The Nonprofit Marketization In China:Causes,Strategies And Effects

Since the 1980s,the nonprofit marketization has become a significant phenomenon throughout the world,as well as a popular topic in the field of nonprofit studies.With the rise of the global associational revolution,the nonprofit organizations(NPOs)in China have come to play an active role in social development since the Reform and Openning-up,and in the past decade or so,an increasing number of Chinese NPOs have also started to adopt market values and methods in management and operation.Drawing upon the perspectives of resource theory and institutional theory,this study explores the causes,strategies and effects of the nonprofit marketization in China.Based on a questionnaire survey on 113 NPOs in Shenzhen,Hangzhou and Yangzhou,This study finds that there is selectivity in the adoption of market strategies among the Chinese NPOs.In terms of organizational management,the professionalization as well as the marketization of human resource management has been widely accepted by the Chinese NPOs,while the market-orietned financial management has hardly been adopted by the same group.In terms of commercial operation,over 60 percent of the Chinese NPOs have developed collabration with enterprises,while less than one third of them have directively conducted commercial activities.In terms of funding relationship,joining contract competition has become the major method for the Chinese NPOs to obtain government funds,while the social impact investment has exerted little impact.Thus,this study points out that the Chinese NPOs prefer to use competitve strategies rather than use profitable strategies in the process of nonprofit marketization.With regard to the causes of nonprofit marketization,the resource environment and the institutional environment have significant yet distinct effects on the Chinese NPOs' use of market strategies.The Logistic Regression indicates that,the NPOs who bear more pressure from resource environment are more likely to conduct cooperation with enterprises,yet,the NPOs who bear more pressssure from institutional assessment are not only more likely to seek nonprofit-enterprise cooperation,but also more likely to carry out commercial avtivities directively.While many NPOs in western developed countries rely on generating commercial revenue to balance the government cutbacks,the majority of the Chinese NPOs,however,choose to seek enterprise support instead of generating commercial revenue in face of the shortage of government funds.The real cause of the adoption of commercial activities in China's nonprofit field is the strict assessment from the NPOs' sponsors,particularly the govemment.In addition,the organizational internal factors,such as governance structure and leader traits,can cause the Chinese NPOs' adoption of market strategies as well.The case study of Hangzhou Leju and Green Zhejiang also shows that,the commercial activities,which aims to increase organizational autonomy by deceasing assessment pressure,may downplay the conflicts between NPOs' profit-seeking motivation and public spirit,as far as many western scholars are concerned.In fact,the enhancement of organizational autonomy could prevent NPOs from mission drift,thus,make NPOs become more dedicated to their core mission.Besides,the nonprofit marketization in China brings about professionalization of human resource,employment of business management,and adoption of competition in government service outsourcing.All of these changes could promote Chinese NPOs' organizational capability and competitive awareness,and therefore facilitate the fulfillment of their social functions,which include service delivery,value protection,public advocacy and social capital building.In conclusion,the causes and strategies of the nonprofit marketization in China are different from the experience drawn from the NPOs in western developed countries,and the nonprofit marketization in China produces more positive effects on its NPOs,social function fulfillment.The market values,such as autonomy,equality,openness,and transparency,are not only required by China's ecnomic reform,but are required by China's social development as well.Accordingly,when making relavant policies,the state should support Chinese NPOs in exploring market-oriented transformation,and build the rule-based regulation,focusing more on the process regulation and post-regulation of NPOs' marketized behaviors.Furthermore,the experience of China in nonprofit marketization will provide insight for the discussion of this global issue.