The Great Defection: How New City Clusters Form to Escape County Governance

“For 50 years, scholars have known that new cities often form in clusters. Prior research suggested these clusters form in response to aggressive annexation attempts by existing cities. By pairing statistics with four in-depth case studies, we find that contrary to prior research, new urban city clusters do not form to ward off annexations. Rather, new urban city clusters form to escape county governance, incited to do so by pioneer cities that serve as a powerful catalyst for subsequent municipal incorporations in the region.

Tracing the cluster development mechanisms, we find clear evidence that the pioneer incorporating cities directly mentor and reduce transaction costs for subsequent incorporations. This mass defection from the county comes at a steep price, however-including a severely eroded county tax base, creation of difficult-to-serve pockets of unincorporated areas, and other potential impacts ranging from loss of policing expertise to diminished county credit ratings.

In 2006, a revolution began in Sandy Springs, Georgia, located in Fulton County within the Atlanta metropolitan area. Long pining for their own city, Sandy Springs residents finally achieved their goal after decades of advocacy, becoming the first new metropolitan city Georgia witnessed in decades. The secession from Fulton County had far-reaching effects, sparking multiple other municipal incorporations in the area-Milton, Johns Creek, Chattahoochee Hills-even inspiring new cities to form outside the borders of Fulton County in adjacent counties.

What stimulates the formation of such clusters? Scholars have long noted that new municipalities-new cities, towns, and villages-incorporate in clusters; the pattern is not geographically random (Schmandt, 1961; Stauber, 1965; Smith, 2008; Smith & Debbage, 2006, 2011; Waldner, Rice, & Smith, 2013). Previous scholarly work suggested annexation might play a role (Stauber, 1965; Rigos & Spindler, 1997; Smith & Debbage, 2006), yet the cause of clustering remains unknown as few scholars have actually studied the phenomenon.

Stauber (1965) was among the first to confirm the existence of clusters. He demonstrated that new municipalities tend to occur in clusters, close together in time and space. He noted that “For over a generation, the phenomenon of multiple incorporations within a single county or contiguous counties and often within a brief time-span has been observed (especially in metropolitan areas) and remarked upon, usually in a critical way, by students of local government” (12) – yet the cause of such clustering was not known.

Writing more recently, Smith and Debbage (2006) also identified distinct clustering patterns and similarly conclude that more detailed case studies of clustering are needed to further “shed light on the processes” (p. 110) that lead to the clustering. “Clearly,” they conclude, “more research is needed to better understand the complex geographic clustering effects” (p. 118).

Why should scholars and practitioners care about the clustering of new municipalities? By creating new political entities (municipalities) in a restricted geographical landscape, NIMs (Newly Incorporated Municipalities) have profound impacts on governance structure, taxes, services, and elections (Miller, 1981; Jonas, 1991; Cox & Jonas, 1993; Burns, 1994; Foster, 1997; Musso, 2001; Rusk, 2003; Waldner, Rice, & Smith, 2013).

NIMs can enhance local control, improve local government services, and provide valuable opportunities for new interagency alliances. Tieboutian supporters of public choice defend the right of residents to determine the governance that best suits their preferences, leading to new municipalities (Tiebout, 1956; Ostrom, Tiebout, & Warren, 1961).NIMs can also dramatically fragment local political geography. As will be evident through the case studies, several new NIMs within a single county can profoundly alter the local and regional governance structure, re-wiring power structures, sharply reducing county revenues through lost taxes, and cutting the county out of land use decisions.”

Published in Public Administration Quarterly | L. Waldner | 2015, https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Great-Defection%3A-How-New-City-Clusters-Form-to-Waldner-Smith/258ccebcb3c1096cda449b5806a28eeae5f4a2af

Examining the relationship between municipal consolidation and cost reduction: an instrumental variable approach

“Because consolidation seems to increase per capita expenditure in the absence of the effect of this long-term declining trend, incorporating this trend into estimation is crucial in cost-efficiency analysis of consolidation. It is also shown that conventional panel data regressions yield biased consolidation effects, suggesting the superiority of the IV approach.”

This study explores the cost-reduction effects of local government consolidation, using data from Japanese municipalities. We use municipal panel data from Japan for the years 2000, 2005 and 2010, a data set including numerous consolidation cases. Reverse causality between consolidation decisions and size of municipal expenditure is a concern in the voluntary consolidation of local governments. An instrumental variable (IV) methodology is employed to deal with possible endogeneity associated with consolidation decisions. The main finding is that municipal current expenditure per capita increases immediately after consolidation, but then gradually declines.

Published in Applied Economics | T. Miyazaki | 2018 https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Examining-the-relationship-between-municipal-and-an-Miyazaki/7d4123baea904393feca6cd150ddba16cf096bd6

The Future of Police Consolidation

“As community reluctance to total city-county consolidation is likely to continue, less drastic methods of centralizing and coordinating key services among law enforcement agencies are recommended.”

