IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i5p2684-d509180.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economies of Scope and Local Government Expenditure: Evidence from Creation of Specially Authorized Cities in Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Takeshi Miyazaki

    (School of Economics, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan)

Abstract

There is little evidence of either the existence or absence of economies of scope in public services provided by general-purpose local governments. This study uses difference-in-differences (DID) analysis and the event study method to estimate the impact on expenditure of the designation of cities as either core cities or special case cities, thereby giving them the authority to undertake a wider range of activities, and identify the magnitude of the economies of scope in local governments using panel data for Japanese municipalities during the period 1996–2015. The findings of this research are summarized as follows. First, in the provision of public services by general-local governments, economies of scope do not occur in the short term (2–3 years), but do appear in the mid to long term (more than 5 years for core city status). After the delegation of duties, per capita expenditure for core cities increases by 2.8% immediately after the designation, but then decreases by 0.6% annually. Second, the wider the range of extra activities delegated, the greater the economies of scope.

Suggested Citation

  • Takeshi Miyazaki, 2021. "Economies of Scope and Local Government Expenditure: Evidence from Creation of Specially Authorized Cities in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-22, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:5:p:2684-:d:509180
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/5/2684/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/5/2684/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kiewiet, D Roderick & Szakaly, Kristin, 1996. "Constitutional Limitations on Borrowing: An Analysis of State Bonded Indebtedness," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 62-97, April.
    2. Alberto Alesina & Enrico Spolaore, 1997. "On the Number and Size of Nations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1027-1056.
    3. Bergstrom, Theodore C & Goodman, Robert P, 1973. "Private Demands for Public Goods," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(3), pages 280-296, June.
    4. Tony Bovaird, 2014. "Efficiency in Third Sector Partnerships for Delivering Local Government Services: The role of economies of scale, scope and learning," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(8), pages 1067-1090, November.
    5. Borcherding, Thomas E & Deacon, Robert T, 1972. "The Demand for the Services of Non-Federal Governments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 891-901, December.
    6. Wallace E. Oates & Wallace E. Oates, 2004. "An Essay on Fiscal Federalism," Chapters, in: Environmental Policy and Fiscal Federalism, chapter 22, pages 384-414, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Reingewertz, Yaniv, 2012. "Do municipal amalgamations work? Evidence from municipalities in Israel," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 240-251.
    8. Takeshi Miyazaki, 2018. "Examining the relationship between municipal consolidation and cost reduction: an instrumental variable approach," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(10), pages 1108-1121, February.
    9. Scott J. Callan & Janet M. Thomas, 2001. "Economies of Scale and Scope: A Cost Analysis of Municipal Solid Waste Services," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 77(4), pages 548-560.
    10. Viton, Philip A., 1992. "Consolidations of scale and scope in urban transit," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 25-49, March.
    11. Patrick Bolton & Gérard Roland, 1997. "The Breakup of Nations: A Political Economy Analysis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1057-1090.
    12. Lorenzo Boetti & Massimiliano Piacenza & Gilberto Turati, 2012. "Decentralization and Local Governments' Performance: How Does Fiscal Autonomy Affect Spending Efficiency?," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 68(3), pages 269-302, September.
    13. Mehdi Farsi & Aurelio Fetz & Massimo Filippini, 2007. "Economies of Scale and Scope in Local Public Transportation," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 41(3), pages 345-361, September.
    14. Fermín Cabasés & Pedro Pascual & Jaime Vallés, 2007. "The effectiveness of institutional borrowing restrictions: Empirical evidence from Spanish municipalities," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 293-313, June.
    15. Ricardo Carvalho de Andrade Lima & Raul da Mota Silveira Neto, 2018. "Secession of municipalities and economies of scale: Evidence from Brazil," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 159-180, January.
    16. Youssef Benzarti & Dorian Carloni, 2019. "Who Really Benefits from Consumption Tax Cuts? Evidence from a Large VAT Reform in France," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 38-63, February.
    17. Duncombe, William & Yinger, John, 1993. "An analysis of returns to scale in public production, with an application to fire protection," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 49-72, August.
    18. Heckman, James J. & Lalonde, Robert J. & Smith, Jeffrey A., 1999. "The economics and econometrics of active labor market programs," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 31, pages 1865-2097, Elsevier.
