Toward a holistic nonprofit economics: insights from institutionalism and systems theory

The main thrust of the current nonprofit economics literature is that nonprofit organizations exist to correct market failures. However, the methodological individualism of the market failure theories of nonprofit organizations makes these theories unable to take account of the complex institutional embeddedness of the nonprofit sector. To fill this gap, the present paper outlines an approach of holistic nonprofit economics by building upon the insights from Thorstein Veblen’s institutionalism and Ervin Laszlo’s contribution to the general systems theory. From the Veblenian dichotomy, holistic nonprofit economics benefits by recognizing the limitations of the profit motive in ensuring a high quality of community life. From the systems theory conception of the multi-level universe, holistic nonprofit economics borrows the insight that the key to a high quality of community life is in the integration between man, society, and nature. Accordingly, holistic nonprofit economics locates the role of the nonprofit sector in ensuring this integration by counteracting the profit motive. Thus, in contrast to the market failure theories of nonprofit organizations, holistic nonprofit economics generates a research program exploring the embeddedness of the nonprofit sector into the encompassing societal and natural systems.     

Governmental Control of Externalities,or the Prey Eats the Predator

This paper argues that Gunnar Myrdal's theory of the state fruitfully elucidates which set of factors contributed to the transformation of the Welfare State into what James K. Galbraith has described as the modern Predator State. Myrdal employs the circular cumulative causation hypothesis (Berger forthcoming; 2008; Berger and Eisner 2007) to explain the evolution of the state as the result of multiple interrelated factors. Myrdal's evolutionary-institutional analysis of the state is found to be compatible with Galbraith's (2008) recent Veblenian approach in that it highlights the role of corruption (pecuniary considerations) in the relationship between big business (the "organized sector") and government.     

The war mentality

An investigation of the war mentality must include an analysis of the habitual forms behavior and modes of thoughts of the business sector, the military, and the civilian sector. Thorstein Veblen analyzed these behaviors and modes of thought through the dichotomy between the industrial function and the pecuniary function. Lloyd J. Dumas employs a special treatment of the Veblenian dichotomy. Dumas demonstrates that not all economic activity recorded into GDP is productive. He divides activity into contributive (that which adds to the quality of life and economic well-being) and noncontributive (that which does not add and/or diminishes the quality of life and well-being). The study of militarization also facilitates the understanding of the war mentality. John Gillis notes the difference between militarization and militarism. The purpose of this paper is to explore the war mentality from an evolutionary perspective.     

The war mentality

An investigation of the war mentality must include an analysis of the habitual forms behavior and modes of thoughts of the business sector, the military, and the civilian sector. Thorstein Veblen analyzed these behaviors and modes of thought through the dichotomy between the industrial function and the pecuniary function. Lloyd J. Dumas employs a special treatment of the Veblenian dichotomy. Dumas demonstrates that not all economic activity recorded into GDP is productive. He divides activity into contributive (that which adds to the quality of life and economic well-being) and noncontributive (that which does not add and/or diminishes the quality of life and well-being). The study of militarization also facilitates the understanding of the war mentality. John Gillis notes the difference between militarization and militarism. The purpose of this paper is to explore the war mentality from an evolutionary perspective. The author thanks Bill Dugger for helpful comments. John Martinez, Michele Abell and Tom Atwater provided valuable insights.     

Neoliberalism,Polanyi’s Protective Response,and Veblenian Waste

As capitalism unfolds, continual technological advance — in combination with the relentless accumulation imperative — serves to amplify material progress. The expanding economic sphere begins to pervade the everyday lives and thinking of the individual. The institutionalization of the market fundamentally changes the structure of society and, in so doing, fundamentally changes the institutional structure through which individuals are socialized. The social dislocation generated therein prompts Karl Polanyi’s protective response. Despite this market intensification, the existence of the economic surplus undermines the syllogistics of market-determined pricing. Evidence of the economic surplus and Veblenian waste as well as of the fact that the competitive law of value is not operable under neoliberalism is found in the lobby industry and campaign contributions. This research seeks to explicitly connect the concepts of Polanyi’s protective response with Veblenian waste and the economic surplus in order to better understand how the irrational system of neoliberalism continues to evolve.     

