PONPO Seminar Series

The PONPO seminars are a series of presentations and discussions on international and indigenous non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Their main objective continues to be to map current research in the field. Presentations include both Yale and outside participants, scholars and practitioners.

Seminars take place on the Yale School of Management campus in New Haven, CT, and are free and open to the public.

The seminar series is sponsored by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Yale Institution for Social and Policy Studies.

View current seminar series.

Past Seminars

2006- 2007 Seminar Series

Dec. 12 - Sam Gejdenson

Jan. 30 - Francesca Cornelli

Feb. 27 - Alex Mintz

Apr. 3 - Jonathan Morduch

Apr. 24 - David Lewis

Sept. 21, 2006

Nora Lustig speaks on "Health and Development: Recommendations from the Mexican Commission on Macro-economics and Health"

Nora Lustig is the Director of the Center for Studies on Globalization and Development Instituto de Estudios Superiores del Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) Mexico. Previously, Dr. Lustig was Senior Adviser on Poverty and Chief of the Poverty and Inequality Unit at the Inter-American Development Bank. She co-directed the World Bank’s World Development Report 2000/2001 "Attacking Poverty." She was also a member of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (WHO) and is president of the Mexican Commission. Dr. Lustig has published extensively in the fields of economic development and determinants of poverty and inequality, focusing on Mexico and other Latin American economies.

Dr. Lustig's lecture is organized by the Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies Policy Seminar, and co-sponsored by the Program on Nonprofit Organizations and the Development Policy Series of the International Affairs Council at The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale.

Oct. 3, 2006

Social Enterprises in South Asia
A Dialogue with Ashok Khosla

Ashok Khosla is chairman and founder of the Development Alternatives Group, a New Delhi-based non-profit organization whose mission is to promote sustainable development through innovative technology, effective institutional systems, and environmental and resource management methods.

From 1976-1982, Dr. Khosla served as director of the International Referral System for Sources of Environmental Information at the United Nations Environment Program in Nairobi. From 1972-1976, Dr. Khosla was the head of the first office of environment in the Indian government, establishing the organizational and functional basis for environmental policy-making in India. In 2002, he received the UN Environment Program's Sasakawa Environment Prize.

Dr. Khosla serves as director or advisor to numerous organizations, including the World Bank and the World Commission on Environment and Development. He received his B.A. from Cambridge University and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in experimental physics, where he was instrumental in introducing courses on the environment into the curriculum.

Cosponsored by the South Asian Studies Council (supported by The Stanley T. Woodward lectureship fund and the Rustgi Family Fund) and the Program on Nonprofit Organizations.

Being a Good Global Citizen

Congressman Sam Gejdenson
U.S. House of Representatives (1981-2000)

Congressman Gejdenson's career has embodied the idea of principled leadership. Looking at the issues of poverty and human rights through both a macro and micro lens, Congressman Gejdenson will speak about his recent work with nonprofits, tracing the connection between economic development and political stability.

During his tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Gejdenson worked to promote U.S. exports, further the causes of human rights and peace around the world, and ensure that U.S. trade policy reflected fundamental American values about workers' rights and environmental protection. He authored comprehensive legislative initiatives aimed at assisting American companies in accessing foreign markets and boosting American exports including: the Exports Administration Act, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, and the International Anti-corruption and Good Governance Act—all of which were signed into law.

Gejdenson has been a leader on human rights and democracy, ensuring that U.S. foreign policy reflected the values and compassion of the American people. He is known throughout the world for his efforts to curb international trafficking of women and children and promote self-help programs for the poor through micro-credit assistance.

Congressman Gejdenson currently serves on the boards of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and of Women's Health Research at Yale. He is also involved with a microfinance project in Tajikistan and serves as an international election monitor.

Abstract: This paper is an empirical study of the motives for charitable donations. It is based on a unique dataset from the English National Opera (ENO) that includes detailed micro-level information on individual donations, ticket purchases, and consumption of fringe benefits. This allows us to examine the extent to which individuals donate to fund a public good or to have access to a private good, like fringe benefits. We find evidence that individuals behave as if they feel pivotal to providing a public good. Moreover, we find that the relative importance of these motives varies cross-sectionally on income level. Low income individuals, who buy cheap seats, are more sensitive to the private good motive. High income individuals, who buy expensive seats, are more sensitive to the public good motive. We also show individuals choice to donate is affected by the number of other donors who live in the same neighbourhood. This paper was co-authored with Andrea Buraschi, London Business School.

