Empirical studies regarding which financial information is preferred by stakeholders have been conducted in western countries. By contrast, there is no research to investigate this situation in Japan even though practical and policy discussions have occurred on expanding preferential tax treatment for contributions and the introduction of accounting standards for specified nonprofit corporations. This paper investigates a trend in which financial information is sought by donors and, using a questionnaire survey, reveals which information items donors emphasize. As a result, actually it was found statistically significant that the donors prefer to choose the financial structure that has larger program revenue even though they subjectively consider revenue from contributions to be important. On the other hand, this paper could not find statistically consistent relationships between the donors' subjective rating of importance on information items and their preference of financial structure, even though they precisely chose items such as smaller payroll costs and larger program expenses as their financial structure preferences. Although based upon a small data set, this paper reveals latent decision criteria that donors hold, which is useful in setting management policy in nonprofit organizations, and gives guidance on the disclosure of appropriate financial information.

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This article contributes to our understanding regarding how neighborhood associations (NAs) combine with nonprofit organizations (NPOs). In former times, most NAs were core organizations in local communities, but they have been deteriorating steadily because of societal change in the post-war period. As a result of the recent fiscal crisis of local governments, local community organizations, especially NAs, are politically and socially expected to resolve many local issues. Some local communities have set up incorporated NPOs based on NAs and established relationships between NAs and NPOs to help resolve local issues. Using case study data, we clarify the mechanisms and effects of setting up incorporated NPOs based on NAs. We highlight two cases. In one case, an incorporated NPO consists of all NA members and is dependent on the NA. In the second case, an incorporated NPO consists of voluntary NA members and is nearly independent of the NA. We find that the "performance gap" and the existing resources drive the establishment of the incorporated NPOs. We also find that both cases succeed in the coordination between NAs and NPOs, but the former breeds conflict among their members and the latter may face a decoupling risk between them.

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Little is known about how the intergroup relationship between heterogeneous others, the latest refinement of classic sociological ideas such as civil society and civic solidarity, is effectively built. This study aims to explore the terms and conditions that promote civic solidarity based on social capital theory, and pays particular attention to the effect of shared cultural resource on it. This paper presents a comprehensive study of intergroup relationships among people involved in the Shikoku Pilgrimage and the campaign activities to register it as a world heritage site, analyzing the results from a questionnaire survey and interview research. The results show that sharing cultural resources and normative beliefs promote the mutual understanding between people who are from different backgrounds.

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