TY  - JOUR
AU  - Coate,Stephen
AU  - Knight,Brian
TI  - Government Form and Public Spending: Theory and Evidence from U.S. Municipalities
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14857
PY  - 2009
Y2  - April 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14857
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14857.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Stephen Coate
Department of Economics
Cornell University
Uris Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-7601
Tel: 607/255-1912
Fax: 215/573-2057
E-Mail: sc163@cornell.edu

Brian G. Knight
Brown University
Department of Economics, Box B
64 Waterman Street
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401/863-1584
Fax: 401/863-1970
E-Mail: Brian_Knight@brown.edu
AB  - There are two main forms of government in U.S. cities: council-manager and mayor-council. This paper develops a theory of fiscal policy determination under these two forms. The theory predicts that expected public spending will be lower under mayor-council, but that either form of government could be favored by a majority of citizens. The latter prediction means that the theory is consistent with the co-existence of both government forms. Support for the former prediction is found in both a cross-sectional analysis and a panel analysis of changes in government form.
ER  -