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Unequal Provision of Local Public Services under the Threat of Secession

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Author Info
Brink , Anna (Department of Economics, School of Economics and Commercial Law, Göteborg University)
Abstract

This paper studies to what extent it is possible to discriminate between two municipality parts by unequal public service provision when there is a threat of secession. The objective of the local politicians is to maximize utility for only one part of a municipality. The discriminated part is small and politically marginalized, but has the option to secede. The power of the small part's population is in this way entirely exercised through the threat of secession. It becomes their guarantee against being taxed too heavily or against obtaining too little of public services. The case of three recent secession attempts in Göteborg, Sweden, is discussed in light of the model.

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2077/2830
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Paper provided by Göteborg University, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers in Economics with number 103.

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Length: 19 pages
Date of creation: 05 Sep 2003
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Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0103

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Postal: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University Box 640, SE 405 30 GÖTEBORG, Sweden
Phone: 031-773 10 00
Web page: http://www.handels.gu.se/econ/
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Related research
Keywords: secession; local public services;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
H29 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Other
H79 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Other

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Bolton, Patrick & Roland, Gerard, 1997. "The Breakup of Nations: A Political Economy Analysis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(4), pages 1057-90, November.
    Other versions:
  2. Bolton, Patrick & Roland, Gerard & Spolaore, Enrico, 1996. "Economic theories of the break-up and integration of nations," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(3-5), pages 697-705, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Buchanan, James M & Faith, Roger L, 1987. "Secession and the Limits of Taxation: Toward a Theory of Internal Exit," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(5), pages 1023-31, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Ellingsen, Tore, 1998. "Externalities vs internalities: a model of political integration," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 251-268, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Alesina, Alberto & Spolaore, Enrico, 1997. "On the Number and Size of Nations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(4), pages 1027-56, November.
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  6. Alesina, Alberto & Perotti, Roberto & Spolaore, Enrico, 1995. "Togetheror separately? Issues on the costs and benefits of political and fiscal unions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(3-4), pages 751-758, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Brink , Anna, 2003. "Deciding Who's Decisive: Municipality Break-Ups and the Behavior of Local Politicians," Working Papers in Economics 104, Göteborg University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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