Theory of NGO Activism
Definition
Daubanes and Jean-Marie’s A Theory of NGO Activism (MIT CEEPR Working Paper 2016-010) — Daubanes (HEC Lausanne) and Jean-Marie (University of St Andrews, formerly MIT CEEPR) — treats NGOs as rational actors choosing among four campaign strategies — information (public reporting, naming-and-shaming), legal (regulatory complaints, lawsuits), market (consumer boycotts, supply-chain pressure), and political (regulator lobbying, legislative advocacy) — and asks, given the firm’s expected response and the regulator’s posture, which strategy is optimal. [source: daubanes-ngo-activism]
The model contributes to the campaign literature by formalising the intuition that an NGO’s strategy choice is shaped by the economic environment it operates in: a regulator that will punish legal action pushes the NGO toward information; a firm that will lose market share from disclosure pushes the NGO toward market pressure; and so on.
It is a diagnostic tool rather than a recipe: the practitioner question the model supports is given the current incentive structure, which strategy will be effective, and which change in the incentive structure would shift the optimal choice — and the answer is what the campaign should push for.
Full page: [[theory-of-ngo-activism]].
FAQ
What is the Theory of NGO Activism?
The Theory of NGO Activism is Daubanes and Jean-Marie’s 2016 economic model of NGO activism: NGOs choose among strategies (information, legal, market, political) in response to the relative costs of each, the firm’s expected response, and the regulator’s posture. The full-page version of this definition lives on [[theory-of-ngo-activism]].
What does the model contribute?
The model contributes to the campaign literature by formalising the intuition that an NGO’s strategy choice is shaped by the economic environment it operates in: a regulator that will punish legal action pushes the NGO toward information; a firm that will lose market share from disclosure pushes the NGO toward market pressure; and so on [source: daubanes-ngo-activism].
Is the model a recipe?
It is a diagnostic tool rather than a recipe: the practitioner question the model supports is given the current incentive structure, which strategy will be effective, and which change in the incentive structure would shift the optimal choice — and the answer is what the campaign should push for.
What is the model’s role for campaigners?
For campaigners, the model is the answer to the diagnostic question of which channel will work in which institutional environment. The campaign’s job is to identify the incentive structure it operates in, choose the channel that fits, and where possible push for changes in the incentive structure that broaden the optimal-strategy menu.