary according to collective and individual capabilities to engage in volunteering. To empirically test the approach, the study relied on two data sources—the 2015 European Union (EU) Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), including an ad hoc module on volunteering at the individual level, and the Quality of Government Institute and PEW Research Center macro-level data sets—to operationalize economic, human, political, social, and religious contextual factors and assess their effects on individuals’ capability to volunteer. The results support the capability hypothesis at both levels. At the individual level, indicators of human, economic, and social resources have a positive effect on the likelihood of volunteering. At the contextual level, macro-structural indicators of economic, political, social, and religious contexts affect individuals’ ability to transform resources into functioning—that is, volunteering.

尽管志愿部门有共同的历史和传统，但整个欧洲的志愿率差异很大。这一贡献为整个欧洲范围内志愿者活动的变化提供了理论上的解释（即能力方法），并通过采用两步策略对情景效果进行建模来测试该方法。这种方法是指森提出的能力概念（《选择，福利与测量》，牛津大学出版社，1980/1982），是基于这样的主张，即可以预期自愿部门的供需双方会根据参与志愿服务的集体和个人能力。为了对这种方法进行实证检验，该研究依赖于两个数据源-2015年欧盟收入和生活条件调查（EU-SILC），其中包括一个针对个人志愿服务的特设模块，以及政府机构和PEW研究中心的质量的宏观数据集，以操作经济，人文，政治，社会和宗教背景因素，并评估它们对个人志愿服务能力的影响。结果在两个层面上都支持了能力假设。在个人层面，人力，经济和社会资源指标对志愿服务的可能性产生积极影响。在上下文级别，经济，政治，社会和宗教上下文的宏观结构指标会影响个人将资源转化为功能（即志愿服务）的能力。和宗教背景因素，并评估它们对个人志愿服务能力的影响。结果在两个层面上都支持了能力假设。在个人层面，人力，经济和社会资源指标对志愿服务的可能性产生积极影响。在上下文级别，经济，政治，社会和宗教上下文的宏观结构指标会影响个人将资源转化为功能（即志愿服务）的能力。和宗教背景因素，并评估它们对个人志愿服务能力的影响。结果在两个层面上都支持了能力假设。在个人层面，人力，经济和社会资源指标对志愿服务的可能性产生积极影响。在上下文级别，经济，政治，社会和宗教上下文的宏观结构指标会影响个人将资源转化为功能（即志愿服务）的能力。