IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/gdec11/62.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Funding, Competition and the Efficiency of NGOs: An Empirical Analysis of Non-charitable Expenditure of US NGOs Engaged in Foreign Aid

Author

Listed:
  • Öhler, Hannes
  • Nunnenkamp, Peter

Abstract

We assess the determinants of the wide variation in the efficiency of foreign aid activities across US-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In particular, we analyze whether non-charitable expenditures for administration, management and fundraising depend on the intensity of competition among NGOs and on the degree to which they are refinanced by governments. We control for NGO heterogeneity in various dimensions as well as major characteristics of recipient countries. We find that fiercer competition is associated with more efficient foreign aid activities of NGOs, rather than leading to excessive fundraising. Official funding tends to increase administrative costs. Nevertheless, officially financed NGOs spend relatively more on charitable activities since they are less concerned with collecting private donations through fundraising efforts.

Suggested Citation

  • Öhler, Hannes & Nunnenkamp, Peter, 2011. "Funding, Competition and the Efficiency of NGOs: An Empirical Analysis of Non-charitable Expenditure of US NGOs Engaged in Foreign Aid," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Berlin 2011 62, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:gdec11:62
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/48361/1/62_oehler.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rachel M. McCleary & Robert J. Barro, 2006. "U.S.-Based Private Voluntary Organizations: Religious and Secular PVOs Engaged in International Relief & Development," NBER Working Papers 12238, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Payne, A. Abigail, 1998. "Does the government crowd-out private donations? New evidence from a sample of non-profit firms," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 323-345, September.
    3. Dreher, Axel & Nunnenkamp, Peter & Thiel, Susann & Thiele, Rainer, 2010. "Aid allocation by German NGOs: Does the degree of public refinancing matter?," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 92, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    4. J. Kornai & E. Maskin & G. Roland, 2004. "Understanding the Soft Budget Constraint," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, issue 11.
    5. Dirk-Jan Koch & Judith Westeneng & Ruerd Ruben, 2007. "Does Marketisation of Aid Reduce the Country-level Poverty Targeting of Private Aid Agencies?," The European Journal of Development Research, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 636-657.
    6. Aldashev, Gani & Verdier, Thierry, 2010. "Goodwill bazaar: NGO competition and giving to development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 48-63, January.
    7. Arnab Acharya & Ana Teresa Fuzzo de Lima & Mick Moore, 2006. "Proliferation and fragmentation: Transactions costs and the value of aid," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(1), pages 1-21.
    8. Verdier, Thierry & Aldashev, Gani, 2007. "Internationalization of NGOs and Competition on Markets for Development Donations," CEPR Discussion Papers 6511, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Glaeser, Edward Ludwig & Shleifer, Andrei, 2001. "Not-for-profit entrepreneurs," Scholarly Articles 33078971, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    10. Susan Rose-Ackerman, 1982. "Charitable Giving and “Excessive†Fundraising," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 97(2), pages 193-212.
    11. David C. Ribar & Mark O. Wilhelm, 2002. "Altruistic and Joy-of-Giving Motivations in Charitable Behavior," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(2), pages 425-457, April.
    12. Glaeser, Edward L. & Shleifer, Andrei, 2001. "Not-for-profit entrepreneurs," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 99-115, July.
    13. Edward L. Glaeser, 2002. "The Governance of Not-For-Profit Firms," NBER Working Papers 8921, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Khanna, Jyoti & Sandler, Todd, 2000. "Partners in giving:: The crowding-in effects of UK government grants," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(8), pages 1543-1556, August.
    15. Eric Werker & Faisal Z. Ahmed, 2008. "What Do Nongovernmental Organizations Do?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(2), pages 73-92, Spring.
    16. J. Kornai & E. Maskin & G. Roland., 2004. "Understanding the Soft Budget Constraint," VOPROSY ECONOMIKI, N.P. Redaktsiya zhurnala "Voprosy Economiki", vol. 11.
    17. Edwards, Michael & Hulme, David, 1996. "Too close for comfort? the impact of official aid on nongovernmental organizations," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 961-973, June.
    18. Axel Dreher & Peter Nunnenkamp & Susann Thiel & Rainer Thiele, 2010. "Aid Allocation by German NGOs," KOF Working papers 10-247, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    19. James Andreoni & A. Abigail Payne, 2003. "Do Government Grants to Private Charities Crowd Out Giving or Fund-raising?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(3), pages 792-812, June.
    20. Jeremy Thornton, 2008. "Competition, Contractibility, and the Market for Donors to Nonprofits," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 24(1), pages 215-246, May.
    21. Suzanne McCoskey, 2005. "NGOs in the Aid Community: Do Funding Source or Economic Conditioning Matter to Decisions of Country Involvement?," Development and Comp Systems 0508004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gani ALDASHEV & Cecilia NAVARRA, 2018. "Development Ngos: Basic Facts," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(1), pages 125-155, March.
    2. Peter Nunnenkamp & Hannes Öhler & Tillmann Schwörer, 2011. "US based NGOs in International Development Cooperation: Survival of the Fittest?," Courant Research Centre: Poverty, Equity and Growth - Discussion Papers 83, Courant Research Centre PEG.
    3. Herzer, Dierk & Nunnenkamp, Peter, 2013. "Private Donations, Government Grants, Commercial Activities, and Fundraising: Cointegration and Causality for NGOs in International Development Cooperation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 234-251.
    4. Nunnenkamp, Peter & Öhler, Hannes & Schwörer, Tillmann, 2013. "US based NGOs in International Development: Financial and Economic Determinants of Survival," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 45-65.
    5. Ly, Pierre & Mason, Geri, 2012. "Competition Between Microfinance NGOs: Evidence from Kiva," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 643-655.
    6. Norbert Laurisz, 2019. "The Role of Stakeholders in Development of Social Economy Organizations in Poland: An Integrative Approach," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-17, September.
    7. Amanda Murdie & David Davis, 2012. "Looking in the mirror: Comparing INGO networks across issue areas," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 177-202, June.
    8. Andreas Fuchs & Hannes Öhler, 2021. "Does private aid follow the flag? An empirical analysis of humanitarian assistance," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 671-705, March.
    9. Berta SILVA & Ronelle BURGER, 2015. "Financial vulnerability: an empirical study of Ugandan NGOs," CIRIEC Working Papers 1515, CIRIEC - Université de Liège.
    10. Jakub Dostál, 2020. "Revealed value of volunteering: A volunteer centre network," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(2), pages 319-345, June.
    11. repec:bla:annpce:v:89:y:2018:i:1:p:125-155 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Marzena Rydzewska & Bozena Nadolna, 2021. "Financial Dimension of the Activity of Faith-based Organizations with the Status of Public Benefit Organizations in Poland: Research Results," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 3), pages 149-170.

