Financial Dependence and Organizational Autonomy: The Economy of Voluntary Sport in Denmark

Abstract

In Denmark, as in most other Western European countries, sport has always been organized as a non-profit, voluntary sector, but the pattern in Denmark has changed significantly during the last decades. The traditional position between market and state is affected by changes in the financial structure and particularly by increasing public subsidies. As a result, the prescriptive autonomy of voluntary organized sport is threatened. Consequently, voluntary sport has developed a remarkable similarity with public provision of services.