Three essays in the economics of local public goods

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Economics, 2005.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lutz, Byron F
Other Authors: Josh Angrist, Michael Greenstone and David Autor.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2006
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32403
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author Lutz, Byron F
author2 Josh Angrist, Michael Greenstone and David Autor.
author_facet Josh Angrist, Michael Greenstone and David Autor.
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spelling mit-1721.1/324032019-04-11T13:15:56Z Three essays in the economics of local public goods 3 essays in the economics of local public goods Lutz, Byron F Josh Angrist, Michael Greenstone and David Autor. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Economics. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Economics. Economics. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Economics, 2005. "June 2005." Includes bibliographical references. This thesis is a collection of three empirical essays on the economics of local public goods. Chapter One examines the marginal propensity of local governments to spend out of lump- sum grant income. Economic theory predicts that this marginal propensity will equal the marginal propensity to spend on public goods out of private income. A large empirical literature contradicts the prediction. A school finance reform in the state of New Hampshire is used to test the prediction. The use of direct democracy to determine the provision level of local public goods in New Hampshire provides a uniquely appropriate environment in which to conduct the test. The results provide support for the theoretical prediction. Chapter Two examines the most significant locally provided public good, education. Specifically, the chapter examines the end of court-ordered desegregation. The widespread termination of desegregation plans in the post 1990 period has returned a large number of school districts to local control and ended efforts to promote racial integration. The results suggest that the termination of a desegregation plan results in a gradual, moderate increase in racial segregation and an increase in black dropout rates and rates of black private school attendance in localities located outside the South census region. There is no effect on black dropout rates or rates of black private school attendance in the South. Chapter Three examines the impact of the most significant local tax, the property tax, on capital investment. The results suggest that the elasticity of residential capital investment with respect to the property tax is -1.9 to -.8. (cont.) There is no evidence that business capital investment responds to the rate of property taxation in a locality. by Byron F. Lutz. Ph.D. 2006-03-29T18:41:29Z 2006-03-29T18:41:29Z 2005 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32403 61691165 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 154, [8] p. 9296267 bytes 9305537 bytes application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Economics.
Lutz, Byron F
Three essays in the economics of local public goods
title Three essays in the economics of local public goods
title_full Three essays in the economics of local public goods
title_fullStr Three essays in the economics of local public goods
title_full_unstemmed Three essays in the economics of local public goods
title_short Three essays in the economics of local public goods
title_sort three essays in the economics of local public goods
topic Economics.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32403
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