Political fragmentation and economic growth in U.S. metropolitan areas

This paper analyzes the impact of local political fragmentation on population, employment, and per capita money income growth in 314 U.S. metropolitan areas. The results are mixed. Smaller central cities and more special district overlap are important for population growth. The findings do not gener...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of urban affairs Vol. 43; no. 9; pp. 1355 - 1376
Main Author Goodman, Christopher B.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Newark Routledge 21.10.2021
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
City centres
Economic analysis
Economic development
Economic growth
Employment
Fragmentation
Impact analysis
Income
Inner city
Metropolitan areas
Money
Politics
Population growth
Regional development
United States > US
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Summary:This paper analyzes the impact of local political fragmentation on population, employment, and per capita money income growth in 314 U.S. metropolitan areas. The results are mixed. Smaller central cities and more special district overlap are important for population growth. The findings do not generalize in regard to employment or per capita money income growth. These findings mask important regional variation: political fragmentation is largely unrelated to economic growth in midwestern and western metropolitan areas. These results partially support the hypothesis that governmental fragmentation can enhance local economic growth; however, the overall impact appears muted relative to a metropolitan area's economic characteristics.
ISSN:0735-2166
1467-9906
DOI:10.1080/07352166.2020.1742578