Testing a relationship between special districts and nonprofits: Do they substitute or complement?

Abstract

ObjectiveAs similar modes of public service delivery on behalf of general‐purpose governments, a relationship between special districts(SD) and nonprofit organization are empirically tested.MethodsUsing U.S. data from the Census of Government Finance and the National Center for Charitable Statistics databases between 1997 and 2017, this study regress counts and spending level of SDs on the nonprofits’ counterparts.ResultsFor both counts and spending level, there are positive association between SDs and nonprofit organizations.ConclusionSDs and nonprofit organizations complement each other even when their service domains overlap.