Measuring Municipal Borrowing Costs: How Missing Cost Information Biases Interest Rate Calculations

A substantial literature exists on federal tax expenditures, but almost no empirical research has been done on state tax expenditures. This article examines Michigan tax expenditures, with an emphasis on comparison to findings from the federal level. Three major topics are addressed: (1) allocation of resources by policy area, (2) distribution of tax expenditure benefits by income class, and (3) tax expenditure growth over time. Only the findings on resource allocation are consistent with findings from the federal level, suggesting that simple theories may be insufficient to systematically describe tax expenditures.     

The Impact of Tax Price on Spending Preferences

In this article, we explore the influence of tax price information on citizen preferences for taxes and spending using mail surveys. We explore the effects on service support when varying levels of cost information. We also observe how the magnitude of service costs influences service support. While the presence of cost information corresponded with lower levels of respondent support for the most costly services, it was associated with higher levels of support for less expensive services. These effects were the same whether the tax price represented the respondent's actual household cost or the jurisdiction average household cost for each service.     

Municipal Bond Issuance: Is There Evidence of a Principal-Agent Problem?

Is there evidence of a principal-agent problem in the municipal bond industry? Do public managers, either on their own or through private sector agents, act to increase their own utility at the expense of the public? This article examines municipal bond decisions in the context of principal-agent theory based on data collected through a random sample survey of municipal bond issuers. Principal-agent theory is not well developed in the public sector. In the municipal bond industry, however, we have evidence that it helps explain the actions of public managers and elected officials, in particular for pay to play and the importance of interest rates vis-à-vis relationships. These actions carry potential costs to citizens.     

The deceptive illusion of multi-paradigm development practice

This article responds to commentaries by Blunt, Bell and Joy on Cooke's ‘From process consultation to a clinical model of development practice’ in the August 1997 issue of Public Administration and Development. Following the paradigmatic analyses those commentaries introduce, it begins by trying to clarify the range of meanings attributed to the term ‘paradigm’. It then argues, that Blunt's critique does actually derive from a particular single (i.e. mono-) paradigm, the application of which causes my initial arguments to be mis-represented, and exemplifies the limits of that paradigm in practice. It goes on to agree that generic process approaches do have some cultural limitations, and that they can be used for ideological manipulation, although not inevitably in the pursuit of so-called democratic values. The clinical-process model is, however, distinct from these generic approaches and actually provides some safeguard against these problems. The article moves on to demonstrate that a multi-paradigm approach to practice, as opposed to analysis, is illusory, because it is impossible, and deceptive, as claims for multi-paradigm practice conceal the practitioner's inescapable paradigmatic assumptions. In conclusion it argues that until we recognize that ‘development’ per se is a ruling paradigm we are all imprisoned within it. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does public participation matter? Inclusive growth in East Asia

Inclusiveness in economic development has lately emerged as a critical factor for development. This paper adopts an analytical concept of inclusive growth to evaluate East Asia’s economic success. It contests the Western conceptualization of the critical role of public participation in development, and argues that it has played a limited role in terms of inclusive growth in East Asia. Several factors have influenced the outcome of research in this area including the choice of methodology adopted, the challenge of defining and measuring inclusive growth, and the unclear mode and impact of public participation in the process.