A severance tax can provide local jurisdictions with additional revenues to finance economic development, yet the imposition of a tax may create coal industry employment losses. This research analyzes this issue by examining the demand for Pennsylvania steam coal, providing estimates of the...

Contingent valuation is used to measure the benefits of a proposed public program to control black flies. Respondents' reported values are analyzed from three perspectives: data outliners, consistency between respondents' reported values and their perceptions of black flies, and the temporal...

This paper simulates alternative distributions of general purpose state aid to local governments under different combinations of criteria: tax capacity, effort, and revenue needs. Revenue needs are based on Tobit estimates of the costs of providing average levels of 16 categories of services....

This paper examines agricultural use-value legislation in light of statewide reassessment in New York. Historically, farm real estate has been underassessed relative to other classes of property. Thus, statewide reassessment at full value would significantly increase farmland property taxes....

Rural governments in the Northeast purchased credit ratings for a high percentage of their general obligation bonds sold in 1977. This paper examines the effect credit ratings had on the interest cost of GO bonds sold by nonmetro governments in the Northeast. The results suggest that the...

The "Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1976" 31e expected to insure about two-fifths of all hired agricultural workers. Large interstate variations in the proportion of workers insured result from their cliffering work histories and state's qualifying provisions. Of these insured workers,...