In developing his famous theory of social costs, K. William Kapp claimed to draw inspiration from the theory of open systems. The present paper reconstructs the notion of social costs from the perspective of the Luhmannian theory of autopoietic social systems, an alternative systems-theoretic...

Third sector organisations play a prominent role in rural development. Yet, such organisations have been largely neglected by existing economic research. This paper examines the potential role of standard theories of the third sector and collective action in explaining the motivations to form...

Nonprofit organizations are arguably the fastest growing and most dynamic part of modern market economies in democratic countries. This Handbook explores the frontiers of knowledge at the intersection of economics and the management of these entities. The authors review the role, structure and...

Purpose – The paper is aimed at examining the correspondence between the demand-side and supply-side determinants of the existence of non-profit firms. Design/methodology/approach – The case study approach is used to compare the demand-side and supply-side determinants for a single...

This paper develops a new institutional economics account of the broad issues of governance in European rural development. It is argued that rural governance is determined by rural development stakeholders' property rights which in turn reflect their interests in rural development. On this...