PUBPOL 5190

Nonprofits and Public Policy

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

The Nonprofit sector plays an important role in society and makes up a growing share of the U.S. economy. In this course, we use economic theory and econometric tools to examine the nonprofit market and how it gets shaped by public policy. Topics covered include theories of the nonprofit market, determinants of charitable giving and volunteering, the role played by religion, competition between nonprofits and for-profits in labor markets, and the effects of taxes, subsidies and regulations.

Prerequisites REF-FA25/Corequisites REF-FA25 PUBPOL 2000 or ECON 3030 or equivalent.Recommended Prerequisite: PUBPOL 3100 or a course in basic econometrics in strongly recommended. Corequisites: None.

Distribution Requirements (SBA-HE)

Last 4 terms offered (None)

Outcomes REF-FA25

• Describe the main theories explaining the need for having a nonprofit sector.
• Evaluate whether nonprofits are suitable or needed in different industries.
• Apply and explain intuition behind economic models that describe the public and nonprofit sectors.
• Interpret econometric evidence and evaluate appropriateness of methods to address important question in the sector.

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