What contributes to the development of local non-profit organizations in China? A configuration analysis of the industrial development paradigm

ABSTRACTThe extant research has underexplored how combinations of causally relevant contextual factors relate to the development of local non-profit organizations (NPOs), especially in developing countries. Based on an industrial development analytical framework, this study explores how combined contextual factors (market substrate, institutional environment and network interface) can explain the cross-provincial development imbalance of NPOs in China. Using a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to examine NPO development across 31 Chinese provinces, the results identify four configurations that contribute to high-level NPO development and can aid policymakers and NPO shareholders in tailoring differentiated NPO development practices.KEYWORDS: Chinanon-profit organizationindustrial developmentcontextual factorsfsQCA AcknowledgmentsThanks are due to three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data availability statementThe data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [author initials], upon reasonable request.Notes1. The number of conditions N determines the path number, and the algorithm is 2 (N+1). In this study, the condition number is 6, resulting in 128 paths for the hypotheses.2. The other three prime implicants are ‘marketization * ~ donation network * ~ financial support’, ‘economic development * ~ donation network * policy support ~ financial support’, and ‘economic development * party-building network * policy support ~ financial support’.3. Database of all previous National Congresses of the CPC (people.com.cn).Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China under Grant [20BGL242].