ABSTRACT Social capital is defined as the shared knowledge, trust, and culture, embodied in the structural forms of networks and other stable inter-agent relationships. Social capital has been shown to be more difficult to build than economic capital, and to have greater beneficial effects for...

This paper re-examines the non-distribution constraint as a key structural feature of non-profit organization. It argues that its traditional understanding as a trustworthiness-enhancing device is incomplete. This paper shows that the non-distribution constraint is also a reflection of the...

In developing his famous theory of social costs, K. William Kapp claimed to draw inspiration from the theory of open systems. The present paper reconstructs the notion of social costs from the perspective of the Luhmannian theory of autopoietic social systems, an alternative systems-theoretic...

It has long been recognized that voluntary organizations contribute to the economic development of rural areas in all parts of the world. This paper argues that the developmental role of voluntary organizations in rural areas can be explained in terms of a rurality-specific transaction cost that...

The paper explores the way the work of classic institutionalist authors can inform modern nonprofit economics. From the Veblenian perspective, nonprofit organization is explained as an institutional consequence of the pecuniary-industrial dichotomy. The Ayresian theoretical system is used to...

According to the institutionalist position, institutional change is progressive to the extent that ceremonial behavioral patterns are replaced by instrumental ones. This article shows how the ordonomic research program operationalizes and explains the feasibility of progressive institutional...

In all parts of the world, nonprofit organizations are under increasing pressure to demonstrate their congruence with the public interest through the use of effective accountability mechanisms. The paper clarifies the nature of nonprofit accountability by distinguishing between the substantive...

This paper examines the way the institutional economics of Radhamakal Mukerjee can inform modern nonprofit economics. A brief survey of Mukerjee's work highlights several elements of his theory that yield useful implications understanding the nonprofit sector. First, Mukerjee's theory implies...