Using audit data from the 2000 Housing Discrimination Study and a fixed-effects Poisson model, this paper examines discrimination in the number of houses shown to homeseekers. Unlike previous studies, it considers auditors' actual socioeconomic characteristics to minimize the estimation bias....

This paper examines the impact of local-option taxes on meals, sales, income, and payroll on revenue-raising capacity of municipalities, using new data from Massachusetts. Local-option taxes help municipalities generate considerable additional revenues. However, revenue capacity from...

This paper develops new measures of environmental costs and local revenue capacity as the basis for a new municipal aid formula in Massachusetts. On the cost side, unlike previous studies, we quantify the effects on local non‐school spending of characteristics related to uncontrollable costs....

This policy brief evaluates the distribution of municipal aid in Massachusetts in FY 2011 and suggests an approach for reforming municipal aid without redistributing current aid. We use the “municipal gap,” a measure that is outside the control of local officials, to determine a community's...

This policy brief summarizes a 2006 working paper by the Research Department at the Boston Fed and the Center: Measuring Disparities in Non-School Costs and Revenue Capacity among Massachusetts Cities and Towns. The paper develops new measures of environmental costs and local revenue capacity as...

This paper designs a new equalization‐aid formula based on fiscal gaps of local communities. Using conceptual analysis and simulations with Massachusetts data, the authors illustrate the tradeoffs that policymakers face in deciding on the policy variables in the formula and lay out several...

Municipal governments in Massachusetts have experienced difficulties raising adequate revenues to meet their expenditure needs. Responding to these challenges, policymakers have been investigating additional revenue sources for municipalities, such as new local-option taxes. Using a...

The distribution of unrestricted municipal aid has been a major policy concern in many states. Using Massachusetts as a case study, this paper examines the extent to which unrestricted municipal aid is responsive to the variation in the underlying fiscal health of municipalities. The paper uses...

This paper examines the distribution of unrestricted municipal aid in Massachusetts, which has been a major concern to civic leaders and elected officials of many communities, including Springfield. The paper develops a measure of the municipal fiscal gap indicating the relative need of...