Abstract. Economic activity in a mixed economy is shared among different kinds of organizations: private for-profit, private non-profit and governmental organizations, which are closely interdependent among them. For a long time the private non-profit sector has been considered as a marginal sector that rises only in the wake of the failure of both the market and government. Indeed, it is likely that there exist important spillovers among non-profit, forprofit and public sectors, particularly in the provision of welfare services. This paper analyses the way European countries deal with the provision of welfare services. Univariate and multivariate econometric tests will be performed in order to search for the existence of a common European model of welfare services provision based on the relationship between non-profit and public providers. The main evidence provided by this analysis does not fully support the existence of a common and unique European model of welfare services provision. Rather, three different models or patterns of relationship between the non-profit and public welfare sectors are evident in Europe.

Keywords: public economics; non-profit sector; welfare services; European Union; cluster analysis.