Abstract: How do non-profit organizations frame their decisions? How do they promote policies to donors, supporters, activists, policy makers, volunteers and the media? How do government entities counter-frame initiatives of non-profit organizations? This lecture will introduce 10 framing and counter-framing tactics used by non-profit organizations and governmental agencies. It will then illustrate their use in promoting environmental, human rights, and health related issues and programs in the U.S. and abroad.

Apr. 3, 2007	11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Steinbach Lounge, 52 Hillhouse Avenue
	Re-imagining Microfinance Jonathan Morduch Professor of Public Policy and Economics Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service New York University
Abstract: The Nobel Peace Prize awarded in December 2006 to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank rewards Yunus’s long-fought argument that the poor are bankable.  Microfinance has created a rare terrain in which supporters of traditional government aid and advocates for the private sector unite to help the poor by establishing profit-seeking institutions.  But expanding financial access to the unbanked will require broadening some of today’s understandings - and this will inevitably require rethinking some of Yunus’s own arguments.  The case for microfinance was developed around three strong messages: that microcredit for micro-enterprise is the most important financial gap for the poor, that microfinance banks can and should make profits, and that access to finance alone is enough to powerfully help households exit from poverty.  All three of these assertions receive only mixed support from data and economic theory.  The talk will draw on recent research and experience to describe frontiers for microfinance in the next decade. Apr. 24, 2007 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Steinbach Lounge, 52 Hillhouse Avenue     Crossing the boundaries between third sector and state: Comparative analysis of life-work histories of "boundary crossers" in UK, Philippines, and Bangladesh David Lewis Reader in Social Policy London School of Economics Register now! Abstract: The concept of three institutional "sectors" - private, public and non-governmental or "third" sector - underpins much research undertaken to date. While it may be analytically convenient to separate the three sectors, the realities are more complex. Third sector organisations and states are linked in potentially important (though often far from visible) ways via personal relationships, resource flows and transactions. In some countries, there have been individuals who have crossed over between the government and third sector. For example, in the Philippines, many NGO leaders joined the post-Marcos democratic government in 1986 to pursue rural development reform. The changing institutional trajectories of such people has so far received little attention from researchers. This paper focuses on the motivations, identities and experiences of a sub-set of individuals who have crossed in one way or another between third sector and state. The paper draws on recently gathered ethnographic "life-work history" data collected as part of an ESRC-funded research project in UK, Philippines and Bangladesh, examines the reasons for these boundary shifts in relation to concepts of power and innovation, the experiences and identities of those involved, and the implications of such ‘boundary crossing’ for better understanding the boundaries, both conceptual and tangible, that separate government and third sector in these different institutional contexts. Link to paper.

2005- 2006 Seminar Series

Transnational Environmental NGOs:
Creating a Framework of Accountability for a New Form of Resource Governance

Cristina Balboa, Yale University
Ph.D. Student in Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies

Abstract: A growing body of conservation effectiveness literature, coupled with normative human rights and democracy work, stress the importance of including local communities in resource use decisions. Despite this increasing consensus, local participation varies considerably. My research sheds rigorous light on this phenomenon by creating a conceptual framework which identifies relationships between local communities and transnational environmental non-governmental organizations (TENGOs). By examining case studies and three diverse bodies of literature, this research will develop and test theory on why these relationships differ. Unlike much work on disenfranchisement which points to the cause of economic globalization, this research examines a counter-intuitive scenario where those calling for participatory conservation (the well-intentioned TENGOs) address conservation concerns at the exclusion of local communities. This research asks: Why do TENGOs have varying relationships of accountability with other actors in the policy network? The theoretical framework and research plan for this dissertation-in-progress will be presented and discussed.

