How could social assistance empower recipients? The impact of different forms of social assistance on recipients’ philanthropic behaviors

While global welfare debates prioritize recipient empowerment, existing studies have stated controversial opinions regarding whether and how could social assistance shape recipients’ prosocial behaviors—a critical gap given rising inequality. From the theoretical perspective of institutional logics, this study examines how different forms of social assistance impact recipients’ philanthropic behaviors, and examines China’s unique state-society dynamics to reveal how authoritarian governance impacts institutional logics. Using nationally representative data, the results of analyses show that state assistance strengthens the constraints of economic conditions on individual giving, and charitable assistance has no effect overall, while mixed assistance weakens the positive effect of self-efficacy and perceived reciprocity. The findings redefine empowerment debates by highlighting institutional hierarchy’s role considering unbalanced state-society relation. These insights advance comparative welfare literature and offer actionable pathways for coordinating state-NGO efforts of social assistance in authoritarian contexts in order to promote the full development of recipients.