After the Johns Hopkins Comparative Project, what conceptual aspects and basic indicators are relevant to continue with comparative studies among different countries?

• In Event: Comparative studies on the Third Sector

Abstract

1. Objectives of the research
To analyze some of the particularities and challenges for researchers on Civil Society and Third Sector in Latin America, both in relation to conceptual issues and the type of indicators that could be appropriate to observe their importance in each country and facilitate the comparison between different countries, as was the case with the Johns Hopkins University Comparative Project.
2. Hypothesis or research question, as appropriate
The research question is: Is the continuity of the methodology used in the International Comparative Project of the Johns Hopkins University, which was later adopted by the United Nations System of National Accounts and its application for the calculation of the Non-Profit Sector Satellite Account viable or would it be more convenient to adopt other models or other ways that allow its characterization and understanding, as well as the comparison among countries?
3. Used methodology
There will be a comprehensive revision of the available documents, as well as a review of the different proposals and opinions expressed in the ISTR world and regional conferences. The central references will be Helmut Anheier's intervention at the last ISTR world conference in Montreal and his subsequent paper, and the responses of some colleagues on the panel that accompanied him. Interviews will also be conducted with fellow researchers who participated in the Johns Hopkins Project and others who have reflected on the challenges involved in cross-country comparative measurement of nonprofit organizations.
4. Main results to be achieved or contribution
The aim is to formulate some observations and recommendations that may be useful to the research community, in particular to ISTR colleagues, and to governmental areas eventually interested in these issues, about which indicators could be the most appropriate and feasible to obtain, in order to have comparable quantitative and qualitative data.

References

5. References
•Beres, Neide Almeida (2002). Conta Satélite das Instituições Privadas sem Fins Lucrativos Brasil, UNV- United Nations Volunteers / JHU- Johns Hopkins University / IBGE- Fundação Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, presentado en la VI Conferencia Regional de ISTR en Noviembre del 2007, Bahia, Brasil.
•Biekart, K. Fowler, A. (eds) (2022) A Research Agenda for Civil Society. London: Edward Elgar Publishers.
https://www.elgaronline.com/display/book/9781800378155/9781800378155.xml
•Biekart, K., Tiina Kontinen, Marianne Millstein. Civil Society Responses to Changing Civic Spaces https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-23305-0
•Bloodgood, Elizabeth- Stroup, Sarah and Wong, Wendy, What Counts? How to use Different Sources of NGO Data, Voluntas (2023) 34:126-132, , International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00396-w
•Casey, J. Comparing the Nonprofit Sector Around the World. What we know and how do we know it? Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership 6(3) 187-223
•Casey, J. (2020). Comparing Third Sector Expansions. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice. Volume 22, 2020 - Issue 1: Comparing Third Sector Expansions.
•CIVICUS: Informes sobre el Estado de la Sociedad Civil
•Defourny, Jacques-Gronbjerg, Kirsten- Meijs, Lucas- Nyssens, Marthe and Yamauchi, Naoto, Voluntas Symposium: Comments on Salamon and Sokolowski’s Re-conceptualization of the Third Sector, Voluntas (2016)27:1546-1561, DOI 10.1007/s11266-016-9743-y, International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR).
•Figueroa Diaz, Raúl: Cuentas Satélite, un enfoque funcional de la contabilidad nacional: La experiencia de México. Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI). https://www.ine.es/art/ree/178_5.pdf
•Fowler, A. Measuring Civil Society: Perspectives on Afro-Centrism https://africanphilanthropy.issuelab.org/resources/20079/20079.pdf
•Helmut K. AnheierComparative Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Sectors: Looking Back and Looking Forward. Voluntas https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-023-00608-5
•Organización Internacional del Trabajo. Manual de medición del trabajo voluntario. Ginebra 2011: OIT. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/--- publ/documents/publication/wcms_167833.pdf
•Salamon, L. S. Wojciech Sokolowski, Megan A. Haddock, and Helen S. Tice (2012), The State of Global Civil Society and Volunteering: Latest findings from the implementation of the UN Nonprofit Handbook. Working Paper No. 49. Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies, Baltimore
•Salamon, L. and Anheier, H. (1998). The Nonprofit Sector in the Developing World: A Comparative Analysis (Johns Hopkins Nonprofit Sector Series). Manchester University Press.
•UN Manual sobre las instituciones sin fines de lucro en el Sistema de Cuentas Nacionales. Departamento de Asuntos Económicos y Sociales División de Estadística Naciones Unidas Nueva York, 2007 asdf Estudios de Métodos Serie F, No. 91 Manual de contabilidad nacional https://unstats.un.org/unsd/publication/SeriesF/SeriesF_91s.pdf
•UNSTAD Satellite Account on Non-profit and Related Institutions and Volunteer Work, UN New York 2018. https://unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/docs/UN_TSE_HB_FNL_web.pdf

Authors

• Mario Roitter, CIS Universidad de San Andrés

• Pablo Baraldi Marsal, Universidad de Buenos Aires