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2 - An Overview of Nonprofit Sector Theories

from Part I - Overviews

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2024

By
Curtis Child
Edited by
Eva Witesman  and
Curtis Child
Eva Witesman
Affiliation:
Brigham Young University, Utah
Curtis Child
Affiliation:
Brigham Young University, Utah
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Summary

The chapter introduces readers to the major theories of the sector. Those covered include: market-failure theory, government-failure theory, contract-failure theory, voluntary-failure theory, supply-side (or entrepreneurship) theory, social-origins theory, interdependence theory, the commons, mediating structures, and associationalism.

Keywords

sector theorynonprofit theorymarket-failure theoryvoluntary-failure theorysupply-side theorysocial-origins theoryinterdependence theorythe commonsmediating structuresassociationalism
Type
Chapter
Information
Reimagining Nonprofits
Sector Theory in the Twenty-First Century
 , pp. 17 - 40
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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