IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/pubcho/v188y2021i3d10.1007_s11127-020-00833-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do political motivations and strategic considerations influence municipal annexation patterns?

Author

Listed:
  • Chris Mothorpe

    (College of Charleston)

  • W. William Woolsey

    (Baker School of Business)

  • Russell S. Sobel

    (Baker School of Business)

Abstract

We provide the first parcel-level, time-series empirical analysis of municipal annexation behavior. We also exploit a unique natural experiment created by the incorporation and exogenous (court-mandated) dissolution of a new neighboring municipality to examine the public-choice motivations behind annexation. Our results indicate that an existing city’s annexation behavior differed significantly in the areas threatened with the formation of a competing jurisdiction, yielding the most compelling evidence yet that political motivations play a major role in the annexation behavior of cities. We also are the first to construct and include measures reflecting the strategic stepwise dependence between parcels in the annexation process—in terms of what other parcels subsequently can be annexed. We find that the characteristics of a parcel itself in many cases are of only secondary importance relative to considerations regarding the other parcels to which it gives access for future annexation. Such a spatially dependent stepwise factor has been overlooked entirely in prior literature assuming that parcel annexation decisions are independent of one another.

Suggested Citation

  • Chris Mothorpe & W. William Woolsey & Russell S. Sobel, 2021. "Do political motivations and strategic considerations influence municipal annexation patterns?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 188(3), pages 385-405, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:188:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-020-00833-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-020-00833-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11127-020-00833-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11127-020-00833-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Austin, D. Andrew, 1999. "Politics vs Economics: Evidence from Municipal Annexation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 501-532, May.
    2. Benson, Bruce L & Rasmussen, David W & Sollars, David L, 1995. "Police Bureaucracies, Their Incentives, and the War on Drugs," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 83(1-2), pages 21-45, April.
    3. Hall, Joshua C., 2015. "Local Government Border Congruence and the Fiscal Commons: Evidence from Ohio School Districts," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 45(2).
    4. Joshua Hall & Joshua Matti & Yang Zhou, 2018. "Regionalization and Consolidation of Municipal Taxes and Services," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 48(2), pages 245-262, Summer.
    5. Brunner, Eric J. & Johnson, Erik B., 2016. "Intergenerational conflict and the political economy of higher education funding," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 73-87.
    6. Randall Holcombe, 2011. "Public choice in a local government setting," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 1-3, October.
    7. Peter Calcagno & Frank Hefner, 2018. "Targeted Economic Incentives: An Analysis of State Fiscal Policy and Regulatory Conditions," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 48(1), pages 71-91, Spring.
    8. Thomas A. Garrett & Gary A. Wagner, 2009. "Red Ink in the Rearview Mirror: Local Fiscal Conditions and the Issuance of Traffic Tickets," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(1), pages 71-90, February.
    9. Brunner, Eric J. & Squires, Tim, 2013. "The bargaining power of teachers’ unions and the allocation of school resources," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 15-27.
    10. repec:rre:publsh:v:40:y:2010:i:3:p:257-272 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Brunner, Eric & Balsdon, Ed, 2004. "Intergenerational conflict and the political economy of school spending," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 369-388, September.
    12. Jing Wang & Evgenia Gorina, 2018. "Fiscal effects of municipal annexation: Evidence from a large national sample of urban municipalities," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(4), pages 612-635, December.
    13. Niskanen, William A, 1975. "Bureaucrats and Politicians," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(3), pages 617-643, December.
    14. Mast, Brent D & Benson, Bruce L & Rasmussen, David W, 2000. "Entrepreneurial Police and Drug Enforcement Policy," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 104(3-4), pages 285-308, September.
    15. Rodolfo Gonzalez & Stephen Mehay, 1987. "Municipal annexation and local monopoly power," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 245-255, January.
    16. Mark Skidmore & David Merriman & Russ Kashian, 2009. "The Relationship between Tax Increment Finance and Municipal Land Annexation," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 85(4), pages 598-613.
    17. Stephen Mehay, 1981. "The expenditure effects of municipal annexation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 53-62, January.
    18. Carol E. Heim, 2012. "Border Wars: Tax Revenues, Annexation, and Urban Growth in Phoenix," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 831-859, July.
