Urban Enterprise Zones: Do They Work? Evidence From New Jersey

Budgetary pressures have made it necessary to consider the effectiveness of urban enterprise zones. These geographically targeted tax incentives programs are widespread. But whether and to what extent these programs spur economic development is not known. The article presents an evaluation of urban enterprise zones in New Jersey in terms of costs and economic impacts, including industrial output, tax revenue, and job creation.     

Local Economic Development in China and the United States: Strategies and Issues

Globalization stimulates local governments in China and the United States to step up their economic development efforts. What strategies are successful and why? Does industry cluster development lead to higher per capita income? What government infrastructure and incentives stimulate and nurture businesses? This article examines local economic development in China and the United States, comparing strategies and outlining challenging issues. Kuotsai Tom Liou of the University of Central Florida finds that local governments must play the leading role in sustainable development, as a partnership approach promotes collaboration among communities, industries, and other government entities. Policy implications and theoretical issues aimed to promote further comparative studies are presented .     

Doubts and directions in Nigerian urban policy

The paper discusses urban policy and performance in Nigeria against the background of the development of ideas and institutions affecting the cities since the early colonial period. It critically examines the patterns of rural-urban relations, the policies for urban land-use control, town planning and municipal government, pointing out the inadequacies, especially the inefficiency of the machinery for implementing otherwise well-intentioned policies and programmes. The paper is especially critical of the lack of coordination and imagination in urban management, as well as the elitist orientation in urban planning and housing. It explores the potential value, as well as the limitations, of community self-help programmes for housing and sanitation in towns, in circumstances of worsening economic difficulties and drastic cutbacks in public funding and private investments. Finally, while endorsing the vigorous programmes now under way for rural development, the paper points out the futility of the current aggressive anti-urban back-to-land crusade, even in the legitimate concern to meet the basic needs of the predominantly rural majority.     

MODELING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DECISION-MAKING: THE CASE OF TAX ABATEMENTS

This research note examines two models of economic development policymaking. The literature on economic development and urban politics provides one image of reality regarding the factors associated with economic development policy in cities. When tested empirically, however, this model is found wanting. An alternative model is presented, identifying the complex set of factors associated with a single governmental policy, in this case, tax abatements.     

The limits and rewards of political opportunism: How electoral timing affects the outcome of currency crises

Politicians are often assumed to be opportunistic. This article examines both whether there is a limit to this opportunism and whether voters reward policy makers for opportunistic behaviour. By looking at currency crisis situations, the article presents a graphic rational opportunistic political business cycle model in which incumbents face a tradeoff between their wish to signal competence and the economic constraints imposed by the crisis. It analyses how electoral incentives affect policy makers' management of currency crises and how this management in turn affects the subsequent election outcome. The empirical results of probit models with selection using a sample of 122 crises in 48 industrial and developing countries between 1983 and 2003 confirm the model's prediction that under certain circumstances some types of policy makers do indeed have incentives to deviate from optimal policy in the run-up to elections – and that voters reward this behaviour by re-electing policy makers who follow such strategies. However, there is a limit to the readiness to manipulate: when speculative pressure is too severe, incumbents no longer manipulate policy but implement the least painful policy option instead.     

经济转型期的政府职能与土地市场发育

土地市场的发育和繁荣与政府所提供的制度规则与激励是分不开的。但由于经济转型期政府职能的“缺位”与“错位”等问题使土地市场的发育仍然存在许多不足。对经济转型期政府在土地市场发育中的职能缺乏规范的分析,对政府在土地市场发育中的职能认识不清是产生上述问题的原因。经济转型期政府职能定位不同于成熟的市场经济国家,对市场的培育非常重要。因此,政府应该在明晰土地权利、培育竞争主体、维护土地市场竞争秩序等方面发挥作用;同时,实施有效的公共政策供给以调控土地市场,从而维护土地市场的良性发育。     

Urban government and market reforms in China

Chinese reformers wish through their economic programme to create a new form of developmental state in China and a new relationship between state and economy. This paper examines these issues through a study of the impact of Chinese economic reforms on the structure and behaviour of local government, focusing on urban government at the district level. It looks at three aspects of the issue—the trend towards financial decentralization, institutional changes in district administration and changes in the relationship between local government and the urban economy. It concludes (contrary to arguments which regard bureaucratic response to the reforms as one of pure inertia and obstruction) that urban local government has changed in several major ways, the most obvious being a trend towards institutional expansion and proliferation. From the point of view of the reform process, some institutional changes have been positive, others negative, resulting in a ‘dualistic’ state which contains elements of both old and new forms of developmental state. There is a need for systematic analysis of the specific future needs and evolution of China's urban government which would guide a process of politico-administrative reform comparable to the current economic reform.     

LOCAL REGIMES: Does Globalization Challenge the “Growth Machine”?

This article explores the possible impacts that globalization might have upon the nature of local governments and the economic development policies that they adopt. We begin by outlining the theory of how “corporate regimes” dominate most urban centers, why they implement skewed economic development policies, and why globalization appears to be exacerbating these problems. Research on state‐and‐local economic development outside urban centers indicates that several types of business development exist and that they differ significantly in their implications for improving conditions in a community. This suggests that other types of corporate regimes are possible. The logic of globalization points toward the need to establish more progressive corporate regimes willing to implement some of the reforms advocated by critics of the “growth machine.”     

Political and public acceptability of congestion pricing: Ideology and self‐interest

Studies of the “stated preferences” of households generally report public and political opposition by urban commuters to congestion pricing. It is thought that this opposition inhibits or precludes tolls and pricing systems that would enhance efficiency in the use of scarce roadways. This paper analyzes the only case in which road pricing was decided by a citizen referendum on the basis of experience with a specific pricing system. The city of Stockholm introduced a toll system for seven months in 2006, after which citizens voted on its permanent adoption. We match precinct voting records to resident commute times and costs by traffic zone, and we analyze patterns of voting in response to economic and political incentives. We document political and ideological incentives for citizen choice, but we also find that the pattern of time savings and incremental costs exerts a powerful influence on voting behavior. In this instance, at least, citizen voters behave as if they value commute time highly. When they have experienced first‐hand the out‐of‐pocket costs and time savings of a specific pricing scheme, they are prepared to adopt freely policies that reduce congestion on urban motorways. © 2010 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Ecological Crisis, Poverty and Urban Development in Latin America

This article deals with the social and ecological crisis in the urban regions in Latin America. To analyse the social and environmental conditions of Latin-American urban regions it is necessary to take into account two main factors: the high population and territorial growth of Latin American cities during the second half of the 20th century and the lack of an integral development which would have improved the urban quality of life. The imported market economy in Latin America, as a bad copy of the growth economy in the North, has generated a highly unequal development. The acceleration of the economic growth has gone hand in hand with the deceleration of development. Whereas the macro-economic rates improve, the indicators that measure qualitative evolution among sectors, territories and people have deteriorated. So, to explain the ecological crisis in Latin America, it is important to consider not only the different forms of environmental impact, but also the socio-economic factors and the availability of infrastructures. Therefore, this article describes the general social and economic development process in Latin America, and then examines the relationships between industrialisation and urbanisation in connection to the social and ecological conditions in urban areas.     

Central-Local Government Relations in Transition: The Case of Swedish Child Care

The provision of subsidized child care has grown to become asizeable economic activity in Sweden during recent decades.This paper examines the changed financial relation betweencentral and local governments and the impact of child-caregrants on local government behaviour. We find that during anearlier regime, with a system of matching grants, localgovernments responded strongly to the incentives of the rules.This resulted in both intended and unintended outcomes, aswell as a distortion of information to the central government.Experiences from a recent transition of regime towards a kindof closed block grant system, illustrates new types ofadaptive behaviour but also the problem of finding a formulafor a fair allocation of resources among local governments.When designing a block grant system a distinction must be madebetween expenditures and resource needs; cost expenditure datado not necessarily reflect resource needs in cases where thereare national categorical equity goals related to socialservices of a merit-want character.     

Impact of industrialization,urbanization, and financial development on energy consumption: Empirical evidence from India

This article examines the relationship between energy consumption, industrialization, urbanization, economic growth, and financial development in India from 1980 to 2017. The ARDL bound testing; Johansen & Juselius cointegration approach and Gregory & Hansen structural break cointegration technique confirm the long‐run relationship exists among variables. The result of long‐run analysis indicates that the industrialization, urbanization and economic growth play a vital role in increasing energy consumption in India. However, financial development indicates negative relation to energy consumption. The coefficient of error correction term is negative and statistically significant at 1% confidence level, it means last‐period's deviation from a long‐run equilibrium. It is clear from the results of Toda‐Yamamoto Causality, there is a unidirectional causality running from industrialization to energy consumption. However, there is bidirectional causality showing between energy consumption and urbanization, economic growth and energy consumption, and urbanization and Economic growth. Urbanization facilitates fuel switching, as decentralized rural energy sources like traditional wood‐burning are replaced by centralized energy sources. From the above findings, we argue that proper awareness should be made at the urban center regarding use of energy saving equipments and public infrastructure should be improved to harness the effect of urban agglomeration. As rapid development of energy intensive‐industries and economic activity in Indian economy, there is need of energy efficient technology in industry in order to reduce energy consumption.     

Global norms in domestic politics: environmental norm contestation in Cambodia's hydropower sector

Policymakers in many developing Asian countries have commonly relied on investment incentives as a major policy instrument to attract foreign investment. Using comparative case studies of Asian transnational corporations (TNCs) in Southeast Asia, this paper argues that investment incentives per se are ineffective in attracting foreign investment. The paper first examines the role of government incentives in the inflow of foreign investment, with particular reference to the Southeast Asian region. It then provides a comparative study of Hong Kong and Taiwanese investments. Hong Kong TNCs are shown to have invested in Southeast Asia because of market or market‐related reasons, not investment incentives per se. To these firms from Hong Kong, investment incentives are more a kind of post hoc rationalization of their decision making. For the Taiwanese investors in Malaysia, government incentives are less important than the existence of market access and the friendly host country environment. The paper also suggests some implications and specific policy recommendations for policymakers in host country governments. Instead of over‐reliance on investment incentives, host country governments should be more concerned with: 1) a commitment to internationalization through the promotion and marketing of international images; 2) the upgrading of domestic resources through continuous training and development; 3) a more efficient allocation of resources; 4) supra‐national coordination and promotion.     

The link between demographic events: a study of nuptiality patterns

The author examines links between the timing of various major life events (including women's age at marriage and the spacing of children) and the economic and urban development of a society, using Mexico as an example. The focus is on marriage patterns. She finds that nuptiality influences rural-urban migration for women, as do age and socioeconomic factors and husband's employment status. Data are from the Mexican Fertility Survey for the period 1976-1977. (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

Do Intergovernmental Institutions Matter? The Case of Water Diversion Regulation in the Great Lakes Basin

This article explores the role of intergovernmental institutions in domestic policy formation by investigating the extent to which these institutions substantively influence domestic policy choices. It does so by utilizing a rational choice institutionalist approach that focuses on the constraints and incentives created by intergovernmental rules and how these constraints and incentives do or do not influence eventual government policy decisions. The veto player concept is used to highlight some of the most important constraints and incentives, as well as to differentiate among various types of intergovernmental institutions. The cases examined involve water diversion regulation in the Great Lakes Basin and the three distinct intergovernmental institutions that have been created in this area: the International Boundary Waters Treaty, the Great Lakes Charter, and the Water Resources Development Act. The evidence suggests that intergovernmental institutions can matter in the development of domestic policy, but only those that include veto players as part of their institutional design.     

Economic and Ideological Corruptions of the Regulatory State

What accounts for the excesses of the regulatory state? Economists have shown that bad regulations are often due to “rent seeking” and “regulatory capture” and have provided compelling accounts of the incentives that drive these processes. However, there remain many unwarranted regulations, such as recent gun control measures, that cannot be explained by an economic rationale. Rather, it is essential to understand the distinctively ideological origins and functions of such regulations. This paper examines both the economic and ideological corruptions on the regulatory state, suggesting that those concerned with the growth of state power will have to address both of these phenomena.     

Public Provision for Urban Water: Getting Prices and Governance Right

Public sector monopolies are often associated with inefficiencies and inability to meet rising demand. Scholars attribute this to fundamental problems associated with public provision: (1) a tradition of below‐cost pricing due to populist pressures, (2) owner–regulator conflicts of interest, and (3) perverse organizational incentives arising from non‐credible threat of bankruptcy, weak competition, rigidities, and agency and performance measurement problems. Many governments worldwide have shifted to private provision, but recent experience in urban water utilities in developing countries has shown their limitations because of weak regulatory regimes compounded by inherent problems of information, incentives, and commitment. This article examines the paradoxical case of the Phnom Penh Water Supply in Cambodia to illustrate how public provision of urban water can be substantially improved by getting prices and governance right. Findings have implications for the search for solutions to provide one billion people worldwide with better access to potable water.     

Targeting Federal Grants: The Community Development Experience, 1950-1986

This article examines the degree to which federal communityand economic development programs target federal assistanceto the nation's neediest communities. Grant allocations to citieswith populations of 50,000 or more were examined for six majorfederal urban programs during 1950–1986. Federal programsthat include both needs-based eligibility and allocational featureswere found to achieve the highest levels of targeting. The analysisfurther shows that while urban conditions in the nation's mostdistressed cities continued to deteriorate during the 1980sin both relative and absolute terms, grant allocations underthe major federal urban program, Community Development BlockGrants, have not responded to the changing incidence of urbanhardship.     

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND ENTERPRISE ZONES

State policy makers are concerned about costs of past policies whose benefits are often difficult to determine. Some have recommended a strategic approach to state economic policy making in order to eliminate ad hoc incentives. Lessons derived from the literature on state enterprise zones are used to assess the 1993 Federal Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community initiative. States can expand policy alternatives by fostering the growth of a marketplace of economic development ideas at the local level. Strategic plans should focus on development of competing, bottom-up solutions, rather than packages of specific incentives.     

Negotiating the Problem of Airport Noise: Comparative Lessons from the Australian Experience

This paper critically examines recent responses by and interactions between stakeholders in negotiating the acceptability of aircraft noise standards in Australia in order to help inform debate in Britain. It investigates the interplay of the politics of noise with the broader land use planning context focusing on the role of government, airports, community interests, and the development sector. Different local environments inevitably frame diverse contexts, but the pervasive challenge is in securing the acceptable trade‐off between the economic dividends promised by airports and local quality of life. Discussion is structured around four main issues: an introduction to the Australian politics of airport noise, an historical timeline of key contextual events, identification of the major actors in the noise governance framework, and a focus on an issue of increasing political significance, namely the different positions of airports and developers in the increasing intensification of urban development.