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  5. The Rise of NGO Activism

The Rise of NGO Activism

  • Julien Daubanes
  • Jean-Charles Rochet
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 11, no. 4, November 2019
(pp. 183-212)
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Abstract

Activist nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) increasingly oppose firms' practices. We suggest this might be related to the vulnerability of public regulation to corporate influence. We examine a potentially harmful industrial project subject to regulatory approval. Under industry influence, the regulator may approve the project even though it is harmful. However, an NGO may oppose it. We characterize the circumstances under which NGO opposition occurs and under which it is socially beneficial. Our theory explains the role that NGOs have assumed in the last decades, and has implications for the social legitimacy of activism and the appropriate degree of transparency of industrial activities.

Citation

Daubanes, Julien, and Jean-Charles Rochet. 2019. "The Rise of NGO Activism." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 11 (4): 183-212. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20180027

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D21 Firm Behavior: Theory
  • D74 Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
  • D82 Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
  • L31 Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship
  • L51 Economics of Regulation
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