We examine the impact of state-imposed mandates and fiscal limits on volunteer use and fundraising by local governments. Our model of contributions to local public services predicts that fiscal limits increase both volunteer use and fund-raising and that mandates increase volunteer use. These...

The paper compares the policy choices regarding risk-transfer against low-probability-high-loss events between elected and appointed public officials. Empirical evidence using data on U.S. municipality-level shows that appointed city managers are more likely to adopt federal risk-transfer...