Publication: Public Policy toward Nongovernmental Organizations in Developing Countries
Date
2001-07
ISSN
Published
2001-07
Author(s)
Jack, William
Abstract
The author presents two descriptive
models of nongovernmental organizations and poses mormative
questions about public polcy toward nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs). In situations in which optimal
government intervention in a distorted or inequitable
economy employs an NGO-like body, he considers which kinds
of NGO might be used. First, in many developing countries
NGOs participate in the delivery of what are essentially
private goods--in particular, health care and education. In
an economy without NGOs, there may be good redistributive
and efficiency reasons for the government to provide these
goods in kind. But if direct government provision of such
services is ineffective or inefficient, when is contracting
out to an NGO-like institution preferable to using a
traditional for-profit firm? (Another way to frame this is
to ask: What is the optimal taxation and regulation of
private providers of publicly financed services?) NGOs also
provide useful real and financial links with external
donors. They are used to provide services the government
favors and donors are willing to fund. In this model, the
service provider is chosen to yield the best outcome for
both government and donor. In this context, the author
compares an international NGO and a grassroots organization.
It may be more efficient to transfer donor funds through an
international NGO than through a local NGO, but when
donor-government cooperation fails, a project implemented by
an international NGO is effectively killed. If a project
implemented by a local organization can limp along, this
otherwise less efficient organization might be preferred.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Jack, William. 2001. Public Policy toward Nongovernmental Organizations in Developing Countries. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2639. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19576 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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