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Municipal Construction Spending: An Empirical Examination

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  • Douglas Holtz-Eakin
  • Harvey S. Rosen

Abstract

Despite widespread concern and discussion, no consensus exists concerning the causes of the "infrastructure crisis." We investigate several models of the determination of local public capital expenditures. Using Euler equation methods, we find that the hypothesis that construction spending is determined by unconstrained, forward looking municipal planning cannot be rejected. consistent with this result, we find that the stochastic structure of own revenue and grant flows is an important feature of the determination of construction spending. Only unanticipated changes in a community's resources alter its demand for structures. An unanticipated increase in resources of one dollar increases current construction spending by about 5.5 cents.

Suggested Citation

  • Douglas Holtz-Eakin & Harvey S. Rosen, 1989. "Municipal Construction Spending: An Empirical Examination," NBER Working Papers 2989, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:2989
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    Cited by:

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    2. Coronado, Julia Lynn, 1999. "Tax Exemption and State Capital Investment," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 52(n. 3), pages 473-82, September.
    3. Lars-Erik Borge & Per Tovmo, 2009. "Myopic or Constrained by Balanced-Budget Rules? The Intertemporal Spending Behavior of Norwegian Local Governments," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 65(2), pages 200-219, June.
    4. 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.
    5. Borge, L.E. & Dahleberg, M. & Tovmo, P., 2001. "The Intertemporal Spending Behavior of Local Governments : A Comparative Analysis of the Scandinavian Countries," Papers 2001:10, Uppsala - Working Paper Series.
    6. Holtz-Eakin Douglas & Rosen Harvey S. & Tilly Schuyler, 1994. "Intertemporal Analysis of State and Local Government Spending: Theory and Tests," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 159-174, March.
    7. Antoni Castells & Daniel Montolio & Albert Solé, 2006. "Infrastructure investment across Spanish regions: determinants and calculation of an expenditure needs index," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 178(3), pages 23-54, September.
    8. Green, Richard K. & Vandell, Kerry D., 1999. "Giving households credit: How changes in the U.S. tax code could promote homeownership," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 419-444, July.
    9. Poterba, James M, 1994. "State Responses to Fiscal Crises: The Effects of Budgetary Institutions and Politics," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(4), pages 799-821, August.
    10. Mr. Luc Eyraud & Ms. Marialuz Moreno Badia, 2013. "Too Small to Fail? Subnational Spending Pressures in Europe," IMF Working Papers 2013/046, International Monetary Fund.
    11. Balsdon, Ed & Brunner, Eric J. & Rueben, Kim, 2003. "Private demands for public capital: evidence from school bond referenda," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 610-638, November.
    12. Jean-Michel Josselin & Fabio Padovano & Yvon Rocaboy, 2013. "Grant legislation vs. political factors as determinants of soft budget spending behaviors. Comparison between Italian and French regions," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 10(3), pages 317-354, December.

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