IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/pubfin/v43y2015i5p586-605.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Demand for Municipal Infrastructure Projects

Author

Listed:
  • Laurie J. Bates
  • Rexford E. Santerre

Abstract

Many studies have investigated the determinants of current local public expenditures whereas only a few have studied the factors explaining the capital decision-making process at the local government level. This study uses a panel data set of Connecticut town and cities over the 2000 to 2010 period to estimate the local public demand for various types of capital infrastructure projects. The multiple regression analysis reveals a number of insights regarding the capital-investment decision of local communities. First, unlike the demand for current expenditures, the demand for capital-investment projects is elastic with respect to tax price. Second, unlike the demand for current expenditures, the demand for capital projects is not directly related to changes in income. Finally, intergovernmental grants are shown to be an important determinant of capital investment spending although the specific aid doesn’t always seem to stick where it initially hits.

Suggested Citation

  • Laurie J. Bates & Rexford E. Santerre, 2015. "The Demand for Municipal Infrastructure Projects," Public Finance Review, , vol. 43(5), pages 586-605, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:43:y:2015:i:5:p:586-605
    DOI: 10.1177/1091142114527782
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1091142114527782
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1091142114527782?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aschauer, David Alan, 1989. "Is public expenditure productive?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 177-200, March.
    2. 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.
    3. Balsdon, Ed & Brunner, Eric J. & Rueben, Kim, 2003. "Private demands for public capital: evidence from school bond referenda," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 610-638, November.
    4. Romer, Thomas & Rosenthal, Howard, 1979. "The elusive median voter," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 143-170, October.
    5. Holtz-Eakin, Douglas & Rosen, Harvey S., 1989. "The `rationality' of municipal capital spending : Evidence from New Jersey," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 517-536, August.
    6. Douglas Holtz‐Eakin & Harvey S. Rosen, 1993. "Municipal Construction Spending: An Empirical Examination," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(1), pages 61-84, March.
    7. Anthony Downs, 1957. "An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 65(2), pages 135-135.
    8. Alicia H. Munnell, 1990. "How does public infrastructure affect regional economic performance?," Conference Series ; [Proceedings], Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, vol. 34, pages 69-112.
    9. Howard R. Bowen, 1943. "The Interpretation of Voting in the Allocation of Economic Resources," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 58(1), pages 27-48.
    10. Haughwout, Andrew F., 1997. "Central city infrastructure investment and suburban house values," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 199-215, April.
    11. Alicia H. Munnell, 1992. "Policy Watch: Infrastructure Investment and Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 189-198, Fall.
    12. Brasington, David M., 1999. "Joint provision of public goods: the consolidation of school districts," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(3), pages 373-393, September.
    13. Bates, Laurie J. & Santerre, Rexford E., 2013. "Does regionalization of local public health services influence public spending levels and allocative efficiency?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 209-219.
    14. Ferris, James M & Graddy, Elizabeth, 1994. "Organizational Choices for Public Service Supply," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(1), pages 126-141, April.
    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. Mbanda, Vandudzai & Bonga-Bonga, Lumengo, 2019. "Municipal infrastructure spending capacity in South Africa: a panel smooth transition regression (PSTR) approach," MPRA Paper 91499, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Michah W. Rothbart & David J. Schwegman & Iuliia Shybalkina, 2022. "The impact of pork‐barrel capital funding in schools: Evidence from participatory budgeting in NYC," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 148-170, June.

    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. Randall Holcombe, 1989. "The median voter model in public choice theory," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 115-125, May.
    2. James Alm & Abel Embaye, 2010. "Explaining The Growth Of Government Spending In South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 78(2), pages 152-169, June.
    3. John Akin & Michael Lea, 1982. "Microdata estimation of school expenditure levels: An alternative to the median voter approach," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 113-128, January.
    4. Haughwout, Andrew F., 2002. "Public infrastructure investments, productivity and welfare in fixed geographic areas," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(3), pages 405-428, March.
    5. James Alm & Trey Dronyk‐Trosper, 2021. "What drives road infrastructure spending?," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 20-49, December.
    6. Eric J. Brunner & Stephen L. Ross, 2007. "How Decisive Is the Decisive Voter?," Working papers 2007-28, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised Aug 2008.
    7. Raffaello Bronzini & Paolo Piselli, 2006. "Determinants of long-run regional productivity: the role of R&D, human capital and public infrastructure," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 597, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    8. Zhenhua Chen & Kingsley Haynes, 2015. "Multilevel assessment of public transportation infrastructure: a spatial econometric computable general equilibrium approach," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(3), pages 663-685, May.
    9. Haughwout, Andrew F., 1998. "Aggregate Production Functions, Interregional Equilibrium, and the Measurement of Infrastructure Productivity," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 216-227, September.
    10. John Jackson, 2014. "Location, location, location: the Davis-Hinich model of electoral competition," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 197-218, April.
    11. Jaime Alonso-Carrera & Maria Jesus Freire-Seren & Baltasar Manzano, 2008. "Macroeconomic Effects From The Regional Allocation Of Public Capital Formation," CAMA Working Papers 2008-09, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    12. Schläpfer, F. & Mann, S., 2013. "Eine erweiterte Gesamtrechnung der multifunktionalen Schweizer Landwirtschaft," Proceedings “Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.”, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA), vol. 48, March.
    13. Zhenhua Chen & Kingsley E. Haynes, 2015. "Regional Impact of Public Transportation Infrastructure," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 29(3), pages 275-291, August.
    14. Peterson, Steven K. & Jessup, Eric L., 2008. "Evaluating the Relationship Between Transportation Infrastructure and Economic Activity: Evidence from Washington State," Journal of the Transportation Research Forum, Transportation Research Forum, vol. 47(2).
    15. Fedderke, J.W. & Bogetic, Z., 2009. "Infrastructure and Growth in South Africa: Direct and Indirect Productivity Impacts of 19 Infrastructure Measures," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1522-1539, September.
    16. Pellervo Hamalainen, 2009. "Review of literature on the productivity of public capital," Discussion Papers 55, Aboa Centre for Economics.
    17. Dennis Mueller & Peter Murrell, 1986. "Interest groups and the size of government," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 125-145, January.
    18. Everaert, Gerdie & Heylen, Freddy, 2001. "Public capital and productivity growth: evidence for Belgium, 1953-1996," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 97-116, January.
    19. Elburz, Zeynep & Nijkamp, Peter & Pels, Eric, 2017. "Public infrastructure and regional growth: Lessons from meta-analysis," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-8.
    20. Eric J. Brunner & Stephen L. Ross, 2009. "Is the Median Voter Decisive? Evidence of 'Ends Against the Middle' From Referenda Voting Patterns," Working papers 2009-02, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised May 2010.

    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:sae:pubfin:v:43:y:2015:i:5:p:586-605. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.