How do counties arrange their organizations to promote economic development? Almost no information is available on administrative structures for economic development and how they change, particularly for counties. The results of this 2009 survey show that 16.0% of counties examined had shifted...

Although a multiplicity of local governments is often regarded as promoting efficiency in the supply of public services, political fragmentation can generate economies of scale and externality problems. Several exogenous solutions, including the creation of overlapping districts governments,...

The question of whether private firms should contract out for products and services or provide them internally (i.e. become more vertically integrated) has been a topic that has concerned scholars for many years. This article argues that the transaction costs in local contracting choices are...

It has long been believed that council-manager governments with professionally trained public managers are more efficiency oriented and insulated from political pressure than mayor-council governments. Despite the general acceptance of this conventional wisdom, empirical evidence to support the...

This article examines interstate variance in the distribution of costs for hazardous waste regulation in the American states. The analysis identifies the distribution of regulatory costs for technical externalities and answers specific questions about the regulatory strategies of competing...

This article explores the effects of institutionalized access to economic development decision making using data from a 1989 survey conducted by the International City Management Association. The results demonstrate that the importance of institutionalized access is contingent on both the wealth...

This article investigates the factors that account for second-generation land-use restrictions that result from comprehensive planning processes. After a review of the evolution of growth management policy in the US variation among Florida counties in the adoption of development impact fees and...