Public Value Creation by the Catholic Church in Brazil: Analysis Based on Its Outputs and Outcomes

Abstract

Public value theory has introduced an alternative understanding of public and nonprofit organizations' performance. However, there is an academic consensus that the advancement of this theory requires more solid empirical foundations. This research empirically identifies factors of outputs (products, goods or services) and outcomes (impacts, benefits or consequences) offered by a nonprofit organization (NPO) that are perceived by society as creating public value. The Catholic Church in Brazil was the empirical setting, due to the important social role of churches and religious organizations in developing countries. A survey was administered in the Archdiocese of Curitiba geographic area. The data were examined using factor analysis and multiple linear regression. The results show that religious outputs, social outputs, and outcomes can explain the Catholic Church's public value creation. The public believes that the Catholic Church in Brazil creates public value mainly through its social outputs, of which social service and social assistance activities stand out. The perceived public value can be explained mainly by its outcomes. The findings bring academic impacts by empirically evidencing that outputs and outcomes are independent explanatory elements of public value, in addition to the prominence of outcomes as an explanatory element of perceived public value. In practice, the methodological path applied here can help managers to identify and monitor the impacts that NPOs (particularly religious organizations) have on society from a public value perspective. The results for the Catholic Church in Brazil are also noteworthy considering the unfavorable public perception about its social outcomes.