Business, State and the Rationalization of Nonprofits in Eastern China: A Configurational Perspective

Recent research about nonprofit rationalization (especially in China) tended to focus on “net” effect explained by a particular theory, and thereby ignored the combinatory effects of different mechanisms in specific environments. In this article, echoing from the configurational perspective, we used csQCA to explore the potential combination of different mechanisms that may shape the formation of nonprofit rationalization. Through the analysis of 14 cases from three cities of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China, we found that rationalization of a nonprofit requires its leaders/important members to have certain career experience when it receives the corporate giving; the results also indicate that rationalization requires leaders/important members to have corporate work experience when it receives corporate giving, despite the absence of government support and competition.