How Do NGOs Choose Their Partners? The Role of Homophily in a Transnational Advocacy Network on Climate Change

Abstract

How do non-governmental organizations (NGOs) choose their partners when working in transnational advocacy networks? This case hypothesizes that NGOs form homophilous partnerships to minimize risk from cooperation. It employs two-mode exponential random graph models to examine the original data regarding the activities, attributes, and partnerships of NGOs sponsoring transnational advocacy events on climate change. The paper finds that homophily is a significant driver of partnership formation in transnational advocacy networks, even when controlling for relevant confounders, such as the differential tendency for groups to form partnerships, the varying attractiveness of the events on which the partnerships are formed, and geographic propinquity. It also finds that value-based homophily tends to be the strongest driver of partnership formation and that homophily is not generally conditional on event risk. These findings speak to the challenge of diversity in transnational advocacy networks, with implications for problem-solving and advocacy.