The Economics of Nonprofit Enterprises

The literature on nonprofit organizations can be said to have developed in three waves. The first wave asserted some plausible objectives for a nonprofit organization possessing monopoly power and examined the subsequent implications for organizational behaviour; the second looked more broadly at the role of nonprofit organizations in a wider economy as they compete or collaborate with for-profit firms and government agencies; the third wave began the development of integrated theories in which the objectives of nonprofit organizations emerge endogenously within an environment potentially containing organizations from other sectors. The Economics of Nonprofit Enterprisesbrings together some of the most important previously published articles which investigate and elucidate these phases. Richard Steinberg has written an authoritative new introduction which provides an interesting overview of the subject and points the way for future research.