2021 Fall Seminar Series on Nonprofit Governance
The Gupta Governance Institute’s Center for Nonprofit Governance at Drexel’s LeBow College of Business in collaboration with the National Center on Nonprofit Enterprise (NCNE) is pleased to announce the continuation of our on-line research seminar series on the theme of “Policy and Regulatory Impacts for Nonprofit Organizations”. The series seeks to highlight frontiers of knowledge and new research important for the nonprofit field and provide a regular, national/international forum for academic researchers to explore these areas in depth. The seminars are intended to stimulate interactive discussion among researchers and to establish foundational knowledge for nonprofit leaders, funders, and directors. The interactive seminar will take place via Zoom followed by discussion and a Q&A session.
October 28, 2:00-3:30 pm ET
Does Additional Mandatory Reporting Alter Charity or Donor Behavior? Examining the 2006 Pension Protection Act
Jonathan Oxley (Trinity University)
Financial disclosure requirements are common accountability measures placed on publicly funded organizations. However, the impact of financial disclosure requirements on organizational structure or on financial contributors’ behavior is not well understood in the context of non-profit organizations. I explore this question by analyzing mandatory Form 990-T disclosure included in the Pension Protection Act. This contributes to the understanding of organizational and financial contributor response to mandatory disclosure in an environment already requiring operation data disclosure. I use a difference-in-differences approach, comparing organizations filing a Form 990-T at least once in the three years prior to passage to those who did not. I find that one in four filing organizations create a subsidiary in the following two filing years. Subsidiary tax filings are not subject to disclosure, indicating that non-profits can restructure their organizations in a manner allowing them to circumvent disclosure requirements. While charities alter their organizational structure, I find no evidence of net changes in donor behavior towards charities, as aggregate total contributions and government grants received do not change.
If you have any questions, please contact Teresa Harrison, Professor of Economics and Academic Director, Center for Nonprofit Governance, Gupta Governance Institute, at tharrison@drexel.edu.