On Tuesday, December 17, at 9:00 am, Huafang Li will present, “Welcome to China? Foreign Donations and Domestic Contributions.” Li will explore the interplay between domestic government funding and private donations to nonprofit organizations (NPOs) through the lens of the crowding-in and crowding-out theories. This study integrates political and managerial perspectives to assess how foreign donations influence domestic contributions in authoritarian contexts, using data from Chinese foundations from 2013 to 2016.
Li’s research highlights the dual role of foreign donations in supporting public goods while potentially challenging authoritarian stability. Despite a significant decline in foreign donations between 2014 and 2016, his findings reveal no impact on government funding for NPOs receiving such contributions. Li will discuss the implications of these results for China’s nonprofit sector and the broader dynamics of civil society under authoritarian governance.
Huafang Li is an Associate Professor of Public and Nonprofit Management in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at University of Pittsburgh.