Dec. 6th, 2005

Women's Rights and NGO's in the Muslim World

Mahmood Monshipouri, Quinnipiac University
Professor of Political Science

Abstract: Certain themes underline patterns of inequality between men and women in the Muslim world. These include among others, the unequal access to divorce, inheritance, child custody, and the choice of marriage partners, the presence of polygamy, the custom of veiling and seclusion of women, the concept of “honor,” and inequities in workplaces and public arenas. There is an internal struggle over how to promote democratic norms and reforms in the Muslim world. How this battle takes shape hinges, among other things, upon recent social struggles by women demanding change in their position, status, and rights. As new agents of transformation, Muslim women are likely to play an important part in defining the perimeters of modernity and globalism. While local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as transnational advocacy networks, can help nudge along the women’s movements, there are limits to their operations and effectiveness.

Jan. 24th, 2006

Does Foreign Aid Reduce Poverty? Empirical Evidence on Nongovernmental and Bilateral Aid
(click here for the presentation or here for the original paper)

Boriana Yontcheva, IMF Institute
Economist

This paper assesses the effectiveness of foreign aid in reducing poverty through its impact on human development indicators. It
measure the impact of two kinds of foreign aid: official bilateral aid and aid projects led by international NGOs. Our results are more flattering to NGOs than to official aid. We show that increased per capita NGO aid does appear to achieve a statistically significant improvement in infant mortality, whereas bilateral aid has no impact. The impact on illiteracy is less significant. We also test whether foreign aid reduces government efforts in achieving developmental goals and find no evidence of a substitution effect.

Feb. 28th, 2006

Legitimacy, Accountability and Global Governance

Jonathan Koppell, Yale University
Associate Professor of Politics, Policy, and Organization

Transnational governance organizations (TGOs) are increasingly maligned as lacking in legitimacy and accountability. As the importance grows of entities that attempt to govern international activities and transactions, concerns with lack of participatory mechanisms, limited transparency and ability to trump national law have come to the fore. This paper presents a theoretical foundation for the discussion of accountability and democratization of international organizations. It proposes a way to understand the challenge of organizational legitimacy for TGOs and connects the legitimacy challenge to accountability problems. Finally, drawing upon a previous article, the paper argues that conflicting accountability expectations for TGOs poses to an inherent management challenge that is not easily overcome.

Mar. 28, 2006

Organization Design for Public Goods Provision: The Role of Missions, Motivation, and Matching

Maitreesh Ghatak, London School of Economics
Professor of Economics
Editor, Review of Economic Studies
Director of the Economic Organization and Public Policy Program (EOPP) in STICERD

Professor Ghatak's talk will be based on two papers, which can be found at his website:

Retailing Public Goods: The Economics of Corporate Social Responsibility (with T. Besley)
Sorting with Motivated Agents: Implications for School Competition and Teacher Incentives (with T. Besley)

April 25, 2006

Transcending Circumstances: Victims, Survivors and Victors in a Refugee Situation, the Case of Darfur
(Click here for a copy of the paper)

Judith Hermanson, CHF International
Senior Vice President

Historically, people displaced to refugee camps – traumatized and de-racinated – are seen and treated as “victims.” They are helped to address the immediate issues of survival, but rarely enabled (or expected) to take and meaningful control over their individual circumstances.

In Darfur, CHF is working with displaced people to help to alleviate the accompanying mind set of the refugee and so, we hypothesize, also to help them to prepare for an eventual normalization of life and return to their places of origin. The challenges are many, but CHF has found ways to assist the “victims” to become “survivors” and even “victors” of a sort – to learn new skills, to generate income, to contribute to the local economy, and to look more hopefully to the future. We believe that as a result of the program interventions that CHF has been making, the ability of people to organize and address the issues that will accompany any political settlement and eventual return will play an important role in the durability of that solution.

In this seminar, Hermanson will bring to life the circumstances in which the displaced people find themselves (not all of which – in terms of the living situations, etc.-- you read about in the headlines), address some of the difficult gender related issues, describe how the various strategies and approaches (e.g., microfinance, chicken raising, income generation activities) differ from what “normally” occurs and describe the impact that they have in Darfur as well as the potential that they hold for the way in which refugees and internally displaced people are assisted.

