This paper explores the factors that contribute to long-run economic growth in U.S. metropolitan areas, with particular attention given to government finance variables. Unlike previous work that examines only a sub-sample of the largest areas, this paper uses a new comprehensive data set for all...

Recent empirical literature finds that greater economic freedom at the state level tends to have a positive effect on entrepreneurial activity and economic growth generally. However, state boundaries are relatively arbitrary, and the level of economic freedom in local economies can vary widely...

Oates' (1972) decentralization theorem holds that local governments will do a superior job at providing the efficient quantity of public goods. Brennan and Buchanan (1980) suggest that "the potential for fiscal exploitation varies inversely with the number of competing governmental units in the...

There has been an international trend towards shifting the provision of public services down to lower levels of government. That decentralization has increased the relative importance of local governments. This paper examines the relationship between spending by those local governments and...

This paper is the first attempt to produce an economic freedom index for local economies in the U.S. It provides a more comprehensive measure of the restrictions government places upon economic freedom compared to simple fiscal measures like total government spending or revenue. That makes it a...