IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/ejlwec/v35y2013i3p427-439.html

Political entrepreneurship and the formation of special districts

Author

Listed:
  • Alexander Fink

  • Richard Wagner

Abstract

Where general purpose governments provide a bundle of services within their boundaries, special district governments provide specific services inside the boundaries of general purpose governments. The alternative to forming a special purpose government is providing the service within a general purpose government. Formation of a special district represents the establishment of a new political enterprise, in contrast to the addition of a new product line to an existing government. We explore the formation of special districts as a particular form of the universal entrepreneurial search for gain or profit from exchange. Political entrepreneurship, like market entrepreneurship, operates inside some framework of rules, and the formation of special districts reflects the search for political gain within that framework of rules. We use an entrepreneurial framework to formulate several hypotheses concerning the formation and organization of special districts. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander Fink & Richard Wagner, 2013. "Political entrepreneurship and the formation of special districts," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 427-439, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ejlwec:v:35:y:2013:i:3:p:427-439
    DOI: 10.1007/s10657-010-9216-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10657-010-9216-5
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10657-010-9216-5?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Austin, D. Andrew, 1998. "A positive model of special district formation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 103-122, January.
    2. Ostrom, Vincent & Tiebout, Charles M. & Warren, Robert, 1961. "The Organization of Government in Metropolitan Areas: A Theoretical Inquiry," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(4), pages 831-842, December.
    3. Shadbegian, Ronald J., 1999. "The Effect of Tax and Expenditure Limitations on the Revenue Structure of Local Government, 1962-87," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 52(n. 2), pages 221-38, June.
    4. Thomas Dilorenzo, 1981. "The expenditure effects of restricting competition in local public service industries: The case of special districts," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 569-578, January.
    5. Frey, Bruno S. & Eichenberger, Reiner, 1996. "FOCJ: Competitive governments for Europe," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 315-327, September.
    6. James M. Buchanan, 1963. "The Economics of Earmarked Taxes," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 71(5), pages 457-457.
    7. János Kornai, 2014. "The soft budget constraint," Acta Oeconomica, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 64(supplemen), pages 25-79, November.
    8. Pauly, Mark V & Redisch, Michael, 1973. "The Not-For-Profit Hospital as a Physicians' Cooperative," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(1), pages 87-99, March.
    9. Wald, John K. & Long, Michael S., 2007. "The effect of state laws on capital structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 297-319, February.
    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. William M. Dugger, 1996. "The Mechanisms of Governance," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 1212-1216, December.
    12. Richard E. Wagner, 2007. "Fiscal Sociology and the Theory of Public Finance," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12713.
    13. Shadbegian, Ronald J., 1999. "The Effect of Tax and Expenditure Limitations on the Revenue Structure of Local Government, 1962-87," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 52(2), pages 221-238, June.
    14. Dick Ruiter, 2005. "Is Transaction Cost Economics Applicable to Public Governance?," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 287-303, November.
    15. Romano, Roberta, 1985. "Law as a Product: Some Pieces of the Incorporation Puzzle," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 1(2), pages 225-283, Fall.
    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. Pengju Zhang, 2018. "The unintended impact of tax and expenditure limitations on the use of special districts: the politics of circumvention," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 21-50, February.
    2. Virgil Henry Storr & Stefanie Haeffele & Jordan K. Lofthouse & Anne Hobson, 2022. "Entrepreneurship during a pandemic," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 83-105, August.

    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. Aligica, Paul Dragos, 2013. "Institutional Diversity and Political Economy: The Ostroms and Beyond," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199843909.
    2. Pengju Zhang, 2018. "The unintended impact of tax and expenditure limitations on the use of special districts: the politics of circumvention," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 21-50, February.
    3. Peter J. Boettke & Liya Palagashvili, 2015. "Taming Leviathan," Supreme Court Economic Review, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(1), pages 279-303.
    4. Blankenau, William & Skidmore, Mark, 2002. "The Relationship Between Education Finance Reform and Tax and Expenditure Limitations," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 32(01), pages 1-18.
    5. Skidmore, Mark & Peltier, James & Alm, James, 2005. "Do state motor fuel sales-below-cost laws lower prices?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 189-211, January.
    6. Dedeurwaerdere, Tom, 2005. "From bioprospecting to reflexive governance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 473-491, June.
    7. 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).
    8. Vahabi, Mehrdad, 2003. "La contrainte budgétaire lâche et la théorie économique [Soft Budget Constraint and Economic Theory]," MPRA Paper 17651, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Justina A.V. Fischer, 2005. "Do Institutions of Direct Democracy Tame the Leviathan? Swiss Evidence on the Structure of Expenditure for Public Education," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2005 2005-22, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    10. Schaltegger, Christoph A. & Feld, Lars P., 2009. "Are fiscal adjustments less successful in decentralized governments?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 115-123, March.
    11. Nalitra Thaiprasert & Dagney Faulk & Michael J. Hicks, 2013. "A Regional Computable General Equilibrium Analysis of Property Tax Rate Caps and a Sales Tax Rate Increase in Indiana," Public Finance Review, , vol. 41(4), pages 446-472, July.
    12. Rebecca Hendrick & Jared Crawford, 2014. "Municipal Fiscal Policy Space and Fiscal Structure: Tools for Managing Spending Volatility," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 24-50, September.
    13. Austin M Aldag & Mildred E Warner & Yunji Kim, 2019. "Leviathan or Public Steward? Evidence on Local Government Taxing Behavior from New York State," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 49(4), pages 671-693.
    14. Robert Blewett, 1984. "Off-budget activities of local government: Comment," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 205-211, January.
    15. repec:tsa:wpaper:0213eco is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Alexander Fink, 2012. "The Hanseatic League and the Concept of Functional Overlapping Competing Jurisdictions," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(2), pages 194-217, May.
    17. Kjeld Møller Pedersen & Terkel Christiansen & Mickael Bech, 2005. "The Danish health care system: evolution ‐ not revolution ‐ in a decentralized system," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(S1), pages 41-57, September.
    18. Mehrdad Vahabi, 2025. "The Soft Budget Constraint: A Theoretical Clarification," Palgrave Studies in the History of Economic Thought, in: The Legacy of Janos Kornai, chapter 0, pages 229-273, Palgrave Macmillan.
    19. Peter Boettke & Christopher Coyne & Peter Leeson, 2011. "Quasimarket failure," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 209-224, October.
    20. Michael S. Hayes, 2015. "The Differential Effect of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) on States’ Contributions to Education Funding in States with Binding School District Tax and Expenditure Limitations," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 49-72, March.
    21. Edward McPhail & Vlad Tarko, 2017. "The evolution of governance structures in a polycentric system," Chapters, in: Morris Altman (ed.), Handbook of Behavioural Economics and Smart Decision-Making, chapter 16, pages 290-314, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • L32 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Public Enterprises; Public-Private Enterprises

    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:ejlwec:v:35:y:2013:i:3:p:427-439. 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.