In fiscal interaction, a policy is evolutionarily stable if, once adopted by all governments, jurisdictions that deviate from it fare worse than those that stick to it. Evolutionary stability is the appropriate solution concept for models of imitative learning (policy mimicking). We show that...

This paper analyzes empirically the coalition formation of local governments. We introduce a novel econometric strategy involving choice based sampling from a spatial network to allow for multi-partner mergers in our empirical analysis. We apply our method to recent municipality mergers in...

Recent years have seen an unprecedented number of state laws proposed and enacted on the subject of illegal immigration. In addition, municipalities across the country have enacted ordinances designed to discourage illegal immigration and the employment of unauthorized aliens. Some observers...

Studies of the diffusion of policies and institutions tend to focus on innovations that successfully spread across governments. Implicit in such diffusion is the abandonment of the previous policy or institution. This paper focuses directly on the abandonment of welfare policies under the...

This study analyzes the influence of multiple fragmentation and concentration variables on per capita expenditures for all counties in the United States from 1982 to 2002. Fragmentation and concentration variables are grouped along total, horizontal and vertical lines as identi ed in the...

Fiscal decentralization and intergovernmental fiscal relations reform have become nearly ubiquitous in developing countries. Performance, however, has often been disappointing in terms of both policy formulation and outcomes. The dynamics underlying these results have been poorly researched....

Sustainable and inclusive growth in emerging Asian economies requires continued high levels of public sector investment in areas such as infrastructure, education, health, and social services. These responsibilities, especially with regard to infrastructure investment, need to be devolved...

This article argues that New York municipalities should integrate land banks into the tax enforcement process to break the unhealthy cycle perpetuated by real estate and lien speculators. By transferring all tax liens and foreclosed properties to local land banks, municipalities can generate an...

We analyze productivity enhancing public expenditure in a spatial economic model with labor mobility, firm-specific increasing returns to scale, and transport costs. Building on Krugman (1991), Fujita, Krugman and Venables (1999) and Redding (2016), we compare optimal investment and tax policies...

The United States Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has repeatedly taken the position that, because the IRS does not ask taxpayers to identify their race or ethnicity on submitted tax returns, IRS enforcement actions are not affected by taxpayers' race or ethnicity. This claim, which I call...