Commercializing nonprofit organizations? Evidence from the Chinese nonprofit sector
| Published date | 01 September 2023 |
| Author | Jiahuan Lu,Shanshan Guan,Qiang Dong |
| Date | 01 September 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12871 |
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Commercializing nonprofit organizations?
Evidence from the Chinese nonprofit sector
Jiahuan Lu
1
| Shanshan Guan
2
| Qiang Dong
3
1
School of Public Affairs and Administration,
Rutgers University-Newark, Newark, New
Jersey, USA
2
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Beijing University of Technology, Beijing,
China
3
College of Humanities and Development
Studies, China Agricultural University, Beijing,
China
Correspondence
Qiang Dong, College of Humanities and
Development Studies, China Agricultural
University, Beijing, 100193, China.
Email: dongqiang@cau.edu.cn
Abstract
The increasing reliance on commercial income in the non-
profit sector (“nonprofit commercialization”) in various coun-
tries has become a highly contested topic. In recent years,
Chinese nonprofits have also paid growing attention to com-
mercial activitiesand revenue. However, empirical studieson
the commercialization of Chinese nonprofits are limited. This
study conducts the first empirical research to examine the
scope and antecedents of nonprofit commercialization in
China. Through a nationwide survey of 336 service-delivery
nonprofits (private nonenterprise organizations), the study
finds that Chinese nonprofits' overall level of commercializa-
tion is modest, but the level varies substantially by organiza-
tion. Further, informed by resource dependence theory,
institutional theory, and organizational ecology theory, the
study finds that Chinese nonprofit commercialization is
driven by resource insufficiency, government connections,
and environmental munificence. These findings extend the
literature on nonprofit commercialization with new empirical
evidence from a non-Western, authoritarian context.
摘要
在许多国家，非营利部门对商业收入的日益依赖已经成为一
个备受争议的话题。近年来，中国的非营利组织也开始重视
商业活动以及随之带来的服务收入。然而，关于中国非营利
组织商业化的实证研究并不多见。本研究首次实证分析了中
国非营利组织商业化的规模和驱动因素。根据对全国336家
服务性非营利组织(民办非企业单位)的定量分析，本研究发
现中国非营利组织的商业化水平总体上是适中的，但是不同
组织间的商业化水平存在较大的差异。此外，结合资源依赖
Received: 20 August 2021 Revised: 9 June 2022 Accepted: 21 June 2022
DOI: 10.1111/padm.12871
1072 © 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Public Admin. 2023;101:1072–1087.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/padm
理论、制度理论和组织生态学理论，本研究发现，组织内部
资源匮乏、一定程度的政治关联和丰沛的外部资源环境是中
国非营利组织商业化主要的驱动因素。这些基于非西方、威
权国家情境的经验证据拓展了非营利组织商业化的相关
文献
1|INTRODUCTION
Over the last few decades, nonprofit organizations have become increasingly commercialized and business-like
(Skelcher & Smith, 2015; Young & Salamon, 2002). Conceptually, nonprofit commercialization refers to the growing
reliance on market-based revenues from sales of goods and services (Maier et al., 2016).
1
In many countries, com-
mercial income not only represents the largest single source of nonprofit revenue but also the most rapidly growing
source (Salamon et al., 2017). The commercialization of the nonprofit sector has become a highly contested topic in
many countries around the globe, including Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Norway, the
United Kingdom, and the United States (e.g., Enjolras, 2002; Gras & Mendoza-Abarca, 2014; Kerlin & Pollak, 2011;
Khieng & Dahles, 2015; McKay et al., 2015; Suykens et al., 2021; Vaceková et al., 2017).
Within the growing body of literature on nonprofit commercialization, there are essentially two opposite opin-
ions regarding nonprofit commercialization. Supporters recognize that commercialization is a promising way for non-
profits to reduce revenue volatility and vulnerability when facing resource uncertainty (Dees, 1998; Froelich, 1999;
Lee et al., 2021; Lu et al., 2020). Opponents generally think that profit-seeking activities will increase the danger of
losing their moral reputation and the risk of having their social missions take a backseat to revenue and profitability
goals (Eikenberry & Kluver, 2004; Mitchell, 2014; Park et al., 2021). It is important to note that the extant literature
on nonprofit commercialization largely rests on Western democratic contexts, with limited attention paid to non-
Western contexts, especially authoritarian ones where state, market, and civil society interact differently. In authori-
tarian contexts, state typically dominates social and public affairs, leaving limited room for market and civil society to
function. How nonprofit commercialization occurs in such contexts is mostly unknown. This study examines non-
profit commercialization in the authoritarian Chinese context.
2
In the past several decades, the nonprofit sector in China has experienced significant growth in its size and
impact. Nonprofits have become active agents in public governance in China, engaging in service delivery and policy
advocacy in a range of service fields (Chen et al., 2022; Guo & Zhang, 2013; Li et al., 2017; Teets, 2014). However,
obtaining sufficient resources has always been a major challenge (Zhang & Baum, 2004). The Chinese nonprofit sec-
tor faces a prohibitive political environment, where the party-state imposes various legal and administrative regula-
tions on nonprofits in seeking legal registration, obtaining tax-exempt status, and raising funds (Hildebrandt, 2011;
Zhan & Tang, 2013). In recent years, many Chinese nonprofits have started to pay increasing attention to commercial
activities and social enterprise models as a means to overcome resource constraints and political hurdles (Guan
et al., 2021; Kerlin et al., 2021; Zhao, 2012). Along with this change, similar to many other countries, nonprofit com-
mercialization has evolved to be a controversial issue in China. Some scholars highlighted the financial autonomy
and benefits brought by commercial income (Yu & Chen, 2018), while others emphasized the risks of introducing
commercial motives and practices into nonprofit operations (Kang, 2018; Lai & Spires, 2021). As Kang (2018) argued,
commercial ideology and capital would damage nonprofits' altruistic motives, philanthropic values, and humanity
nature.
However, despite the normative debate on nonprofit commercialization in China, our current understanding of
Chinese nonprofits' commercialization is limited because of the lack of empirical studies. It is therefore very difficult
LU ET AL. 1073
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