    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. repec:got:cegedp:109 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Nunnenkamp, Peter & Öhler, Hannes, 2010. "Donations to US based NGOs in international development cooperation: How (un-)informed are private donors?," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 117, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    3. repec:got:cegedp:117 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Nunnenkamp, Peter & Öhler, Hannes & Schwörer, Tillmann, 2013. "US based NGOs in International Development: Financial and Economic Determinants of Survival," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 45-65.
    5. Verdier, Thierry & Aldashev, Gani & Jaimovich, Esteban, 2014. "When warm glow burns: Motivational (mis)allocation in the non-profit sector," CEPR Discussion Papers 9963, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Herzer, Dierk & Nunnenkamp, Peter, 2013. "Private Donations, Government Grants, Commercial Activities, and Fundraising: Cointegration and Causality for NGOs in International Development Cooperation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 234-251.
    7. Peter Nunnenkamp & Hannes Öhler & Tillmann Schwörer, 2011. "US based NGOs in International Development Cooperation: Survival of the Fittest?," Courant Research Centre: Poverty, Equity and Growth - Discussion Papers 83, Courant Research Centre PEG.
    8. Gani Aldashev & Esteban Jaimovich & Thierry Verdier, 2018. "Small is Beautiful: Motivational Allocation in the Nonprofit Sector," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 730-780.
    9. Aldashev, Gani & Marini, Marco & Verdier, Thierry, 2014. "Brothers in alms? Coordination between nonprofits on markets for donations," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 182-200.
    10. Fuminori Toyasaki & Tina Wakolbinger, 2014. "Impacts of earmarked private donations for disaster fundraising," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 221(1), pages 427-447, October.
    11. James Andreoni & Abigail Payne, 2007. "Crowding out Both Sides of the Philanthropy Market: Evidence from a Panel of Charities," Levine's Bibliography 122247000000001769, UCLA Department of Economics.
    12. Andreoni, James & Payne, A. Abigail, 2011. "Is crowding out due entirely to fundraising? Evidence from a panel of charities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(5), pages 334-343.
    13. repec:aeg:report:2014-2 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. repec:bla:annpce:v:89:y:2018:i:1:p:125-155 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Dreher, Axel & Nunnenkamp, Peter & Thiel, Susann & Thiele, Rainer, 2010. "Aid allocation by German NGOs: Does the degree of public refinancing matter?," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 92, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    16. Gani Aldashev & Esteban Jaimovich & Thierry Verdier, 2023. "The Dark Side of Transparency: Mission Variety and Industry Equilibrium in Decentralised Public Good Provision," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(654), pages 2085-2109.
    17. Lapointe, Simon & Perroni, Carlo & Scharf, Kimberley & Tukiainen, Janne, 2018. "Does market size matter for charities?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 127-145.
    18. Nunnenkamp, Peter & Öhler, Hannes, 2011. "Aid Allocation through Various Official and Private Channels: Need, Merit, and Self-Interest as Motives of German Donors," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 308-323, March.
    19. repec:elg:eechap:15325_15 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Gani ALDASHEV & Cecilia NAVARRA, 2018. "Development Ngos: Basic Facts," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(1), pages 125-155, March.
    21. Koch, Dirk-Jan & Dreher, Axel & Nunnenkamp, Peter & Thiele, Rainer, 2009. "Keeping a Low Profile: What Determines the Allocation of Aid by Non-Governmental Organizations?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 902-918, May.
    22. Sonia Manzoor & John Straub, 2005. "The robustness of Kingma’s crowd-out estimate: Evidence from new data on contributions to public radio," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 463-476, June.
    23. Hungerman, Daniel M., 2005. "Are church and state substitutes? Evidence from the 1996 welfare reform," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(11-12), pages 2245-2267, December.
    24. Hagen, Rune Jansen, 2014. "Rents and the Political Economy of Development Aid," Working Papers in Economics 07/14, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.
    25. Axel Dreher & Peter Nunnenkamp & Susann Thiel & Rainer Thiele, 2010. "Aid Allocation by German NGOs," KOF Working papers 10-247, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    non-governmental organizations; foreign aid; administrative costs; fundraising; United States;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F35 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Aid
    • L31 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship

    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:zbw:gdec11:62. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfselea.html .

    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.