Stagflation as an Institutional Problem

The existence of nonprofit firms has been traditionally explained by two types of theories emphasizing the market failures that these firms address and the individual motivations to found these firms. To date, these theorizing strands have been mainly disconnected from each other. To fill this gap, this paper develops an integrative theoretical understanding of nonprofit organization by demonstrating the way market failures addressed by nonprofit firms are interrelated with the motivations of nonprofit entrepreneurs. Building on the arguments of Thorstein Veblen and the theory of the division of labor, it is argued that nonprofit organization embodies partial collective self-sufficiency necessitated by the limitations of the ability of market exchange to satisfy human needs.     

Age at marriage,social norms,and female education in Nepal

We study the impact of age at marriage on female education. We hypothesize that in cultures where women marry young, parents discount the pecuniary benefits of educating girls; the earlier the anticipated age at marriage the greater this discount. We empirically test this effect using household data from Nepal. We control for potential endogeneity of age at marriage by exploiting variations in cultural norms regarding dowry and differences in the average age of female marriage among ethnicities and regions as instrumental variables. The econometric results support the hypothesis that female education is negatively affected by cultural norms that favor early marriage.     

我国事业单位改革的方向与治理模式--基于受益人特质的非营利组织分类管理的视角

由于关注焦点的不同,非营利组织分类管理一直比较复杂和多样.本文从公共服务营销的角度,根据组织受益人的特质,将非营利组织划分为以公众、顾客、成员为导向的三类组织,并分析了这三类组织的行为特征.以此为据,针对当前事业单位改革的实际,探讨了我国事业单位改革的方向与治理模式.     

非营利组织企业化管理绩效评价指标体系及评价方法研究

基于建立指标体系的基本原则,构建了非营利组织企业化管理绩效评价指标体系(包括三层结构、17个指标)。用可靠性高、误差小的层次分析法确定指标的权重,初步建立了非营利组织企业化管理绩效评价的模型,并收集到的样本为例,对核模型进行了实证研究,表明了该方法的有效性。     

厦门市非营利组织发展探讨

非营利组织已经成为社会经济发展中的一支重要力量,其作用不容忽视,因此,在全面建设海峡西岸经济区的背景下,深入研讨非营利组织发展问题是有必要的。厦门在区域发展中拥有许多优势,厦门应当进一步发挥在海峡西岸经济区建设中的主体地位和重要作用,推动全国区域合作平台的建设。通过分析厦门非营利组织发展中存在的问题,引导厦门非营利组织发展,力求能为促进厦门经济发展,推动海峡经济繁荣起到一定作用。     

非营利性组织知识共享的障碍及其对策研究

知识共享成为知识管理的关键环节.在非营利性组织中,要克服影响知识共享的障碍因素,提高知识共享的效率,需要做到:(1)创新组织结构,完善组织制度;(2)培育有利于知识共享的组织文化;(3)建立完善先进的信息技术平台.     

违约责任中适用非财产损害赔偿探讨

非财产损害赔偿有别于精神损害赔偿，其含义国内外学者表述不一，但对违约责任下非财产损害的救济，两大法系的立法与判例均给予了一定认可。伴随着交易的不断复杂，违约产生的非财产损害纠纷在我国日渐彰显。为保证交易的公正，我国有必要在现有合同立法体系中补充完善关于非财产损害赔偿的规定。     

A Theoretical Model of the Effects of Public Funding on Saving Decisions by Charitable Nonprofit Service Providers

Why do charitable nonprofit, service‐providing organizations save? What are the tradeoffs between using income to build up cash reserves and serving more clients? Saving may generate income, protect the organization against a drop in donations, and increase the organization's chances of survival. Saving, though, may affect the likelihood that nonprofits receive private and public funding. We model the relationship among private and public income, economic conditions, and nonprofit savings. We find that anticipation of government help during difficult times tends to reduce the amount of saving done by the nonprofit. This effect is strengthened if government officials view unspent donations as indicative of a lack of need. Both these effects provide a strong incentive for nonprofits to spend on current consumption rather than to save for the future, and thus to increase the burden on the public purse.     

