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Can International Nongovernmental Organizations Boost Government Services? The Case of Health

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 July 2013

Amanda Murdie  and
Alexander Hicks
Amanda Murdie
Affiliation:
University of Missouri. E-mail: [email protected]
Alexander Hicks
Affiliation:
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Do international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) lessen the need for states to provide their own services? In the case of health, many assume that INGOs limit health spending by governments. Against the conventional wisdom, we argue that these organizations create increased demand for governmental health spending through three mechanisms: (1) indirectly affecting the policy-making climate (“climatic conditioning”), (2) aiding domestic NGO and health activists in their efforts, and (3) directly pressuring governments for increased health spending themselves. Given these mechanisms, health INGOs, although typically supplying health services of their own within a country, should augment pressure for public service provision by the state and, it follows, lead to increased state health spending. We test our argument using a new data set on health INGOs, together with a well-established model of health spending, and find ample support for our arguments. Increases in health INGOs' activities do lead to increased governmental health spending, mainly by indirectly affecting the policy-making climate and, most especially, advancing the effective efforts of domestic activists.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Organization , Volume 67 , Issue 3 , July 2013 , pp. 541 - 573
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 2013 

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