To what extent do Brazilian NGOs in the state of Pará choose their organisation/ project locations based on assessed need?1

Abstract

Following democratizing reforms and the introduction of new legislation in the late 1990s, NGOs in Brazil underwent a series of shifts regarding their funding and relationship with the government. In this context, this research project investigates the motivations for location choice of NGOs in the Brazilian state of Pará using a theoretical framework consisting of three theories. While the research project aims primarily to investigate to what extent the needs-based hypothesis applies, it will also engage with the self-interest motivation and the political connectivity motivation. Based on a mixed methods research methodology consisting of a regression analysis and multiple semi-structured interviews with NGO directors, this research comes to the conclusion that there is little quantitative evidence for clustering based on need on a national level, but fi nds an NGO sector reporting a very high commitment to the need-based hypothesis which is arguably not realized due to extensive funding and infrastructure constraints and an inability to account for duplication eff orts. While the overall relationship between NGOs and the public sector is fraught, personal relationships and boundary-cross- ing are perceived as advantageous for gaining access to funding, though more explicit forms of rent-seeking behaviour are not reported.