Abstract：
This research aimed to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of a volunteer program. The literature lacked empirical evidence on the cost efficiency of voluntary work in the public-sector context. Most previous studies have paid attention to the cases of nonprofit organizations, although there have been many volunteer programs in public organizations. In this research, we focused on the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Boat Crew Program which may help distressed boaters in distress, patrol regattas and marine events, and assist in maritime observations. We discovered that approximately $1.39 million was invested in volunteers to run the boat crew program for 2019. We also estimated the total monetary benefit of volunteer contributions by using the replacement cost method. As a result, we found that 5369 volunteers contributed approximately 199,000 h to the boat crew program in 2019. It means that the program extended the equivalent of 104 full-time Coast Guard personnel in 2019. The total economic benefit attributed to the volunteer contributions of labor ranged from $4.8 million to $5.4 million. Therefore, for every dollar the Coast Guard invested in the volunteer program, they obtained an additional return of $3.42 to $3.89 from volunteer contributions.
摘要：
这项研究旨在对志愿者计划进行成本效益分析。文献缺乏关于公共部门背景下志愿工作成本效率的经验证据。以前的研究大多关注非营利组织的案例，尽管公共组织中有许多志愿者计划。在这项研究中,我们专注于美国海岸警卫队辅助船船员计划，该计划可能会帮助陷入困境的船民，巡逻帆船赛和海上活动，并协助海上观测。我们发现，大约有139万美元投资于志愿者，以运行2019年的船员计划。我们还使用重置成本法估算了志愿者捐款的总货币收益。因此,我们发现，5369名志愿者在2019年为船员计划贡献了约199,000小时。这意味着该计划在2019年扩展了相当于104名全职海岸警卫队人员的人数。志愿者贡献的总经济利益从480万美元到540万美元不等。因此,海岸警卫队在志愿者项目上投入的每一美元，他们从志愿者捐款中获得了3.42美元至3.89美元的额外回报。