    19. Gaines H. Liner, 1992. "Annexation Impact On Municipal Efficiency," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 22(1), pages 75-87, Summer.
    20. Monica Escaleras & Peter T. Calcagno, 2018. "Does Fiscal Decentralization Affect Infrastructure Quality? An Examination Of U.S. States," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(2), pages 410-422, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Agrawal, Sandeep & Gretzinger, Cody & Lowerre, Andrew, 2022. "Trends, motivations, and land use outcomes of municipal annexation: A case of Alberta, Canada," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pengju Zhang & Phuong Nguyen‐Hoang & Na Chen, 2022. "The impact of home rule on municipal boundary and fiscal expansion: Evidence from Texas," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(5), pages 1442-1466, November.
    2. Agrawal, Sandeep & Gretzinger, Cody & Lowerre, Andrew, 2022. "Trends, motivations, and land use outcomes of municipal annexation: A case of Alberta, Canada," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    3. Florian Baumann & Sophie Bienenstock & Tim Friehe & Maiva Ropaul, 2023. "Fines as enforcers’ rewards or as a transfer to society at large? Evidence on deterrence and enforcement implications," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 196(3), pages 229-255, September.
    4. John Meligrana, 2007. "Testing the Elastic-Cities Concept within a Nonmetropolitan Environment: Evidence from British Columbia, Canada, 1971 to 2001," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(3), pages 700-727, March.
    5. Jaewook Byeon & Iljoong Kim & Dongwon Lee, 2018. "Protest and property crime: political use of police resources and the deterrence of crime," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 175(1), pages 181-196, April.
    6. Niklas Hanes & Magnus Wikström & Erik Wångmar, 2012. "Municipal Preferences for State-imposed Amalgamations: An Empirical Study Based on the Swedish Municipal Reform of 1952," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(12), pages 2733-2750, September.
    7. Russell M. Smith & Whitney B. Afonso, 2016. "Fiscal Impact of Annexation Methodology on Municipal Finances in North Carolina," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 664-681, December.
    8. John M. Foster & Jacob Fowles, 2018. "Ethnic Heterogeneity, Group Affinity, and State Higher Education Spending," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(1), pages 1-28, February.
    9. Skarbek, David, 2012. "Prison gangs, norms, and organizations," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 96-109.
    10. Christian Almer & Timo Goeschl, 2011. "The political economy of the environmental criminal justice system: a production function approach," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 611-630, September.
    11. Baicker, Katherine & Jacobson, Mireille, 2007. "Finders keepers: Forfeiture laws, policing incentives, and local budgets," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(11-12), pages 2113-2136, December.
    12. Nyhus, Ole Henning & Strøm, Bjarne, 2023. "School spending and extension of the youth voting franchise: Quasi-experimental evidence from Norway," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    13. Gregory DeAngelo & R. Kaj Gittings & Amanda Ross & Annie Walker, 2016. "Police Bias in the Enforcement of Drug Crimes: Evidence from Low Priority Laws," Working Papers 16-01, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    14. Antti Saastamoinen & Mika Kortelainen, 2020. "When Does Money Stick in Education? Evidence from A Kinked Grant Rule," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 15(4), pages 708-735, Fall.
    15. Katsuyoshi Nakazawa, 2016. "Amalgamation, free-rider behavior, and regulation," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(5), pages 812-833, October.
    16. Jeffrey Zax, 1988. "The Effects of Jurisdiction Types and Numbers on Local Public Finance," NBER Chapters, in: Fiscal Federalism: Quantitative Studies, pages 79-106, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Katsuyoshi Nakazawa & Tomohisa Miyashita, 2013. "Does the method adopted for distribution of services by amalgamating municipalities affect expenditure after amalgamation? Evidence from Japan," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201315, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    18. Collin D. Hodges & Heather M. Stephens, 2022. "Does municipal incorporation always increase property values?," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 200-220, March.
    19. Amanda Ross & Anne Walker, 2014. "Low Priority Laws and the Allocation of Police Resources," Working Papers 14-06, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    20. Amanda Ross & Anne Walker, 2017. "The Impact Of Low-Priority Laws On Criminal Activity: Evidence From California," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(2), pages 239-252, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Annexation; Public choice; Interjurisdictional competition; Municipal incorporation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
    • R5 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis
    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:188:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-020-00833-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.