IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/zewdip/2028.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Agglomeration, Population Size, and the Cost of Providing Public Services: An Empirical Analysis for German States

Author

Listed:
  • Stegarescu, Dan
  • Schwager, Robert
  • Büttner, Thiess

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the question as to what extent population size and density affect the cost of providing public services at the subnational level. Empirical estimates of cost functions are obtained from an analysis of the expenditures of German states disaggregated into about 40 functions of government. The empirical results indicate that generally there is no significant relationship between population density and the cost of public goods. At the same time, cost are almost proportionately related to population size indicating that goods and services provided by the German states display only a limited degree of publicness.

Suggested Citation

  • Stegarescu, Dan & Schwager, Robert & Büttner, Thiess, 2004. "Agglomeration, Population Size, and the Cost of Providing Public Services: An Empirical Analysis for German States," ZEW Discussion Papers 04-18, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:2028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/24041/1/dp0418.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    2. 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.
    3. Litvack, James M & Oates, Wallace E, 1970. "Group Size and the Output of Public Goods: Theory and Application to State-Local Finance in the United States," Public Finance = Finances publiques, , vol. 25(1), pages 42-62.
    4. Oates, Wallace E., 1988. "On the measurement of congestion in the provision of local public goods," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 85-94, July.
    5. Steven G. Craig & Eric J. Heikkila, 1989. "Urban Safety in Vancouver: Allocation and Production of a Congestible Public Good," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 22(4), pages 867-884, November.
    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. Alexander Eck & Carolin Fritzsche & Jan Kluge & Joachim Ragnitz & Felix Rösel, 2015. "Fiscal Capacity and Determining Structural Characteristics of the Eastern German Laender," ifo Dresden Studien, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 76.
    2. Fahey, Tony & Russell, Helen & FitzGerald, John, 2006. "Childcare," Book Chapters, in: Morgenroth, Edgar (ed.),Ex-Ante Evaluation of the Investment Priorities for the National Development Plan 2007-2013, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    3. Kellermann, Kersten, 2007. "Fiscal competition and a potential growth effect of centralization," KOFL Working Papers 4, Konjunkturforschungsstelle Liechtenstein (KOFL), Vaduz.
    4. Massimiliano Ferraresi & Umberto Galmarini & Leonzio Rizzo, 2014. "Local Infrastructures and Externalities: Does the Size Matter?," Working papers 14, Società Italiana di Economia Pubblica.
    5. T. Gries & M. Redlin, 2011. "International integration and the determinants of regional development in China," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 149-177, April.
    6. Xenia Frei & Joachim Ragnitz & Felix Rösel, 2018. "Kosten kommunaler Leistungserstellung unter dem Einfluss von demografischem Wandel und Urbanisierung," ifo Dresden Studien, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 80.
    7. Morgenroth, Edgar, 2014. "The Regional Development Impacts of Transport Infrastructure: A Literature Review and Policy Implications," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number BKMNEXT278.
    8. O'Connell, Philip J. & Russell, Helen & FitzGerald, John, 2006. "Human Resources," Book Chapters, in: Morgenroth, Edgar (ed.),Ex-Ante Evaluation of the Investment Priorities for the National Development Plan 2007-2013, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    9. Fahey, Tony & Scott, Susan & FitzGerald, John, 2006. "Sports and Arts," Book Chapters, in: Morgenroth, Edgar (ed.),Ex-Ante Evaluation of the Investment Priorities for the National Development Plan 2007-2013, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    10. Morgenroth, Edgar & FitzGerald, John (ed.), 2006. "Ex-ante Evaluation of the Investment Priorities for the National Development Plan 2007-2013," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number PRS59.
    11. Morgenroth, Edgar, 2018. "Prospects for Irish Regions and Counties: Scenarios and Implications," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS70.
    12. Yuxi Liu & Rizhao Gong & Wenzhong Ye & Changsheng Jin & Jianxin Tang, 2022. "Urban Spatial Structure and Water Ecological Footprint: Empirical Analysis of the Urban Agglomerations in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-14, October.
    13. Tate, Robert & Finlayson, Greg & MacWilliam, Leonard & Wiley, Miriam M. & Morgenroth, Edgar & FitzGerald, John, 2006. "Health," Book Chapters, in: Morgenroth, Edgar (ed.),Ex-Ante Evaluation of the Investment Priorities for the National Development Plan 2007-2013, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    14. Jonathan Old & Felix Rösel, 2018. "Sparprojekt oder Milchmädchenrechnung? Die finanziellen Effekte eines Bundeslandes„Mitteldeutschland“," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 25(02), pages 12-17, April.

