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The Meaning of Nonprofit Organization: Insights from Classical Institutionalism

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  • Vladislav Valentinov

Abstract

The paper explores the way the work of classic institutionalist authors can inform modern nonprofit economics. From the Veblenian perspective, nonprofit organization is explained as an institutional consequence of the pecuniary-industrial dichotomy. The Ayresian theoretical system is used to highlight nonprofit organization as a particular form of the progressive weakening of the institution of private property in response to technological imperatives. Based on these arguments, the societal meaning of nonprofit organization is shown to be in realizing instrumental value that is unattainable through pecuniary ceremonial behavior embodied in the for-profit sector. At the same, in line with the Veblenian analysis of American universities, the ability of nonprofit firms to attain instrumental value is recognized as potentially limited by the corrupting effects of the embedding pecuniary culture.

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  • Vladislav Valentinov, 2011. "The Meaning of Nonprofit Organization: Insights from Classical Institutionalism," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(4), pages 901-916.
    • Handle: RePEc:mes:jeciss:v:45:y:2011:i:4:p:901-916
    DOI: 10.2753/JEI0021-3624450408
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    Cited by:

    1. Vladislav Valentinov & Lioudmila Chatalova, 2014. "Transaction Costs, Social Costs and Open Systems: Some Common Threads," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 316-326, March.
    2. Pies, Ingo & Hielscher, Stefan, 2014. "Miteinander oder Gegeneinander? Zur Verhältnisbestimmung von Unternehmen und zivilgesellschaftlichen Organisationen," Discussion Papers 2014-3, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Chair of Economic Ethics.
    3. Louisi Francis Moura & Edson Pinheiro Lima & Fernando Deschamps & Eileen Van Aken & Sergio Eduardo Gouvea da Costa & Rafael Duarte & Rafael Araujo Kluska, 2022. "What Role Do Design Factors Play in Applying Performance Measurement Systems in Nonprofit Organizations?," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Valentinov, Vladislav & Iliopoulos, Constantine, 2013. "Economic theories of nonprofits and agricultural cooperatives compared: New perspectives for nonprofit scholars," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 42(1), pages 109-126.
    5. Valentinov, Vladislav & Vaceková, Gabriela, 2015. "Sustainability of Rural Nonprofit Organizations: Czech Republic and Beyond," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 7(8), pages 9890-9906.
    6. Vladislav Valentinov & Gabriela Vaceková, 2015. "Sustainability of Rural Nonprofit Organizations: Czech Republic and Beyond," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(8), pages 1-17, July.
    7. Stefan Hielscher & Matthias Georg Will, 2014. "Mental Models of Sustainability: Unearthing and Analyzing the Mental Images of Corporate Sustainability with Qualitative Empirical Research," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(6), pages 708-719, November.
    8. Valentinov, Vladislav, 2011. "Third sector organizations in rural development: Reply," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 20(1), pages 117-118.

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