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Bureaucracy, publicness and local government expenditures revisited: Comment

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  • Rodolfo Gonzalez
  • Roger Folsom
  • Stephen Mehay

Abstract

The empirical literature on the publicness of local government services has observed no significant degree of publicness. It is difficult to reconcile these findings with Wyckoff's conclusion that bureaucrats prefer pure public goods. Wyckoff's solution is to suggest that bureaucracy has little effect on operating (non-capital) expenditure decisions. This solution, however, conflicts with the empirical findings of numerous local expenditure and wage studies based on bureau supply models. But there is no need to consider this evidence because we have shown that Wyckoff's cost assumptions imply that a median voter regime will also operate at a maximum attainable degree of publicness. Hence, we must either reject Wyckoff's assumptions or conclude that the nature of the services demanded from local government is such that the maximum attainable degree of publicness is close to no publicness at all. In any case, Wyckoff's conclusions are not supported within the context of his own assumptions. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 1989

Suggested Citation

  • Rodolfo Gonzalez & Roger Folsom & Stephen Mehay, 1989. "Bureaucracy, publicness and local government expenditures revisited: Comment," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 71-77, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:62:y:1989:i:1:p:71-77
    DOI: 10.1007/BF00168015
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Borcherding, Thomas E & Deacon, Robert T, 1972. "The Demand for the Services of Non-Federal Governments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 891-901, December.
    2. Thomas Dilorenzo, 1983. "Economic competition and political competition: An empirical note," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 203-209, January.
    3. Paul Wyckoff, 1988. "Bureaucracy and the ‘publicness’ of local public goods," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 271-284, March.
    4. Romer, Thomas & Rosenthal, Howard, 1979. "The elusive median voter," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 143-170, October.
    5. Thomas Dilorenzo, 1981. "An empirical assessment of the factor-supplier pressure group hypothesis," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 559-568, January.
    6. Rodolfo Gonzalez & Stephen Mehay, 1985. "Bureaucracy and the divisibility of local public output," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 89-101, January.
    7. Bernard Lentz, 1981. "Political and economic determinants of county government pay," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 253-271, January.
    8. Romer, Thomas & Rosenthal, Howard, 1982. "Median Voters or Budget Maximizers: Evidence from School Expenditure Referenda," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 20(4), pages 556-578, October.
    9. Dudley, Leonard & Montmarquette, Claude, 1984. "The Effects of Non-clearing Labor Markets on the Demand for Public Spending," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 22(2), pages 151-170, April.
    10. Wagner, Richard E & Weber, Warren E, 1975. "Competition, Monopoly, and the Organization of Government in Metropolitan Areas," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(3), pages 661-684, December.
    11. Gonzalez, Rodolfo A & Mehay, Stephen L, 1987. "Economies of City Size in a Price Searcher Model of Local Government," Public Finance = Finances publiques, , vol. 42(2), pages 236-249.
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