Are Overlapping Local Governments Competing With Each Other When Issuing Debt?
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Authors
Brien, Spencer
Yan, Wenli
Subjects
Tax Competition
Local Government
Property Tax
Municipal Bonds
Local Government
Property Tax
Municipal Bonds
Advisors
Date of Issue
2019-12-02
Date
December 2, 2019
Publisher
SSRN
Language
en_US
Abstract
Local public services are produced through various overlapping jurisdictions. This study examines how the issuance of municipal general obligation bonds is affected by the tax policies of overlapping local governments. The findings challenge the hypothesis that the shared tax base would be overused in a common-pool resource scenario. Instead, the empirical results show that the issuance of general obligation bonds is more likely in jurisdictions where counties and school districts make more intensive use of the property tax. These findings highlight the importance of the signals local governments receive from their overlapping neighbors regarding voters’ demand for additional public spending.
Type
Working Paper
Description
The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.349707
Series/Report No
Department
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
29 p.
Citation
Brien, Spencer and Yan, Wenli. Are Overlapping Local Governments Competing with Each Other When Issuing Debt? (December 2, 2019).
Distribution Statement
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.