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Do Tax and Expenditure Limits Provide a Free Lunch? Evidence on the Link Between Limits and Public Sector Service Quality

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  • Downes, Thomas A.
  • Figlio, David N.

Abstract

We summarize research addressing the validity of the argument that constitutional constraints such as Proposition 13 could reduce the size of local governments while having little effect on the quality of public services provided. A growing body of research is producing a consistent conclusion; imposition of tax and expenditure limits results in long-run reductions in the performance of public school students. We provide evidence that reconciles these reductions with the dominant result of the education production literature: dollars matter little. Whether limits are good public policy remains an open question, because work remains on the quantification of their costs and benefits.

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  • Downes, Thomas A. & Figlio, David N., 1999. "Do Tax and Expenditure Limits Provide a Free Lunch? Evidence on the Link Between Limits and Public Sector Service Quality," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 52(1), pages 113-128, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:ntj:journl:v:52:y:1999:i:1:p:113-28
    DOI: 10.1086/NTJ41789380
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    1. Downes, Thomas A., 1992. "Evaluating the Impact of School Finance Reform on the Provision of Public Education: The California Case," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 45(4), pages 405-419, December.
    2. Dewey, James & Husted, Thomas A. & Kenny, Lawrence W., 1999. "The ineffectiveness of school inputs: a product of misspecification?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 27-45, February.
    3. Downes, Thomas A. & Schoeman, David, 1998. "School Finance Reform and Private School Enrollment: Evidence from California," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 418-443, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Liu, Shimeng & Yang, Xi, 2020. "Property tax limits and female labor supply: Evidence from the housing boom and bust," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    2. Lars P. Feld & Gebhard Kirchgässner, 2005. "Sustainable Fiscal Policy in a Federal System: Switzerland as an Example," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Hanspeter Kriesi & Peter Farago & Martin Kohli & Milad Zarin-Nejadan (ed.), Contemporary Switzerland, chapter 12, pages 281-296, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. Jeffrey Zabel, 2014. "Unintended Consequences: The Impact of Proposition 2½ Overrides on School Segregation in Massachusetts," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(4), pages 481-514, October.
    4. Vigdor, Jacob L, 2004. "Other People's Taxes: Nonresident Voters and Statewide Limitation of Local Government," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(2), pages 453-476, October.
    5. Patricia M. Anderson & Kristin F. Butcher, 2006. "Reading, Writing, and Refreshments: Are School Finances Contributing to Children’s Obesity?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 41(3).
    6. Ahmet Kara, 2009. "An applied stochastic model of the quality–quantity trade-off in the public health care sector," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 277-289, March.
    7. Leah Brooks & Yosh Halberstam & Justin Phillips, 2016. "Spending Within Limits: Evidence From Municipal Fiscal Restraints," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 69(2), pages 315-352, June.
    8. Figlio, David N & O'Sullivan, Arthur, 2001. "The Local Response to Tax Limitation Measures: Do Local Governments Manipulate Voters to Increase Revenues?," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(1), pages 233-257, April.
    9. Thomas A. Downes, 2002. "Do state governments matter?: a review of the evidence on the impact on educational outcomes of the changing role of the states in the financing of public education," Conference Series ; [Proceedings], Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, vol. 47(Jun), pages 143-180.
    10. Jason Shumberger & Akheil Singla, 2022. "Are tax and expenditure limitations constraining institutions or institutionally irrelevant? Evidence from Minnesota," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(4), pages 3-33, December.
    11. Justina A.V. Fischer, 2005. "The Impact of Direct Democracy on Public Education: Performance of Swiss Students in Reading," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2005 2005-10, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    12. Gebhard Kirchgassner, 2002. "The effects of fiscal institutions on public finance: a survey of the empirical evidence," Chapters, in: Stanley L. Winer & Hirofumi Shibata (ed.), Political Economy and Public Finance, chapter 9, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Daniel J. Henderson & Léopold Simar & Le Wang, 2017. "The three s of public schools: irrelevant inputs, insufficient resources and inefficiency," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(12), pages 1164-1184, March.
    14. Lavertu, Stéphane & Clair, Travis St., 2018. "Beyond spending levels: Revenue uncertainty and the performance of local governments," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 59-80.
    15. Patricia M. Anderson & Kristin F. Butcher, 2004. "Reading, writing, and raisinets: are school finances contributing to children’s obesity?," Working Paper Series WP-04-16, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    16. Fischer, Justina A.V., 2007. "The Impact of Direct Democracy on Public Education: Evidence for Swiss Students in Reading, Mathematics and Natural Science," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 688, Stockholm School of Economics.
    17. William F. Blankenau & Mark L. Skidmore, 2004. "School Finance Litigation, Tax and Expenditure Limitations, and Education Spending," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 22(1), pages 127-143, January.

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