What type of nonprofit organization is preferred in government contracting in China

 

Qiang Dong, Jiahuan Lu

Corresponding authors: Jiahuan Lu, email: jiahuan.lu@rutgers.edu

International Review of Administrative Sciences, 2019(published online)

Abstract: Government contracting with nonprofit organizations in service delivery has become a widespread practice in the public administration landscape. This research explores what kinds of nonprofits are more likely to receive government funding for service delivery. Viewing nonprofits’ pursuit of government funding as an interorganizational effort, we examine the contextual and organizational factors that influence nonprofits’ receipt of government funding. Using the data collected from a nationwide survey of Chinese nonprofits, we find a close contractual relationship between government and nonprofits. Further analysis suggests that policy advocacy, board co-optation, external competition, and organizational formalization have positive impacts on leveraging government funding, while interorganizational collaboration and organizational professionalization do not appear to play a significant role. To our knowledge, this study represents the first nationwide survey research on government–nonprofit contracting in China. The findings expand the literature by adding new empirical evidence from an authoritarian context.

Keywords: Chinese nonprofit sector, government contracting, government funding, government-nonprofit relations

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To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852319862347