IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jdevst/v41y2005i5p759-787.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Strategic Choices of NGOs: Location Decisions in Rural Bangladesh

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Fruttero
  • Varun Gauri

Abstract

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) play an increasingly important role in the delivery of public services in developing countries, but little systematic evidence is available about their strategic choices. We develop two stylised accounts of NGO strategies: one in which pragmatic and organisational concerns determine location decisions, and another in which charitable motivations are the principal determinants. We then use data from the 1995 and 2000 rounds of the Bangladesh Household and Income and Expenditure Survey to analyse location decisions of NGO programmes established between those two sample years. Whether disaggregated by sector of work or mother organisation, the data show that the net change in NGO programmes in a community was not related to indicators of community need, that NGOs established new programmes where they themselves had no programmes previously, and that they did not avoid duplicating the efforts of other NGOs. Overall, the analysis is consistent with an account of NGO choices in which a concern for broad coverage significantly affects NGO choices.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Fruttero & Varun Gauri, 2005. "The Strategic Choices of NGOs: Location Decisions in Rural Bangladesh," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 759-787.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:41:y:2005:i:5:p:759-787
    DOI: 10.1080/00220380500145289
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220380500145289
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00220380500145289?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Amin, Sajeda & Rai, Ashok S. & Topa, Giorgio, 2003. "Does microcredit reach the poor and vulnerable? Evidence from northern Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 59-82, February.
    2. Ravallion, Martin & Wodon, Quentin, 2000. "Banking on the Poor? Branch Location and Nonfarm Rural Development in Bangladesh," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(2), pages 121-139, June.
    3. William Easterly, 2002. "The cartel of good intentions: The problem of bureaucracy in foreign aid," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(4), pages 223-250.
    4. Jonathan Morduch, 1999. "The Microfinance Promise," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1569-1614, December.
    5. Martin Ravallion & Quentin Wodon, 2000. "Banking on the Poor? Branch Location and Nonfarm Rural Development in Bangladesh," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(2), pages 121-139, June.
    6. Morduch, Jonathan, 1999. "The role of subsidies in microfinance: evidence from the Grameen Bank," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 229-248, October.
    7. Jessica Vivian, 1994. "NGOs and Sustainable Development in Zimbabwe: No Magic Bullets," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 25(1), pages 167-193, January.
    8. Morduch, Jonathan, 2000. "The Microfinance Schism," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 617-629, April.
    9. Ravallion, Martin*Wodon, Quentin, 1997. "Banking on the poor? Branch placement and nonfarm rural development in Bangladesh," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1858, The World Bank.
    10. Rahman, Atiur & Razzaque, Abdur, 2000. "On Reaching the Hardcore Poor: Some Evidence on Social Exclusion in NGO Programmes," Bangladesh Development Studies, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), vol. 26(1), pages 1-35, March.
    11. Rosenzweig, Mark R & Wolpin, Kenneth I, 1986. "Evaluating the Effects of Optimally Distributed Public Programs: ChildHealth and Family Planning Interventions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(3), pages 470-482, June.
    12. Zeller, Manfred & Sharma, Manohar & Ahmed, Akhter U. & Rashid, Shahidur, 2001. "Group-based financial institutions for the rural poor in Bangladesh: an institutional- and household-level analysis," Research reports 120, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Stiles, Kendall, 2002. "International Support for NGOs in Bangladesh: Some Unintended Consequences," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 835-846, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anna Fruttero & Varun Gauri, 2003. "Location decisions and nongovernmental organization motivation : evidence from rural Bangladesh," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3176, The World Bank.
    2. Mallick, Debdulal, 2012. "Microfinance and Moneylender Interest Rate: Evidence from Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 1181-1189.
    3. Gutiérrez-Nieto, Begoña & Serrano-Cinca, Carlos, 2019. "20 years of research in microfinance: An information management approach," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 183-197.
    4. Rao, Smriti, 2008. "Reforms with a Female Face: Gender, Liberalization, and Economic Policy in Andhra Pradesh, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 1213-1232, July.
    5. Prabirendra Chatterjee & Sudipta, Sarangi, "undated". "Social Identity and Group Lending," Working Papers UWEC-2005-06-R, University of Washington, Department of Economics.
    6. Janda, Karel & Zetek, Pavel, 2014. "Mikrofinanční Revoluce: Aktuální Kontroverze A Výzvy [Microfinance Revolution: Recent Controversies And Challenges]," MPRA Paper 54098, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Ajwad, Mohamed Ihsan & Wodon, Quentin, 2007. "Do local Governments maximize access rates to public services across areas?: A test based on marginal benefit incidence analysis," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 242-260, May.
    8. Sana Ben Abdessalem Kacem & Sonia Ghorbel Zouari, 2013. "The determinants of access to financial services for micro-credit associations: Application on Tunisian case," E3 Journal of Business Management and Economics., E3 Journals, vol. 4(2), pages 031-046.
    9. Janda, Karel & Zetek, Pavel, 2014. "Survey of Microfinance Controversies and Challenges," MPRA Paper 56657, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Bos, Jaap W.B. & Millone, Matteo, 2015. "Practice What You Preach: Microfinance Business Models and Operational Efficiency," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 28-42.
    11. Karel Janda & Pavel Zetek, 2015. "Mikrofinanční revoluce: kontroverze a výzvy [Microfinance Revolution: Controversies and Challenges]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2015(1), pages 108-130.
    12. Al-Azzam, Moh'd & Mimouni, Karim & Smaoui, Houcem & Temimi, Akram, 2022. "Subsidies vs. deposits and cost inefficiency in microfinance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 212-235.
    13. Samuel Kobina Annim, 2011. "Sensitivity of Loan Size to Lending Rates: Evidence from Ghana's Microfinance Sector," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2011-003, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Hudon, Marek & Traca, Daniel, 2011. "On the Efficiency Effects of Subsidies in Microfinance: An Empirical Inquiry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 966-973, June.
    15. Annim, Samuel Kobina, 2009. "Sensitivity of loan size to lending rates: Evidence from Ghana’s microfinance sector," MPRA Paper 21280, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. B Gutiérrez-Nieto & C Serrano-Cinca & C Mar Molinero, 2009. "Social efficiency in microfinance institutions," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 60(1), pages 104-119, January.
    17. Chakravarty, Sugato & Pylypiv, Mariya I., 2015. "The Role of Subsidization and Organizational Status on Microfinance Borrower Repayment Rates," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 737-748.
    18. Wook Sohn & Laila Ume, 2019. "The Impact of Microfinance on Poverty Alleviation: The Case of Pakistan," Journal of Asian Development, Macrothink Institute, vol. 5(3), pages 16-36, November.
    19. Paul A. Onyina & Sean Turnell, 2013. "The Impacts Of A Microfinance Lending Scheme On Clients In Ghana," Accounting & Taxation, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 5(2), pages 79-88.
    20. Quisumbing, Agnes R., 2009. "Beyond the bari: Gender, groups, and social relations in rural Bangladesh," CAPRi working papers 96, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:41:y:2005:i:5:p:759-787. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/FJDS20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.