The major goal of this course is to provide students with a better and more rigorous understanding of the specific role that so called nonprofit organizations play within contemporary economic systems (i.e. within post-industrial economies). Next, the course focuses on the interplays between nonprofits, for-profit firms and public organizations. These issues can be fruitfully addressed through the lens of the major theoretical constructs and empirical findings obtained in the last years within the framework of nonprofit sector economics.
- Why does the non profit sector exist, within a market economy? Weisbrod's theory of government failure and Hansmann's theory of market failure
- Collective action dilemmas, trust and pro-social behavior
- Fair trade and market economy: are they compatible?
- Positional goods, relational goods, social capital accumulation and the happiness paradoxes
References:
- Musella M., D’Acunto S., 2000, Economia politica del non profit, Giappichelli, Torino.
- Sacco P.L., Zarri L., 2006, Perché esiste il settore non profit?, Filosofia e Questioni Pubbliche.
- Ecchia G., Zarri L., 2005, Capitale sociale e accountability: il ruolo del bilancio di missione nella governance delle organizzazioni non profit, in Fazzi L. and Giorgetti G. (editors), Il bilancio sociale per le organizzazioni nonprofit. Teoria e pratica, Guerini e Associati, Milano.
- Becchetti L., Paganetto L., 2003, Finanza etica. Commercio equo e solidale, Donzelli editore.
Further teaching materials will be provided online, through the E-learning service, within the specific webpage prepared for this course.
Oral exam aimed at testing students' familiarity with the key theoretical constructs and empirical analyses developed in the last years within the nonprofit economics framework as well as their understanding of the specific role that nonprofit organizations play within contemporary economic systems (i.e. within post-industrial economies), including the interplays between nonprofits, for-profit firms and public organizations. It is also possible to prepare a talk or a discussion on an issue related to the course outline (see on this the explanatory material provided online within the dedicated E-learning page for this course).
