Civil servants' preferences for nonprofit contractors: A conjoint analysis

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Zhang, Youlang; Shao, Zijie
• 署名单位: Renmin University of China; Renmin University of China; Communication University of China
• 刊物名称: GOVERNANCE-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF POLICY ADMINISTRATION AND INSTITUTIONS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0952-1895
• DOI: 10.1111/gove.12642
• 发表日期: 2022
• 关键词: multiple dimensions; public-sector; GOVERNMENT; CHINA; POLITICS; ORGANIZATIONS; collaboration; governance; strategies; management

摘要

Although governments frequently contract nonprofit organizations (NPOs) to provide public services, little is known about why civil servants are more willing to direct funding to some NPOs than to others. Based on previous research on government funding for NPOs, this study proposes a theoretical framework that combines NPOs' internal and external management strategies to explain civil servants' preferences for funding specific NPOs. On the basis of an original conjoint experiment of 1206 civil servants from China between 2020 and 2021, the analysis found that civil servants generally value the characteristics of rationalization, professionalization, collaboration, cooptation, and a prior history of receiving funding from the government in NPOs. A series of robustness checks were used to validate the theorized relationships. These findings have important implications for both future research and efforts to promote government-NPO contracting.