ABSTRACT
In recent years, the third or non-profit sector (as opposed to the private for-profit and public sectors) has attracted increasing attention from policy-makers and public opinion. The reasons for this are twofold. On the one hand, the organisations that constitute the third sector have operated successfully in industries (health, cultural, leisure and welfare) which have experienced considerable growth in recent years.1 On the other hand, these organisational forms have undergone a constant process of evolution, which has enabled them to meet part of the growing demand for social, community care and collective services.2 Since the 1980s, third-sector organisations have gradually acquired a productive and entrepreneurial role. Productive third-sector organisations providing services have become, especially in Europe, increasingly active in areas previously dominated by governmental or charitable intervention, such as social services and the work integration of disadvantaged people. In countries where the provision of these services was scarce and mainly undertaken by public institutions (e.g. Italy and Spain), the emergence of third-sector entrepreneurial organisations is an almost entirely new phenomenon. In other countries (e.g. France and Belgium), where private third-sector organisations were already involved in the provision of welfare services, the trend has been towards their greater autonomy from the public authorities.
