TY - JOUR
T1 - The impact of local decentralization on economic growth
T2 - Evidence from U.S. counties
AU - Hammond, George W.
AU - Tosun, Mehmet S.
PY - 2011/2
Y1 - 2011/2
N2 - We analyze the impact of fiscal decentralization on U.S. county population, employment, and real income growth. Our findings suggest that government organization matters for local economic growth, but that the impacts vary by government unit and by economic indicator. We find that single-purpose governments per square mile have a positive impact on metropolitan population and employment growth, but no significant impact on nonmetropolitan counties. In contrast, the fragmentation of general-purpose governments per capita has a negative impact on employment and population growth in nonmetropolitan counties. Our results suggest that local government decentralization matters differently for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties.
AB - We analyze the impact of fiscal decentralization on U.S. county population, employment, and real income growth. Our findings suggest that government organization matters for local economic growth, but that the impacts vary by government unit and by economic indicator. We find that single-purpose governments per square mile have a positive impact on metropolitan population and employment growth, but no significant impact on nonmetropolitan counties. In contrast, the fragmentation of general-purpose governments per capita has a negative impact on employment and population growth in nonmetropolitan counties. Our results suggest that local government decentralization matters differently for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties.
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1467-9787.2010.00683.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1467-9787.2010.00683.x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79551638413
SN - 0022-4146
VL - 51
SP - 47
EP - 64
JO - Journal of Regional Science
JF - Journal of Regional Science
IS - 1
ER -