Award Abstract # 1758755
Collaborative Research: Understanding the Creation and Mission Content of Non-Governmental Organizations

NSF Org: SES
Division of Social and Economic Sciences
Recipient: UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
Initial Amendment Date: August 28, 2018
Latest Amendment Date: August 28, 2018
Award Number: 1758755
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Songqi Liu
soliu@nsf.gov
 (703)292-8950
SES
 Division of Social and Economic Sciences
SBE
 Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences
Start Date: August 15, 2018
End Date: December 31, 2022 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $108,473.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $108,473.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2018 = $108,473.00
History of Investigator:
  • Jennifer Hadden (Principal Investigator)
    jen_hadden@brown.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of Maryland, College Park
3112 LEE BUILDING
COLLEGE PARK
MD  US  20742-5100
(301)405-6269
Sponsor Congressional District: 04
Primary Place of Performance: University of Maryland
3140 Tydings Hall
College Park
MD  US  20742-0001
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
04
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): NPU8ULVAAS23
Parent UEI: NPU8ULVAAS23
NSF Program(s): SoO-Science Of Organizations
Primary Program Source: 01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 9178, 9179
Program Element Code(s): 803100
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.075

ABSTRACT

This project will examine the creation and mission content of non-governmental organizations [NGOs] based in the United States. The project will enhance basic understanding about when, why, and how entrepreneurs make strategic decisions to enter the non-profit market, and the consequences of these choices for social welfare outcomes. The project will have a broader impact by assisting current and potential non-profit leaders to make better decisions regarding when and how to create new organizations. The research from this project will be disseminated through targeted publications, a public website, and a workshop. The study will also contribute to education and research infrastructure. Specifically, it will develop datasets about NGOs based in the United States that will be made available to other researchers, including extensive qualitative materials from several NGO sectors. It will have an important educational benefit by training undergraduate and graduate students and generating classroom resources.

The goal of this project is to develop and test theory about variation in NGO creation and mission content. It asks questions such as: when and why are NGOs created, and for what purposes? Despite the practical and theoretical importance of non-governmental organizations, scholars have given little systematic attention to when NGOs are founded and the purposes for which NGOs are created. This project combines theory from multiple disciplines to enhance knowledge of organizational creation, examining NGOs over time and across different sectors. The proposed project offers two key advances. Methodologically, the project employs experimental and qualitative methods to complement traditional observational, quantitative approaches to organizational creation. Theoretically, the project examines mission content and innovation in NGO creation, building on previous work to examine new outcome variables. The proposed research involves three principal types of original data collection and analysis. First, a statistical analysis of coded NGO mission statements will enable the study of dynamics among a large number of real-world INGOs, promoting external validity. Second, a survey of NGO practitioners will enhance the study's internal validity by integrating an experimental component. Moreover, it will enable the testing of the individual-level observable implications of the theoretical framework. And third, qualitative case studies of the evolution of several INGO sectors will explore the processes by which sectors develop and change. This multi-pronged research strategy is guided by a recognition that the study of organizations benefits from analyses at multiple levels and using multiple methodologies. Cutting across all prongs of the research design is a commitment to studying NGOs in diverse sectors of activity to promote the study's generalizability.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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Bush, Sarah Sunn and Hadden, Jennifer "Density and Decline in the Founding of International NGOs in the United States" International Studies Quarterly , v.63 , 2019 10.1093/isq/sqz061 Citation Details
Hadden, Jennifer and Bush, Sarah Sunn "Whats different about the environment? Environmental INGOs in comparative perspective" Environmental Politics , v.30 , 2021 https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2020.1799643 Citation Details
Safarpour, Alauna and Bush, Sarah Sunn and Hadden, Jennifer "Participation incentives in a survey of international non-profit professionals" Research & Politics , v.9 , 2022 https://doi.org/10.1177/20531680221125723 Citation Details

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have increased in number, size, and importance in world politics since the end of the Cold War. Yet despite, or perhaps because of, their influence in world politics, international NGOs face mounting challenges. A better understanding of when international NGOs are created, and why growth and innovation sometimes stall, can help find solutions to global problems. This project thus sought to develop and test theory about variation in international NGO creation and mission content.

The project involved three types of original data collection and analysis. First, a statistical analysis of newly-coded data on NGO foundings and mission statements enabled the study of dynamics among a large number of real-world NGOs. Second, a large-scale survey of high-level international NGO practitioners shed light on individual perceptions and integrated an experiment designed for causal inference. And third, qualitative case studies of the evolution of several NGO sectors (civil society and democracy, conservation, and humanitarian relief) explored the processes by which sectors develop and change. This multi-pronged research strategy was guided by a recognition that the study of organizations benefits from analyses using diverse methodologies and analyzing multiple sectors of activity to promote generalizability.

The project’s research finds that how dense populations of NGOs are powerfully shapes the likelihood that new NGOs will be founded and how specialize those NGOs will be. The project therefore extends the theories about population ecology to the study of global governance. The findings of this project point to stagnation in the founding of new NGOs due to population density and increased competition. Previous work in political science had not identified this trend or its consequences. A recent generation of scholars have challenged what they view as an overly normative view of NGO politics, highlighting the ways in which NGOs resemble firms. The findings from our work enhance this stream of scholarship by demonstrating how what is perceived as self-interested behavior by NGOs connects to bigger-picture trends in the organizational environment. 

The project yielded a number of key outcomes. The principal investigators (PIs) published three peer-reviewed articles, one of which was coauthored with a graduate student researcher. They have also drafted a book manuscript that draws on the project research. The study also has had several broader impacts. As part of these publications, the authors created a project website (www.americaningoproject.com) and several public datasets to enhance the available data infrastructure in this area. The PIs also held workshops with senior-level NGO practitioners to disseminate the scientific findings of the study and solicit input on their interpretation. The PIs contributed to human resources by training future scientists, most of whom are from backgrounds underrepresented in science. Undergraduate and graduate students learned about how to conduct qualitative interviews, build datasets, and publish research. To further enhance the educational benefits derived from the project, the PIs worked with a graduate student researcher to write and publish an educational case study on NGO strategy that was used in a classroom setting and has been disseminated to other faculty and students via the Case Study Archive at the Yale School of Management.

 

 


Last Modified: 03/09/2023
Modified by: Jennifer Hadden

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