Probing NGO–community Interactions through Village Cadres and Principal–agent Relationships: Local Effects on the Operation of NGO Projects in Rural China

Abstract

ABSTRACT Interactions between NGOs and rural communities in China are an important yet understudied subject. By examining a water conservation project undertaken by an international NGO, this article probes how NGOs and rural communities interact through village cadres, who have considerable influence in shaping the operation and outcomes of NGO projects. In this case, the international NGO struggled to fulfill its aspirations despite making strategic adjustments to either avoid or form alliances with the village cadres. The agency problems inherent in the multiple principal–agent relationships between village cadres and the local government, between village cadres and villagers, and between village cadres and the NGO, gave rise to complicated dynamics of selective implementation by the village cadres, thus creating local constraints on the NGO’s community project.