'How can we explain the existence of organisations such as charities and voluntary agencies, which deliberately eschew profit-making? Burton Weisbrod has been in the forefront of the debate on this question, arguing that a combination of market failure and government failure in the provision of jointly consumed goods gives rise to a residual demand that can be met efficiently by the 'third sector'… the puzzles about non-profit behaviour are not just matters for economists. The role of the third sector is very much a matter for public-policy debate and political decision-making … This book reminds us that pressures on the sector to expand its role can ultimately damage the very features that have made it so attractive to politicians in the first place - its ability to respond efficiently to the needs of society's most vulnerable and excluded members.' The Times Higher Education Supplement