    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. Poterba, James M., 1995. "Capital budgets, borrowing rules, and state capital spending," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 165-187, February.
    2. Thiess Büttner & Fédéric Holm-Hadulla & Rüdiger Parsche & Christiane Starbatty, 2008. "Analyse und Weiterentwicklung des kommunalen Finanzausgleichs in Nordrhein-Westfalen," ifo Forschungsberichte, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 41, October.
    3. Marc Baudry & Matthieu Leprince & Cyriaque Moreau, 2002. "Préférences révélées, bien public local et électeur médian : tests sur données françaises," Economie & Prévision, La Documentation Française, vol. 156(5), pages 125-146.
    4. Kellermann, Kersten & Schlag, Carsten-Henning, 2012. "Small, Smart, Special: Der Mikrostaat Liechtenstein und sein Budget," KOFL Working Papers 13, Konjunkturforschungsstelle Liechtenstein (KOFL), Vaduz.
    5. Fukushige Mototsugu & Yingxin Shi, 2016. "Efficient scale of prefectural government in China," China Finance and Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 88-109.
    6. Quentin Frère & Hakim Hammadou & Sonia Paty, 2011. "The range of local public services and population size: Is there a “zoo effect” in French jurisdictions?," Recherches économiques de Louvain, De Boeck Université, vol. 77(2), pages 87-104.
    7. Carlos A. Vegh & Guillermo Vuletin, 2016. "Unsticking the flypaper effect using distortionary taxation," Económica, Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, vol. 62, pages 185-237, January-D.
    8. Crane, Laurence M. & Pinnoi, Nat & Fuller, Stephen W., 1992. "Demand for Transportation Facility," Transportation Research Forum Proceedings 1990s 311869, Transportation Research Forum.
    9. Kellermann, Kersten, 2007. "Kosten der Kleinheit und die Föderalismusdebatte in der Schweiz," KOFL Working Papers 3, Konjunkturforschungsstelle Liechtenstein (KOFL), Vaduz.
    10. Mototsugu Fukushige & Yingxin Shi, 2014. "Efficient Scale of Local Government in China: Quantile Regression Approach to County-Level Data," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 14-15, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    11. Kevin T. Duffy-Deno & Douglas R. Dalenberg, 1993. "The Municipal Wage and Employment Effects of Public Infrastructure," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 30(9), pages 1577-1589, November.
    12. Kähler, Jürgen, 2009. "Die Messung der Agglomeration als latente Variable und ihr Einfluss auf Staatsausgaben," Forschungs- und Sitzungsberichte der ARL: Aufsätze, in: Mäding, Heinrich (ed.), Öffentliche Finanzströme und räumliche Entwicklung, volume 127, pages 239-264, ARL – Akademie für Raumentwicklung in der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft.
    13. Buettner, Thiess & Holm-Hadulla, Fédéric, 2013. "City size and the demand for local public goods," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 16-21.
    14. Thiess Büttner & Petra Enß & Nadine Fabritz & Björn Kauder & Johannes Meya & Robert Schwager, 2011. "Die Reform des kommunalen Finanzausgleichs und der Kreisstruktur in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Eine finanzwissenschaftliche Analyse der Auswirkungen auf Landkreise, Städte und Gemeinden," ifo Forschungsberichte, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 54, October.
    15. Bates, Laurie J. & Santerre, Rexford E., 2001. "The Public Demand for Open Space: The Case of Connecticut Communities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 97-111, July.
    16. Reiter, Michael & Weichenrieder, Alfons J., 1999. "Public Goods, Club Goods, and the Measurement of Crowding," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 69-79, July.
    17. Natalia Porto & Walter Rosales & David Gulayin, 2015. "Caracterización de los gobiernos locales en contextos de descentralización fiscal. El caso de la creación de nuevos municipios," CEFIP, Working Papers 018, CEFIP, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    18. Maria da Conceição Sampaio e Sousa, 2011. "Locally Provided Public Schooling in Brazilian Municipalities," Economia, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics], vol. 12(3), pages 427-444.
    19. Kersten Kellermann, 2008. "„Kosten der Kleinheit” und die Föderalismusdebatte in der Schweiz," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 9(2), pages 196-225, May.
    20. Craig, Steven G. & Holsey, Cheryl M., 1997. "Efficient inequality: differential allocation in the local public sector," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 763-784, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    agglomeration; cost of public services; local public goods;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H73 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Interjurisdictional Differentials and Their Effects
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

    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:zbw:zewdip:2028. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/zemande.html .

    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.