TY - JOUR AU - Nelson, Jonathan Katz AU - Zeckhauser, Richard J TI - A Renaissance Instrument to Support Nonprofits: The Sale of Private Chapels in Florentine Churches JF - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series VL - No. 9173 PY - 2002 Y2 - September 2002 DO - 10.3386/w9173 UR - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9173 L1 - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9173.pdf N1 - Author contact info: Richard J. Zeckhauser John F. Kennedy School of Government Harvard University 79 John F. Kennedy Street Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617/495-1174 Fax: 617/384-9340 E-Mail: richard_zeckhauser@harvard.edu M1 - published as Jonathan Katz. Nelson, Richard J. Zeckhauser. "A Renaissance Instrument to Support Nonprofits. The Sale of Private Chapels in Florentine Churches ," in Edward L. Glaeser, editor, "The Governance of Not-for-Profit Organizations" University of Chicago Press (2003) AB - Catholic churches in Renaissance Florence supported themselves overwhelmingly from the contributions of wealthy citizens. The sale of private chapels within churches to individuals was a significant source of church funds, and facilitated a church construction boom. Chapel sales offered three benefits to churches: prices were usually far above cost; donor/purchasers purchased masses and other tie-in services; and they added to the magnificence of the church because donors were required to decorate chapels expensively. Donors purchased chapels for two primary reasons: to facilitate services for themselves and their families, such as masses and church burials, that would speed their departure from Purgatory; and to gain status in the community. Chapels were private property within churches, but were only occasionally used directly by their owners. The expense of chapels and their decorations made them an ideal signal for wealth, particularly since sumptuary laws limited most displays of wealth. To overcome the contributions free-rider problem, these churches sold private benefits not readily available elsewhere, namely status and salvation. ER -