This workshop presents some of the current research – both theoretical and empirical – on the economics of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the role they play in development today. We start with the overview of the evolution of the NGO sector from its birth until now and will introduce the building blocks for the economic analysis of NGOs. We will then look at two major theoretical approaches: contract-theory and industrial-organization. We will proceed with describing some of the empirical work on the strategic choices by NGOs (within- and cross-country). We conclude by discussing the futures avenues of research in this field.