Abstract
This article examines and organizes the economic literature dealing with nonprofit institutions using the concept of “stakeholders.” In general, the literature identifies conflicts between various groups of stakeholders and then proceeds in two very different directions. The first is supportive of the nonprofit sector, suggesting that nonprofit organizations resolve those conflicts more effectively than other types of institutions. This provides a positive theory of the nonprofit sector, explaining that nonprofit institutions evolve when they are more effective in providing a particular good or service than other possible institutional arrangements. The second direction is more critical of the nonprofit sector, suggesting that those conflicts will persist in nonprofit institutions and will require some kind of resolution, including perhaps government intervention. Of course, a stakeholder approach to nonprofit theory focuses on conflict and ignores some other views of the sector.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alchian, A., & Demsetz, H. (1972). Production, information costs, and economic organization. American Economic Review, 62, 777–795.
Arrow, K.J. (1974). The limits of organization. New York: W.W. Norton.
Ben-Ner, A. (1994). Who benefits from the nonprofit sector? Reforming law and public policy towards nonprofit organizations. Yale Law Journal, 104(3), 731–762.
Ben-Ner, A., & Gui, B. (1993). The nonprofit sector in the mixed economy. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Ben-Ner, A., & Van Hoomissen, T. (1992). An empirical investigation of the joint determination of the size of the for-profit, nonprofit and government sectors. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 63, 469–494.
Easley, D., & O’Hara, M. (1986). Optimal nonprofit firms. In S. Rose-Ackerman (Ed.), The economics on nonprofit institutions: Studies in structure and policy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hansmann, H. (1980). The role of nonprofit enterprise. Yale Law Journal, 89(5), 835–901.
Hansmann, H. (1987). Economic theories of nonprofit organizations. In W. W. Powell (Ed.), The nonprofit sector: A research handbook. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
James, E. (1987). The nonprofit sector in comparative perspective. In W. W. Powell (Ed.), The nonprofit sector: A research handbook. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
James, E., & Rose-Ackerman, S. (1986). The nonprofit enterprise in market economies. London: Harwood Academic Publishers.
Jones, G. R. (1995). Organizational theory: Text and cases. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Krashinsky, M. (1986). Transaction costs and a theory of the nonprofit organization. In S. Rose-Ackerman (Ed.), The economics of nonprofit institutions. New York: Oxford University Press.
Krashinsky, M. (1990). Management implications of government funding of nonprofit organizations: Views from the United States and Canada. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 1(1), 39–53.
Krashinsky, M. (1997). Does auspice matter? The case of day care for children in Canada. In W. W. Powell (Ed.), Private action and the public good. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Lohmann, R. A. (1992). The commons. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Nelson, R. R, & Krashinsky, M. (1973). Public control and organization of day care for young children. Public Policy, 22(1), 53–75.
Newhouse, J. P. (1970). Toward a theory of nonprofit institutions: An economic model of a hospital. American Economic Review, 60(2), 64–73.
Salamon, L. M. (1987). Partners in public service: The scope and theory of government-nonprofit relations. In W. W. Powell (Ed.), The nonprofit sector: A research handbook. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Steinberg, R. (1986). Nonprofit organizations and the market. In W. W. Powell (Ed.), The nonprofit sector: A research handbook. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Steinberg, R., & Gray, B. H. (1993). “The role of nonprofit enterprise” in 1992: Hansmann revisited. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 22, 297–316.
Weisbrod, B. A. (1975). Toward a theory of the voluntary nonprofit sector in a three-sector economy. In E. S. Phelps (Ed.), Altruism, morality, and economic theory. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Weisbrod, B. A. (1988). The nonprofit economy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Williamson, D. E. (1975). Markets and hierarchies: Analysis and antitrust implications. New York: The Free Press.
Young, D. R. (1981). Entrepreneurship and the behavior of nonprofit organizations: Elements of a theory. In M. White (Ed.), Nonprofit finns in a three-sector economy. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Krashinsky, M. (2003). Stakeholder Theories of the Nonprofit Sector. In: Anheier, H.K., Ben-Ner, A. (eds) The Study of the Nonprofit Enterprise. Nonprofit and Civil Society Studies. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0131-2_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0131-2_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-306-47855-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-0131-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive