Comparative Metropolitan Organization: Service Production and Governance Structures in St. Louis (MO) and Allegheny County (PA)

For many observers, a large number of governments in a metropolitanarea is thought to equate to "fragmentation," and fragmentation,to ineffective organization and poor performance. Other observersfind a large number of local governments to mean competitionand consequent pressures for efficiency. The number of localgovernments, however, is only one dimension of the structureof a metropolitan area. We identify and measure key structuralcharacteristics of "fragmented " metropolitan areas, employinga comparative study of two metropolitan city-counties: St. LouisCityand County, Missouri, and Allegheny County (Pittsburgh),Pennsylvania. We argue that these areas, with their many unitsof local government, "work" by means of integrating structuresbuilt by local governments together with county and state governments.Counties, in particular, are a useful focus for study of metropolitanrelationships because they often provide the institutional framewithin which integrating structures are built.     

Why Is Central Regulation of Local Spending Decisions So Pervasive? Evidence From a Case Study

While the “classical” theory of fiscal federalism argues that local authorities should have substantial discretion to set the local budgetary mix, surveys show that central regulation of local spending decisions is pervasive. Norway provides an ideal setting for studying spending regulations. An attempt to decentralize fiscal choice to the local levels, the block grant reform, has been reversed in recent years. This article presents a case study of the interaction between a county and the national government from 1986, when the reform was implemented, to 1992. The study concludes that the government introduced new regulations to prevent local authorities from distorting spending decisions in order to elicit higher grants.     

Do political variables affect fiscal policy adjustment decisions? New empirical evidence

We test eight hypotheses on political factors influencing the likelihood that a fiscal policy adjustment occurs. We employ a panel discrete choice model for 20 OECD countries for the period 1970–2003. Two different definitions of fiscal adjustments are used to capture the differences between rapid and gradual adjustments. We find that these types of fiscal adjustment are primarily driven by economic factors and are hardly affected by political variables. The likelihood that a rapid adjustment takes place is only influenced by upcoming elections, while the likelihood that a gradual adjustment takes place increases in case of broad policy reform.     

Private tax collection—remnant of the past or a way forward? Evidence from rural Uganda

This article examines the growing role and impacts of private tax collection under fiscal decentralisation in Uganda. Based on evidence from six rural councils, three aspects of privatised tax collection are examined: (i) the impact on the nature of fiscal corruption; (ii) the problem of overzealous collection; and (iii) the challenge of assessing revenue potentials. While possibly meeting short‐term demands for local revenue growth and stability, the present form of private tax collection appears to transform the nature of fiscal corruption by reducing corruption at collection point and transferring the problem into the district administration. Moreover, while the charge of overzealousness permeates historical and theoretical work on privatised tax collection, the Ugandan experience casts doubt on its general validity. Instead, perverse distributional effects are the most likely cause of deteriorating state‐citizen relations in rural Uganda. Finally, the article considers the merit of the prediction of private collection as a preferred contractual choice for certain indirect taxes, suggesting that problems of asymmetric information in assessing the revenue yields of most rural markets are exaggerated. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Limits of External Empowerment: EMU, Technocracy and Reform of the Greek Pension System

This paper seeks to explain an aborted attempt at reform of the Greek pension system, following a series of previous failures. It applies the framework of rational choice institutionalism in order to examine the strategy and setting of the relevant actors. The pension system had become a huge fiscal burden on the state, threatening Greece's position in the European Union. Moreover, its gross inequalities of provision and bureaucratic inefficiency were symptoms of the embedded clientelism and 'disjointed corporatism' that stood in the way of the government's self-proclaimed 'modernization' programme. In the event, though EMU entry requirements empowered the reform momentum, a combination of the strategic weakness of key actors and the entrenched opposition of sectoral interests dissipated the initiative. The failure suggests the relevance of the wider social setting to reform: in particular, the weakness of the technocratic community and the relative absence of a supportive 'advocacy coalition', beyond the dominance of the 'party state'. Faced with criticism, the political leadership sought to protect their electoral position and postponed pressing decisions. The case study raises important questions about the scope for such reform in Greece and the future stability of the 'Euro-zone'.     

The Impact of the Fiscal Crisis on Public Administration Reforms: Comparison of 14 European Countries

Abstract

This study aims to empirically test a widespread assumption that fiscal crises instigate administrative reforms. The empirical analysis relies upon an international comparative study of the responses of 14 European governments to the fiscal crisis of 2008–2013. It is found that fiscal crisis and public administration reforms are not necessarily closely connected. In the majority of cases, the fiscal crisis did not have an instant effect of triggering structural public administration reforms or substantial shifts in existing reform trajectories. The crisis intensified the pressure to reform public administration to some extent, but the European governments’ responses predominantly followed a combination of straightforward cutbacks and incremental change. More substantial reforms were carried out in countries most severely hit by the crisis and/or where administrative reforms were conditioned by international financial assistance.     

Testing Structuralist and Interpretative Explanations of Policy Change: The Case of Italy's Budget Reform

This article compares the relative explanatory power of structuralist and interpretative approaches to the study of policy change. By assessing the fit of these approaches against the actual reform of the formulation, approval, and implementation stages of Italy's budget process in the 1990s, the article shows that structural factors (such as fiscal pressures and changes in the electoral rules) played a key role in the reform of the formulation stage but not in that of the approval and implementation stages, where the content of reform followed the managerialist paradigm endorsed by the Italian reform community. Italy in the 1990s was under considerable pressure to achieve fiscal retrenchment, and the managerialist paradigm advocated measures that were largely antithetical to those that can be deduced from the changes in institutional context. Thus, the Italian case provides an excellent opportunity to assess the relative causal impact of ideas and structure on reform.     

Direct Democracy Paradox: State Fiscal Policies in the United States and the Threat of Direct Initiatives

Many studies have argued that the initiative process in U.S. state governments strengthened the proximity between the citizens' preferences and policy output. In contrast, this study hypothesizes that the direct initiative process weakens, rather than strengthens, the link between citizen preferences and state fiscal policy. Governments respond to the threat of initiatives but only those of conservative agendas. The results show that while the level and the progressivity of tax rates in the states without direct initiatives are influenced by citizen preferences, those in states with direct initiatives are more conservative than those without direct initiatives and the former are insulated from the influence of the citizen preferences.     

Potemkin Villages: "The" Medium-Term Expenditure Framework in Developing Countries

By neglecting institutional and capacity considerations, medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) introduction has produced in most developing countries elaborate facades of fiscal reform at high transaction costs without improving budgetary outcomes. There have been positive impacts: awareness of the need to look beyond the immediate urgencies; some encouragement of intragovernmental coordination; and initial orientation toward results. Negative impacts have been much heavier: little local ownership; distraction from basic budgeting problems; and severe strain on limited capacity. Unbundling "the" MTEF permits identifying the variant suitable to the specific country and the steps to gradually develop it: unlike a "programmatic MTEF," a simple "forecasting MTEF" is both feasible and useful.     

乡镇政府改革与新农村建设

建设社会主义新农村,县、乡政府是关键。如何发挥乡镇政府在新农村建设中的作用,笔者认为应该以目前的乡镇政府改革为契机,合理确定乡镇政府在新农村建设中的主要职能,同时为保证这些事权真正到位,还必须根据这些事权赋予乡镇政府应有的财权,并对乡镇政府的财政使用进行管理监督,以保证这些财政资金真正用于新农村建设,保证新农村建设取得实效。     

Citizen Participation Models in the Local Government

This research pretends to propose and test a new explanatory model relating to citizen participation, which will help us to implement participatory public policies in the local government scheme, comparing with the models of citizen participation derivatives of structural theories and choice theories. The author refers to the case of Spain and he tests five hypotheses derived from these theories, using structural equations. This study used an open and cross-sectional design. He uses ＂Citizenship, Participation and Democracy Survey＂ from Sociological Research Center of Spain. The model proposed in this study has taken into account both structural variables from the macro context of participation （political opportunity structure） and individual variables （individual resources）, thus considering that the most recent literature on citizen participation tells us that it is necessary to overcome the reductionist perspectives limited to individual factors. Based on the above, we saw the importance of structural variables and individual variables for the participation of people. In line with that, we find that a citizen is involved in participatory policy when they have individual resources such as education, interest in politics, non-political disaffection, civic social norms, personal effectiveness, and community pride. Another find from this research, according to the empirical results, is that structural variables are predictive of citizen participation： resources, mobilization, membership of deprived group, economic deprivation, interpersonal trust, membership of associations, ties to the local community, and membership of an informal network.     

Budget Reform in Malaysia and Australia Compared

The study, using the recent contrasting experience of budget reform in Malaysia and Australia, inquires why quite similar changes were attempted in different socio-economic and fiscal settings. It explains why their implementation differed and identifies the factors that shaped, sustained, or impeded the respective efforts.
Three basic themes emerge. First, political and administrative will are necessary requirements for the success of any budget reform effort. Second, the more correspondent the bureaucratic culture is with the culture upon which the new budget system is premised, the more easily change occurs. Third, a model of reform predicated upon the assumption of fiscal restraint cannot effectively function in a climate of fiscal relaxation. Malaysia adapted its budget model from the Australian system. As the Australian model suited the paradigm of expenditure restraint, the adapted model proved less workable against the Malaysian climate of fiscal relaxation.     

Urban local government finance in Zimbabwe: The case of Harare City Council

Since Zimbabwe won its independence in 1980, the country's leaders have embarked on an ambitious programme of decentralization and local government reform. At the same time, urban conditions in the country have become increasingly difficult. This paper examines major aspects of urban local government finances in this environment of reform and growing fiscal pressures, with special reference to the experience of Harare City Council. It is argued that some relative successes have been recorded, although a number of undesirable elements of colonial practices and various fiscal problem persist.     

CDBG in Chicago: The Politics of Control

The first eight years of CDBG provided Chicago with almost three-quartersof a billion dollars. At the outset, the city executive, headedby Mayor Richard J. Daley, took control of CDBG planning andallocation, despite the efforts of the "machine's" opponentsto use CDBG's housing assistance and citizen participation requirementsas levers for political reform and social change. The city executivecontinued in firm control even after the Carter administrationtook office determined to reverse inherited New Federalism policies.City hall opponents found that HUD's more assertive policieson housing assistance, citizen participation, and targetinghad little effect on the executive's ability to decide how andwhere to spend CDBG funds. The dominant role of the executivealso persisted after Mayor Daley's death, although Mayor JaneByrne (elected in 1979) shifted CDBG decisionmaking from operatingcity departments to the mayor's budget office. ^*I am indebted to Sheila Macmanus for her valuable assistancein researching this article. David N. Larson, Deputy Commissionerof Planning, City of Chicago, read an early draft and made manyhelpful comments. Leonard Rubinowitz of Northwestern Universitygenerously provided me with working drafts of his chapter inDecentralizing Urban Development, cited below.     

The Evolution of Budgetary Institutions in Estonia: A Path Full of Puzzles?

This article examines the evolution of budgetary institutions in Estonia between 1993 and 2008, with a main focus on rules governing the preparation, adoption, and implementation of the state budget. It discusses the initial choice of budgetary institutions in 1993 and subsequent developments in the light of theoretical propositions put forth by the fiscal governance literature. The case of Estonia poses a number of puzzles, and the article seeks to explain the institutional choices in Estonia: Why did the coalition government opt for a delegation mode of fiscal governance in 1993? Why has the preparation phase of the budget process evolved toward a contracts approach from 1994 onward, while the adoption phase has moved closer to a delegation mode? The article demonstrates that alongside government type, institutional choices can be influenced by lesson‐drawing from history, examples of other countries, and negative experiences gained in legislative budget process.     

Local Option Sales Taxes and Fiscal Disparity: The Case of Georgia Counties

While local option sales taxes (LOST) have become an important revenue source for local governments, there has been concern about the distribution of LOST revenues: the uneven distribution of sales tax bases may have introduced a new source of fiscal inequality and exacerbated existing fiscal disparity. Using Georgia county data (N=159, 1970–2000), this study examines whether and how LOST have affected local fiscal disparity. Our findings suggest that the effects of LOST on fiscal disparity vary with the approach to measure revenue‐raising capacity; thus the issue of LOST distribution is sensitive to the underlying conceptualization of “fiscal equity.”     

THE SUBURBAN MOVEMENT TO LIMIT GROWTH: REASONS FOR SUPPORT IN ORANGE COUNTY

Several studies have shown that suburban residents favor growth controls. It is usually argued that high-status residents and those living in growing comniunities want limited growth. This paper examines an alternative perspective; support for growth limits broadly found among individuals who perceive community problems. Specific reasons for wanting limited growth, however, vary in importance among different social group. These hypotheses are confirmed by 1,009 Orange County, California residents. Support for growth limits is strongest among those who perceive rapid growth, are dissatisfied with c i t y government, and perceive service problems. Environniental reasoris for wanting limited growth are mentioned most frequently. These concerns are especially noted by the high-status residents and nonfiscal conservatives. Economic reasons for limited growth are stated by a large minority, and are especially of interest to the lowstatus residents and fiscal conservatives. The results indicate public concerns vary among social groups comprising the citizen support for suburban growth limits. The implications for suburban policy formation and implementation are discussed.     

The Political-Economic Dimension of Pensions: The Case of Japan

This article examines how pensions are interwoven with the public and private financial system in Japan and the consequences for pension reform. A growing literature focuses on the multifaceted ways in which pensions are interwoven with the larger political economy. This study builds on this literature and finds that (a) public and private pensions have been integrated deeply into Japan's system of developmental finance, (b) this integration has created new economic and political problems as governments have attempted to shift away from its developmental model through deregulation, liberalization, and administrative reform, and (c) because pension reform is intimately linked with these reforms, it involves addressing fundamental issues regarding the role of the state, finance, and firms. These findings collectively illustrate that pension reform is not only driven by issues of fiscal viability and benefit levels, but also by the nature of the way in which pensions are integrated into a country's system of finance.     

Rural local government finance in Kenya: The case of Murang'a County Council

The Murang'a County Council is recognized in Kenya as one of the country's most effective rural local authorities. Compared to other county councils, Murang'a raises substantial revenues and provides a wide variety of services. This case study presents some background on the local economy of Murang'a District, details available information about the county council's excellent fiscal performance, and highlights some of the major factors behind the effectiveness of Murang'a in resource mobilization and service delivery.     

Why people want something for nothing: The role of asymmetrical illusions

Abstract. This article examines if and why mechanisms exist at the individual citizen level that may contribute to public sector growth — and whether such mechanisms can be altered through provision of information about the costs of public services.We test and find empirical support for the theory of fiscal illusion according to which citizens underestimate the costs of public services and therefore demand more public spending than if they had been fully informed. We also develop and find empirical support for a theory of asymmetrical illusions. This theory claims that producers and users of public services are more spending–minded than ordinary taxpayers — and that limited rationality contributes to this difference. However, the provision of information about the unit costs of public services can weaken these mechanisms of fiscal illusion and asymmetrical illusions. The test is based on tabular, logit, and experimental analysis of survey data from Odense, a Danish city with 175,000 inhabitants.