2004- 2005 Seminar Series

Oct. 5th, 2004

Civil Society
link to information on his book by this title

Michael Edwards, Ford Foundation
Director, Governance and Civil Society Unit

UN-NGO Interaction in the Field

Robert Piper, Yale World Fellow
Former United Nations Development Coordinator and
Head of UNDP in Kosovo

Mr. Piper will speak with participants and lead a discussion about the relative advantages and disadvantages of inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations working in post-conflict areas. We will also speak of the relationship and coordination between the two different types of groups.

Over the last 15 years, Mr. Piper has developed a reputation as an innovative and resourceful manager of United Nations projects in some of the world's most unstable countries. Piper, who works for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), most recently served as the United Nations Development Coordinator and head of UNDP in Kosovo from early 2002 to mid 2004. more bio

NGOs in Bangladesh: Activities, Resources, and Governance
power point presentation for download

Varun Gauri, Economist
World Bank

Dr. Gauri is an Economist in the Development Research Group (Public Services Team). Mr. Gauri's current research interests include equity in immunization outcomes, the response to AIDS in South Africa and Brazil, the construction and impact of social and economic rights, and the governance of NGOs in developing countries. He has worked on and led a variety of operational tasks in the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, including operational evaluations, investments in privately owned hospitals in Latin America, a social sector adjustment loan to Brazil, several health care projects in Brazil, and a study of the decentralization of health care in Nigeria. Mr. Gauri has previously taught courses in health policy, bioethics, and education policy in the United States and Chile. He received his Ph.D. in Public Policy from Princeton University in 1996.

2003 - 2004 PONPO Workshops

Sept. 16th, 2003

Susan Rose-Ackerman, Yale University
Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence, Law School and Department of Political Science

When Non-Governmental Organizations Govern: Using Markets to Create Non-State Authority

Benjamin Cashore, Yale University
Assistant Professor of Sustainable Forestry Policy; Chair, Program on Forest Certification, Global Institute for Sustainable Forestry

Global Civil Society: What are the Issues?

Helmut Anheier, UCLA
Professor, Department of Social Welfare; Director of the Center for Civil Society at the School of Public Policy and Social Research

Observations on Nonprofits from Practitioners Around the World

Yale World Fellows

Each year the World Fellows program brings to Yale 16 to 18 highly accomplished men and women from a diverse set of countries around the world. They come from a range of fields and disciplines including government, business, nongovernmental organizations, religion, academia, the military, media, and the arts. We have invited some of this year’s fellows to share their experience with nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations in their countries, and suggest questions or ideas which members of the Yale community might pursue in their research.

Meeting the Demand for Accountability in International NGO's

Mark Moore, Harvard University
Guggenheim Professor of Criminal Justice Policy and Management; Director, The Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations

Use of Randomization in the Evaluation of Development Effectiveness

Esther Duflo, MIT
Castel Krob Career Development Associate Professor of Economics

From the Abstract
Historically, prospective randomized evaluations of development programs have constituted a tiny fraction of all development evaluations. In this paper we argue that there is scope for considerably expanding their use, although they must necessarily remain a small fraction of all evaluations.

The benefits of knowing which programs work and which do not extend far beyond any program or agency, and credible impact evaluations are global public goods in the sense that they can offer reliable guidance to international organizations, governments, donors, and NGOs beyond national borders. Traditional methods of measuring program impact may be subject to serious bias due to omitted variables.

Foundation Grantmaking: An International Phenomenon for Good or a Supporter of the Status Quo?

Dr. Christopher Harris, Ford Foundation
Program Officer, Governance and Civil Society

This presentation will provide a description of the philanthropic sectors in the U.S. and internationally in terms of structure and scale. It will also offer an analysis of the degree to which foundations support structural change regarding rights, social justice and peace. Work by the Ford Foundation on this topic will serve as a case study.

