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Leadership and Economic Theories of Nonprofit Organizations
Author(s) -
Wallis Joseph,
Dollery Brian
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
review of policy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1541-1338
pISSN - 1541-132X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-1338.2005.00151.x
Subject(s) - relevance (law) , altruism (biology) , context (archaeology) , collective leadership , quality (philosophy) , control (management) , public relations , positive economics , economics , sociology , political science , management , social psychology , psychology , epistemology , paleontology , philosophy , china , law , biology
Economic theories of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) have modified standard economic assumptions to explain altruism and nonprofit entrepreneurship but have neglected their dependence on leadership due to the traditional reluctance of economists to consider phenomena associated with preference change. The relevance of Hermalin's (1998) model of leadership by example and Casson's (1991) theory of leadership through moral manipulation are considered within an NPO context where leaders seek to influence stakeholder commitments to the organization's quest. The propositions Elster (1998) advanced with regard to the relationship between the emotions and decision making are then applied in a theory that explains how NPO leaders can develop a culture of hope that maintains the quality control and product differentiation advantages claimed for these organizations. It is argued that policymakers should consider the dependence of NPOs on the quality of leadership when choosing the organizational mechanism for social service delivery.