Mark S. LeClair

Fighting the Tide: Alternative Trade Organizations in the Era of Global Free Trade

Abstract This paper explores the proliferation of Fair Trade organizations, their products, services and client groups in order to establish the impact of this movement. Although small in volume, alternative trade represents a unique response to the relentless pursuit of free trade through the GATT/WTO process. The economic underpinnings of both Fair Trade and subsidy programs in general (such as the EUs Stabilization of Exchange system) are evaluated. Ultimately, alternative trade can provide significant assistance to targeted groups within developing countries, including gains in production and export proficiency. On the negative side, Fair Trade is likely to prolong the dependence of developing countries on products with poor future prospects.

Corporate Support for Artistic and Cultural Activities: What Determines the Distribution of Corporate Giving?

This paper examines the allocation of corporate donations among variouscategories of recipients and the reasons underlying that allocation. Ananalytical model is utilized to determine the importance of profitability,firm size, advertising expenditures and type of business in determining thelevel of support for each activity. The results demonstrate that corporategiving to artistic/cultural activities is correlated with advertisingexpenditures, while donations to educational, civic and health causes are not.Thus, support for culture and the arts is a means of directly promoting thefirm, while giving to other causes fulfills the firms goals throughalternative means.

Fighting Back: The Growth of Alternative Trade

Mark S. LeClair looks at the growing influence of fair trade, the marketing and sale of products at greater than free trade prices, on international trade. He argues that fair trade represents a unique response to the perceived inequities of unrestricted free trade and through a survey conducted with fair trade organizations shows how it is operating at the moment to balance inequalities, though he warns there is a precarious future for the artisans relying on such a system.

Philanthropy in Transition

Preface Acknowledgements List of Tables List of abbreviations 1. A History of Philanthropy in the United States 2. U.S. Philanthropy: Trends in Giving and the Impact on Society 3. Government Policy and Charitable Contributions 4.The New Philanthropy: The Rise of Non-Traditional Giving in the United States 5. Engaging the Ethical Consumer and Investor Glossary

Malfeasance in the Charitable Sector: Determinants of “Soft” Corruption at Nonprofit Organizations

The causes and effects of organizational corruption have been widely examined in the literature, including malfeasance that is specific to nonprofits organizations. This article draws a distinction between outright (illegal) and “soft” corruption—the latter referring to the continued and deliberate misuse of donated funds to benefit officers of the nonprofit, with little (in some instances less than 5%) going to the nonprofit’s supposed cause. Soft corruption enables organizations to function essentially as counterfeit charities without risking legal peril. An empirical model encompassing approximately 450 randomly drawn nonprofits tests the determinants of this form of misbehavior. Ultimately it is shown that either the existence of an independent voting board or the conduct of an independent audit are the most important means of preventing soft corruption; far more important than state- or federally-mandated reporting requirements.