The internationalization of Chinese development NGOs: Policy-driven or resource-driven?

Sammanfattning: Paralleling China’s increasing engagement in international development cooperation, Chinese development NGOs have expanded their projects abroad in recent years. Simultaneously, the government is encouraging NGOs to “go out” and foster “people-to-people connections” in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This thesis explored the internationalization of Chinese NGOs to understand the underlying drivers of this process. The main preoccupation was to determine whether the NGOs’ international engagement is driven by their access to resources, or a reaction to government policies, namely the BRI. Based on a comparative multiple-case study, qualitative semi-structured interviews with representatives from six Chinese development NGOs were conducted. Employing the theoretical perspectives of resource dependence theory and the resource-based view, the thesis concludes that the internationalization of these NGOs is resource-driven, rather than driven by BRI policy. The BRI does not generate revenue for the NGOs to implement projects overseas, but is used as a tool to enhance the organizations’ legitimacy and broaden their chances for resource acquisition. Dependent on the domestic institutional environment, the internationalizing NGOs are relying on their unique organizational capabilities, sector-specific conditions and the social networks of their executive leadership to obtain sufficient resources for “going out” and achieving their mission.