    19. Blesse, Sebastian & Baskaran, Thushyanthan, 2013. "Do municipal mergers result in scale economies? Evidence from a German federal state," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 176, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    20. Inman, Robert P & Fitts, Michael A, 1990. "Political Institutions and Fiscal Policy: Evidence from the U.S. Historical Record," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(0), pages 79-132.
    21. Colburn, Christopher B. & Talley, Wayne K., 1992. "A firm specific analysis of economies of size in the U.S. urban multiservice transit industry," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 195-206, June.
    22. Panzar, John C & Willig, Robert D, 1981. "Economies of Scope," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(2), pages 268-272, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jos L. T. Blank & Thomas K. Niaounakis, 2021. "Economies of Scale and Sustainability in Local Government: A Complex Issue," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-10, November.
    2. You, Chen & Cifuentes-Faura, Javier & Liu, Xiaoqian & Wu, Jinqun, 2024. "Can the government environmental vertical reform reduce air pollution? A quasi-natural experiment in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 947-963.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alexander Eck & Carolin Fritzsche & Jan Kluge & Joachim Ragnitz & Felix Rösel, 2015. "Fiscal Capacity and Determining Structural Characteristics of the Eastern German Laender," ifo Dresden Studien, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 76, May.
    2. Takeshi Miyazaki, 2018. "Internalization of externalities and local government consolidation: empirical evidence from Japan," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 54(3), pages 1061-1086, May.
    3. Reingewertz, Yaniv, 2012. "Do municipal amalgamations work? Evidence from municipalities in Israel," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 240-251.
    4. Miriam Hortas-Rico & Vicente Rios, 2020. "Is there an optimal size for local governments? A spatial panel data model approach," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(7), pages 958-973, July.
    5. Baskaran, Thushyanthan & Blesse, Sebastian, 2019. "Subnational border reforms and economic development in Africa," ZEW Discussion Papers 18-027, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, revised 2019.
    6. Gebhard Kirchgassner, 2002. "The effects of fiscal institutions on public finance: a survey of the empirical evidence," Chapters, in: Stanley L. Winer & Hirofumi Shibata (ed.), Political Economy and Public Finance, chapter 9, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Jean-Marc Bourgeon & Marie-Laure Breuillé, 2023. "Citizen preferences and the architecture of government," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 61(3), pages 537-585, October.
    8. Blesse, Sebastian & Diegmann, André, 2022. "The place-based effects of police stations on crime: Evidence from station closures," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    9. Cullmann, Astrid & Farsi, Mehdi & Filippini Massimo, 2009. "Unobserved Heterogeneity and International Benchmarking in Public Trasport," Quaderni della facoltà di Scienze economiche dell'Università di Lugano 0904, USI Università della Svizzera italiana.
    10. Edoardo di Porto & Angela Parenti & Sonia Paty, 2024. "Integration and voter participation: Evidence from local governments in France," Working Papers 2409, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    11. Robert Dur & Klaas Staal, 2003. "National Interference in Local Public Good Provision," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 03-074/1, Tinbergen Institute.
    12. Hindriks, Jean & Lockwood, Ben, 2009. "Decentralization and electoral accountability: Incentives, separation and voter welfare," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 385-397, September.
    13. Barankay, Iwan & Lockwood, Ben, 2007. "Decentralization and the productive efficiency of government: Evidence from Swiss cantons," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(5-6), pages 1197-1218, June.
    14. Stanley L. Winer & Walter Hettich, 2002. "The Political Economy of Taxation: Positive and Normative Analysis when Collective Choice Matters," Carleton Economic Papers 02-11, Carleton University, Department of Economics, revised 2004.
    15. Wallace E. Oates & Paul R. Portney & Wallace E. Oates & Paul R. Portney, 2004. "The Political Economy of Environmental Policy," Chapters, in: Environmental Policy and Fiscal Federalism, chapter 1, pages 3-30, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Scorsone, Eric, 2007. "School District and Municipal Reorganization: Research Findings & Policy Proposals," Staff Paper Series 6543, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    17. Martin Bodenstein & Heinrich Ursprung, 2005. "Political yardstick competition, economic integration, and constitutional choice in a federation:," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 124(3), pages 329-352, September.
    18. Liesbet Hooghe, Gary Marks, 2002. "Types of Multi-Level Governance," Les Cahiers européens de Sciences Po 3, Centre d'études européennes (CEE) at Sciences Po, Paris.
    19. Carlos A. Vegh y Guillermo Vuletin, 2016. "Unsticking the flypaper effect using distortionary taxation," Económica, Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, vol. 62, pages 185-237, January-D.
    20. Michele Ruta, 2005. "Economic Theories of Political (Dis)integration," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(1), pages 1-21, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:5:p:2684-:d:509180. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.