Global Distribution of Transnational Human Rights NGO s: The Effects of Domestic Resources and Institutions

This article examines domestic sources of the uneven distribution of human rights transnational NGO s ( TNGO s) across countries. I compile an original dataset covering 787 human rights TNGO s during the 2005–2010 period from the Yearbook of International Organizations (supplemented by the directories produced by Human Rights Internet and the Encyclopedia of Associations ). I employ the zero‐inflated negative binomial model to explore domestic conditions influencing the location of TNGO headquarters. The analysis distinguishes two processes. First, population size and political institutions are particularly important for the likelihood of hosting any human rights TNGO s. Human rights TNGO s are likely to exist only in strong democratic countries with relatively large populations. Second, domestic resources (economic and human) and institutions (political and regulatory) affect the count of human rights TNGO s in a country. A high level of economic development, a large and well‐educated population, strong democratic institutions, and a less regulatory environment provide favorable conditions for the establishment of more human rights TNGO s. Although human rights TNGO s are transnationally oriented, their establishment is still greatly influenced by domestic factors.