Understanding the Supply Decisions of Nonprofits: Modelling the Location of Private Schools

This research examines the location choice of California private schools in 1978-1979. We make use of some of the recent developments in the analysis of count data. The results indicate that the character of the population and the public schools influence location decisions. Private schools with different religious affiliations respond differently to population characteristics, which we argue is evidence of differences in the objectives of these different types of private schools. Location decisions of all types of private schools depend most on characteristics of the community in which a school locates, with attributes of surrounding communities having small effects on the location decision.