Why So Many Measures of Nonprofit Financial Performance? Analyzing and Improving the Use of Financial Measures in Nonprofit Research
本文利用IRS 990数据，通过文献综述和降维技术，检验会计指标能否形成理论直观且实证可靠的构念，提醒研究者在使用财务指标时需更加谨慎。
Financial measures provide an empirical basis from which nonprofit researchers and practicing managers can approximate organizational capacity, financial health, and performance. These measures are used in nonprofit research to predict organizational activities and funding opportunities. Yet, little empirical evidence exists to tell us what these measures assess and whether they capture underlying concepts in the way we assume. Using Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 990 data, this article explores the following research question: Can accounting measures be organized into theoretically intuitive and empirically defensible constructs? To answer this question, a literature review of nonprofit financial health studies and textbooks was conducted, and dimension reduction techniques were employed. The findings suggest that the answer to the research question is not as simple as expected, and we should exercise more caution in how we use financial measures in nonprofit research.