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The Role of Media Exposure on Coordination in the Humanitarian Setting
Author(s) -
Eftekhar Mahyar,
Li Hongmin,
Van Wassenhove Luk N.,
Webster Scott
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
production and operations management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.279
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1937-5956
pISSN - 1059-1478
DOI - 10.1111/poms.12669
Subject(s) - stylized fact , mandate , incentive , business , perception , marketing , industrial organization , operations management , public relations , process management , economics , microeconomics , political science , psychology , neuroscience , law , macroeconomics
Despite high demand and resource limitations, humanitarian organizations (HOs) typically do not share resources and/or coordinate in the field. While coordination enhances operational performance and saves costs, the general perception is that it dilutes the media attention that individual organizations might receive, and negatively influences their future donation income. In this study, we empirically unveil the impact of media exposure and operational performance on the donations obtained by HOs. Then, based on the empirical results, we develop a stylized model to characterize the structure of preferred coordination policies with respect to an organization's funding source and main mandate. Our findings shed light on the incentives and dynamics that drive behaviors in humanitarian operations and provide insights for policy makers on designing and implementing mechanisms that encourage humanitarian coordination.