The Markets for Children's Services

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SES-0241559Joseph GalaskiewiczUniversity of ArizonaThis project continues a program of research conducted on the non-profit sector in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area over the past 17 years. There is a long and spirited debate in academic and policy circles about the differences among charitable, for-profit, mutual benefit, and public organizations, with some past research finding differences, other studies finding little or no differences. The current study investigates the thesis that the matching of providers and consumers in the various markets for children's services-broadly construed-does not always follow an economic logic. On the supply side, many providers are not free to respond to changing market conditions and to react to opportunities because of legal norms and rules that restrict what they can do, how they can do it, and who can they serve. In short, legal constraints should explain differences in organization strategies, service mix, people served and performance. On the demand side, because of "imperfections" in the marketplace in certain markets, public, charitable, and mutual benefit organizations enjoy competitive advantages over for-profits and are seen by consumers as more effective and desirable. Study findings should shed light on whether charities, membership organizations and public agencies provide children's services better than for-profits.The investigator will collect data from 600 households, with full-time residents and children between the ages of 5 and 12. Phone interviews will be conducted with 400 households and on-site interviews with an additional 200 households. The purpose of the survey is to identify service providers that households use for various kinds of children services. The on-site interviews will collect more in-depth information on one particular service activity (i.e., quality, location, price, trust identity, role social networks played in selecting a provider, and satisfaction with service). Lastly, a sample of service providers (n=250) will be interviewed to gather data on their legal status, mission/purpose, services, clients/customers, competitors, organizational strategy and institutional ties. The research contributes to several fields, including organizational sociology, market behavior, institutional economics, public administration, and consumer research. The research has important public policy implications in that government contracts, charitable deductions, various subsidies and tax status are premised on the assumption that sector (e.g., for-profit, public agencies, or non-profit) matters. Also, the research involves a population that has previously been understudied. A large percentage of the Phoenix-Mesa metro population is Hispanic (about 25%). Thus, the research will have much to say about the urban living conditions of Hispanics in the Southwest.