Research Article
Need, Merit, Self-Interest or Convenience? Exploring Aid Allocation Motives of Grassroots International NGOs
John-Michael Davis,
Liam Swiss,
Corresponding Author
John-Michael Davis
Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Division, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, USA
Correspondence to: John-Michael Davis, Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Division, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA.
E-mail: jdavis4@wpi.edu
Search for more papers by this authorLiam Swiss
Department of Sociology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorJohn-Michael Davis,
Liam Swiss,
Corresponding Author
John-Michael Davis
Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Division, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, USA
Correspondence to: John-Michael Davis, Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Division, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA.
E-mail: jdavis4@wpi.edu
Search for more papers by this authorLiam Swiss
Department of Sociology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Despite substantial scholarly attention given to aid allocation motives of state agencies and professionalized non-governmental organizations (NGOs), privately funded grassroots international NGOs (GINGOs), which have rapidly emerged in the global North, have escaped academic analysis. Using an original dataset of 948 Canadian NGOs, this study compares country aid allocation patterns along competing variables of need, merit, self-interest and convenience between professionalized, mid-sized independent and grassroots international NGOs. Our results underscore the importance of a disaggregated analysis yet reveal similar aid allocation trends between all three NGO groups and show significant herding behaviour. These findings question the added value of the growing phenomena of GINGOs. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Open Research
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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