Civil Society and Pro-Poor Initiatives at the Local Level in Bangladesh: Finding a Workable Strategy

Prof. Harry Blair, Yale University
Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer in Political Science

Abstract: This paper aims to begin developing a workable pro-poor strategy for civil society efforts in rural Bangladesh emphasizing advocacy to help the poor move beyond the patron-client relationships on which they have historically depended. Recent evidence of poverty reduction combined with agricultural progress should augur favorably for such advocacy, though elite domination must be expected to continue, and pro-poor initiatives will have to contend with it. Thus it is suggested that rather than pursue advocacy for policies directly targeting pro-poor groups (e.g., land redistribution), it would be better to forge coalitions with non-poor groups to press for more broad-based agendas (e.g., health, education) that can gain widespread support. The latter course could build up the experience and know-how needed to make pro-poor advocacy groups credible players in the local political arena who will then be able to pursue more targeted agendas benefiting their constituents.

Civil Society and Democracy: Mapping the Terrain

Julie Fisher, PhD, Kettering Foundation

Julie Fisher is the author of The Road from Rio: Sustainable Development and the Nongovernmental Movement in the Third World and, most recently, Nongovernments: NGOs and the Political Development of the Third World. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in international affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She is currently a program officer at the Kettering Foundation where, among her other assignments, she directs the international fellows program.

In addition to teaching at Connecticut College and our own Yale University, she was formerly a Scholar in Residence right here at PONPO. She has also been an independent consultant on international development, specializing in microenterprise evaluation and partnerships between international and national NGOs.

Nonprofit Networks: An Agenda for Research

Jeff Trexler, Yale Law School
Visiting Lecturer
Assistant Professor, SMU School of Law

What is the future of nonprofit theory? Over the past two decades, the study of nonprofit NGOs has moved from the margins to the mainstream, yet its central themes have remained relatively consistent. Civil society, contract failure, heterogeneity and social capital are perhaps the most familiar tropes now being explored by academic research centers worldwide. But what are we missing? This presentation will discuss the alternative theory of nonprofit networks and its implications for the next generation of nonprofit analysis.

Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope: The Carter Center as Model for Post-Presidential Initiatives in Developing Countries.

Amy Hamelin, Yale University
Masters Candidate, International Relations, ‘04

and

NGOs and the State: Cooperation or Conflict?

John McCauley, Yale University
Masters Candidate, International Relations, ‘04
Carter Center Abstract: When President Jimmy Carter was “forcibly retired” from the White House in 1981, he was by no means ready to end his career. A year later, he and his wife, Rosalynn, founded The Carter Center in order to continue their lifelong work on peace and health-related issues throughout the world. Twenty years later, in 2002, President Carter was awarded the Nobel Prize, partially in recognition of his efforts with The Carter Center in the areas of conflict resolution, democratization, human rights, and development. The Center has become a model for post-presidential initiatives both in the US and abroad and President Carter has been consulted by individuals such as Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela as they began establishing their own centers.

The Carter Center has demonstrated the benefits that the “good offices” of a former president can bring to efforts in the developing world, but it has also highlighted the potential shortcomings and limitations of such a model.

NGOs and State Abstract: Which entity is better positioned to make credible inroads toward economic and political development? How might they work together, or conversely, create roadblocks for one another? This talk considers the relationship between the state and development NGOs, focusing primarily on the case of Madagascar. At issue are organizational strengths, external support, and questions of accountability.

Tying Odysseus to the Mast: Evidence from a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines

Dean S. Karlan, Princeton University
Assistant Professor of Economics and International Affairs
Economics Department and Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs

Abstract: We designed a commitment savings product for a Philippine bank and implemented it using a randomized control methodology. The savings product was intended for individuals who want to commit now to save later, and who were sophisticated enough to engage in such a mechanism. Before offering the product to the treatment group, we conducted a baseline survey on all participants in the study. We included hypothetical time discounting questions with reference to money, rice and ice cream. Those who exhibited hyperbolic time preferences were more likely to open the commitment savings account; this effect holds primarily for women, but not for men. Of the 710 individuals offered the product, 202 (28.4 percent) opened the account. After six months, average savings balances at the cooperating bank increased by 20 percent for the treatment group relative to the control group. Those who opened the account increased savings by 86.3 percent. Thirty-four percent of individuals continued using the instrument beyond the initial deposit.