The Political Economy of City Formation in California: Limits to Tiebout Sorting

• Published in: Social science quarterly Vol. 82; no. 1; pp. 139 - 153
• Main Author: Musso, Juliet Ann
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, USA and Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishers Inc 01.03.2001; Blackwell Publishers; Blackwell; Southwestern Social Science Association; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Series: Social Science Quarterly
• Subjects: Agenda Setting; California; Cities; City Planning; City politics; Communities; Dwelling value; Economic conditions; Economic Factors; Elections; Incorporation; Local elections; Local government; Of General Interest; Political behaviour; Political economy; Political sociology; Politics; Population growth; Property taxes; Public Services; Residential differentiation; Residential mobility; Retirement communities; Rural and urban sociology; Social services; Sociodemographic Factors; Sociology; Statistical median; Statistical significance; Tiebout, Charles; U.S.A; Urban sociology; USA; Voter behavior; Voters; Voting Behavior; Voting behaviour; United States > US; California; Attitude towards; Vote; Creation; Theoritical model; Political Behaviour; Prediction; Residence; Residential Mobility; City; Election; Political Economy; Comparison; Socio-demographic factor; Fiscal System; Typology
• ISSN: 0038-4941; 1540-6237
• DOI: 10.1111/0038-4941.00013

Objective. This paper analyzes the extent to which voter behavior in city formation elections supports Tiebouts (1956) hypothesis that residential sorting facilitates efficiency of local service provision. It develops a two-stage model of city formation to distinguish agenda setting from voter outcomes on city formation proposals. Methods. Logit analysis is used to analyze voting in 71 city formation elections, incorporating Heckmans two-stage procedure to correct for self-selection of local referenda. Results. Community fiscal and demographic factors influence agenda setting more than voting behavior. Wealthier communities in high-growth counties are more likely to propose formation of a city. In contrast, community characteristics have little influence on electoral outcomes, suggesting that boundedly rational voters rely on information heuristics. Conclusions. Although reduction of diversity did not appear to motivate city formation, sorting around residential income, land use preferences, and other demographic variables may facilitate relative efficiency of service provision.