Charitable (Anti)Trust: The Role of Antitrust Regulation in the Nonprofit Sector

Searing, E.A.M. (2014). “Charitable (Anti)Trust: The Role of Antitrust Regulation in the Nonprofit Sector.” Nonprofit Policy Forum, 5(2), 261–288.

Posted: 8 Dec 2014

See all articles by Elizabeth A.M. Searing

Elizabeth A.M. Searing

University of Texas at Dallas - Public and Nonprofit Management

Date Written: October 28, 2013

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to address the ambiguities in the application of anti-trust regulations to the nonprofit sector. We first survey policy tools and their diverse historical usage in nonprofit and mixed markets, specifically in professional associations, hospitals, and education. This analysis informs the development of a typology of anti-competitive nonprofit markets which is used to classify the three historical examples into eight traits. Finally, this typology is applied to three new markets – animal shelters, thrift stores, and soup kitchens – which have less in common with purely for-profit markets and have little or no discussion in antitrust literature. We find that the nonprofit form per se does not indicate an absence of anticompetitive practices or antitrust concerns; however, certain combinations of attributes – such as purely donative revenues and an absence of pricing ability – make the threat of anticompetitive practice less oppressive.

Keywords: antitrust, competition, regulation, mixed market, monopoly, monopraebi

Suggested Citation

Searing, Elizabeth A.M., Charitable (Anti)Trust: The Role of Antitrust Regulation in the Nonprofit Sector (October 28, 2013). Searing, E.A.M. (2014). “Charitable (Anti)Trust: The Role of Antitrust Regulation in the Nonprofit Sector.” Nonprofit Policy Forum, 5(2), 261–288. , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2534776

Elizabeth A.M. Searing (Contact Author)

University of Texas at Dallas - Public and Nonprofit Management ( email )

800 West Campbell Road
Richardson, TX 75080
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.elizabethamsearing.info

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