THE INFLUENCE OF VOLUNTEERS, DONATIONS AND PUBLIC SUBSIDIES ON THE WAGE LEVEL OF NONPROFIT WORKERS: EVIDENCE FROM AUSTRIAN MATCHED DATA

ABSTRACT ** :  In this article we add to the literature analyzing wages in the nonprofit sector by estimating a wage function based on employer-employee matched data for Austria. We concentrate on the influence of voluntary contributions on the wage level of paid workers. By using a quantile regression approach we find that the existence of volunteers reduces the wages of paid employees in nonprofit organizations. The number of volunteers does not have an influence on the wage level. Donations have a small but positive effect for higher income groups only. Public subsidies increase wages of all paid workers in a nonprofit organization.     

Managerial compensation and incentives in for-profit and nonprofit hospitals

Differential economic behavior of for-profit and nonprofit institutionscan be manifest in both output and input markets. When behaviorin output markets is difficult to observe, behavior in inputmarkets can be useful proxies. We examine monetary compensationand its composition between base salary and bonus, and the associatedincentive structures, in the U.S. hospital industry. Our datapermit controlling for interinstitutional differences in thescope and complexity of jobs having the same titles, as wellas differences in organization size and other variables. Wefind (1) total monetary compensation for the two top executivejobs is substantially higher in the for-profit sector; and (2)the composition of compensation as between base salary and bonusdiffers materially across forms of organization, bonuses beingabsolutely and relatively greater in the for-profit sector.Particularly noteworthy is the finding that for-profit hospitalsutilize compensation mechanisms that, by involving larger contingentcomponents, provide stronger incentives - greater rewards -as compared with nonprofit hospitals, for performance that ismore easily monitored. While our findings are consistent withmore than one model of comparative organizations differ in theirgoals and, hence, in the kinds of managers they demand and thereward structures they offer. Nonprofit organizations may pursueobjectives that reflect greater concern about collective goodsor other outputs that are more difficult to measure and reward.Alternatively, nonprofits, confronted by a nondistribution constrainton the payout of profit to managers, may lack incentives forefficiency, and so may pursue other goals such as a quiet life.Such differential objective functions, together with the differentialconstraints on the distribution of profit to managers, havetwo kinds of implications. (1) Nonprofit and for-profit organizationsmay attract different kinds of managers, especially at the toplevels, because nonprofits prefer working for a nonprofit organizationand, hence, may offer a lower supply price to them. (2) Thetwo types of organizations can be expected to offer differentialcomposition of compensation as between base salary and performance-basedbonus, providing different incentives for managers. Our analysisis positive in character, the goal being to identify systematicdifferences in organization behavior.     

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION IN NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

The purpose of this study is to establish a measurement scale for human resource management (HRM) practices in nonprofit organizations and to analyze their impact on employee job satisfaction. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using a principal components was performed. The analyzed sample is composed of 62 organizations with 2,030 employees. The results demonstrate that 8 out of 20 analyzed variables determine the measurement scale of HRM practices in these organizations. These variables are related to psychological demands, active work and development possibilities, social relations and leadership, and the degree of coherence in the organization with its principles. According to the results, these practices have an impact on employee job satisfaction. We believe that these results are relevant due to the lack of similar studies and the relevance of nonprofit organizations as job creators in the European Union.     

What is a farecard worth?

In this paper wer use the duality approach to demand theory to evaluate the value to a consumer of a farecard which allows travel at zero marginal pecuniary cost. The analysis is extended to networks with two modes of travel (bus and underground).Illustrative figures are calculated for farecards on the London Transport network.     

论中国智库产业与国际接轨的挑战

现代意义的智库是一种以政策研究为核心的非营利性社会机构，有一定的社会公共属性，且与是否官办机构无关。在当今快速变化的世界中，智库具有前瞻性的科学决策方案，可为一个国家、社会、民族发展提供决策储备，实现与国际接轨的科学化功能系统。中国下一阶段的改革，需要智库产业独立性的涵养与真正确立。     

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ALLOCATION OF DECISION‐MAKING ACROSS STAKEHOLDER GROUPS: THE CASE OF PERSONAL CARE INDUSTRIES

ABSTRACT 1 : The article compares the allocation of decision‐making across stakeholder groups in for‐profit, nonprofit and local government personal care facilities in one state in the United States. We analyze detailed survey data on nursing homes, childcare centers and group homes. We find that in comparison to nonprofit and government organizations, for‐profit firms delegate more decision‐making power to executives and owners, and less to their employees, consumers, families, boards of directors, and community representatives. The differences, although generally small, support the hypothesis that decision‐making is allocated to different groups in accord with the broad objectives of the organization.