Organisational Capacity and Membership: An Analysis of Professional Associations of Economists in Spain

Abstract

Professional associations play a central role in regulating, training and collectively representing modern economies. However, research has documented a long-term decline in membership and participation across many such organisations, which raises concerns about their sustainability and future relevance. This study examines the relationship between internal organisational capabilities and membership size among professional associations of economists in Spain. Using a quantitative cross-sectional design (N = 23) and an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model estimation, the analysis explores the association between membership size and five key organisational variables: administrative capacity, training activity, digital presence, sex composition, and number of professional associations within the school. The findings indicate a positive and statistically significant association between technical-administrative staffing and membership size; the remaining variables, meanwhile, do not show statistically significant effects. This exploratory and associative study contributes to the literature by shifting the analytical focus from individual motivations to the structural constraints of organisational supply.