Alesina, Alberto
[Verfasser:in]
;
Hoxby, Caroline
[Sonstige Person, Familie und Körperschaft];
Baqir, Reza
[Sonstige Person, Familie und Körperschaft]National Bureau of Economic Research
Political Jurisdictions in Heterogeneous Communities
Erschienen:
Cambridge, Mass: National Bureau of Economic Research, August 2000
Erschienen in:NBER working paper series ; no. w7859
Umfang:
1 Online-Ressource
Sprache:
Englisch
DOI:
10.3386/w7859
Identifikator:
Reproduktionsnotiz:
Hardcopy version available to institutional subscribers
Entstehung:
Anmerkungen:
Mode of access: World Wide Web
System requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files
Beschreibung:
We investigate how the number and size of local political jurisdictions in an area is determined. Our model focuses on the tradeoff between the benefits of economies of scale and the costs of a heterogeneous population. We consider heterogeneity in income, race, ethnicity, and religion, and we test the model using American school districts, school attendance areas, municipalities, and special districts. Using both cross-sectional and panel analysis, we find evidence of a significant tradeoff between economies of scale and racial heterogeneity. We find weaker tradeoffs between economies of scale and income or ethnic heterogeneity. That is, it appears that people are willing to sacrifice the most, in terms of economies of scale, in order to avoid racial heterogeneity in their jurisdiction