Consolidation of police services is a continuing concern in American law enforcement. Spearheaded by the 1967 President’s Commission, numerous expert panels and study groups have recommended the consolidation of smaller agencies as a way to increase coordination among departments, limit unnecessary duplication and reduce per capita expense. Despite a few notable exceptions, consolidation proposals have been soundly defeated at the polls as few communities are willing to relinquish local autonomy and control. This paper discusses the prospects for further law enforcement consolidation and speculates on likely future trends.

Published in Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice | 1987
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Future-of-Police-Consolidation/77b97c60683bb09e2ca5974732bc9e184321bbee

The Consolidation of Local Government Services: The Incidence and Practice of Service Delivery Consolidation in North Carolina

“This research does suggest strong support from county managers concerning the potential for service consolidation to enhance service delivery, efficiency and accountability. This research confirms that practitioners view the potential of service consolidation as an enhancement to local government organizations. Academic research is inconsistent regarding consolidation outcomes and the perceptions held by practitioners.

The problem for advocates of service delivery consolidation is the lack of systematic research on the topic. The issue is typically linked with similar topics such as collaboration, regionalism or comprehensive city-county merger. Also, greater systematic analysis of the pre-merger claims and post-merger results should be undertaken.”

Service consolidation is the merging of two or more departments of independent units of government. By definition, service merger results in the elimination of an existing department and the restructuring of a surviving or reconstituted organization with the same or similar function. Substantial organizational change occurs in both governments.

For purposes of this research, service merger is defined as follows: Service merger is a form of integrated interaction or activity between units of government. It involves at least two units of government sometimes having overlapping jurisdictional authority. The activity occurs when identical or similar departments are merged. Each government involved in the service consolidation retains their governing political organization and structure and remains a separate legal entity. The specific service that is merged ceases to be provided by at least one unit of government. Despite some common characteristics, service consolidation differs fundamentally from local government cooperation, collaboration, regionalism and comprehensive city-county merger.

Published in Public Administration Quarterly | C. R. Abernathy | 2012
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Consolidation-of-Local-Government-Services%3A-The-Abernathy/57d7ac7d7ac7fb3c2e038185ad634ff35737ef32

Government efficiency, institutions, and the effects of fiscal consolidation on public debt

“First, we confirm that consolidation programs imply a stronger reduction of the public debt ratio when they rely mainly on spending cuts, except public investment. Government wage bill cuts, however, only contribute to lower public debt ratios when public sector efficiency is low.

Second, we find that a given consolidation program will be more effective in bringing down debt when it is adopted by a more efficient government apparatus.

Third, more efficient governments adopt consolidation programs of better composition. As to other institutions, consolidation policies are more successful when they are accompanied by product market deregulation, and when they are adopted by left-wing governments. By contrast, simultaneous labor market deregulation may be counterproductive during consolidation periods.”

We study the evolution of the ratio of public debt to GDP during 132 fiscal episodes in 21 OECD countries in 1981–2008. Our main focus is on debt dynamics during 40 consolidation periods. To define these periods we use data on the evolution of the underlying cyclically adjusted primary balance, and as such avoid biases that may be induced by one-off budgetary measures. The paper brings new evidence on the role of public sector efficiency for the success of fiscal consolidation. 

Published in European Journal of Political Economy | Freddy Heylen | 2013 https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Government-efficiency%2C-institutions%2C-and-the-of-on-Heylen-Hoebeeck/91851eb58269214602d8f5fa0dd3a093110cb4b2

Cost Savings From Consolidating North Dakota’s Counties

“The results indicate that the 15-county proposal would have achieved cost savings of 4.9 percent for the four service categories. Costs of road and highway, general government, and health and welfare services could be reduced 3, 10, and 15 percent, respectively, under the 15-county proposal, but public safety expenditures would increase 25 percent.

The 26-county alternative would provide less total cost savings, but also fewer cases of cost increases. Consolidation of some, but not all, county government services provides the greatest cost savings.”

Consolidation of county government services is often proposed as a way to reduce costs. A bill was proposed in the 1993 North Dakota Legislative Assembly to merge North Dakota’s 53 counties into 15 “super counties.” This study estimates county expenditure functions for four categories of services: (1) general government, (2) public safety, (3) roads and highways, and (4) health and welfare. The statistical results were used to estimate expenditures for the 15 consolidated counties and a 26-county alternative.

Published in Agricultural Economics Reports | M. Krause | 1996 https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/COST-SAVINGS-FROM-CONSOLIDATING-NORTH-DAKOTA’S-Krause/d98e9668e728730d1b57841846e9034e86e84e9f

Evolutionary Pattern and Effect of Administrative Division Adjustment During Urbanization of China: Empirical Analysis on Multiple Scales

“The results show that:

1) Upgrading county to municipality (or city-governed district) is the main way of adjusting the administrative divisions. It is also an important factor in the spatial differentiation of interprovincial urbanization. China’s population urbanization can be divided into four patterns including interprovincial migration, provincial migration, natural growth, and growth caused by the adjustment of administrative divisions, which is also the main reason for the increased Chinese urbanization rate at the provincial level.

2) Taking the city of Beijing as an example, we generalize five adjustment patterns made to administrative divisions: the set-up of sub-districts, the set-up of regional offices, the upgrading of townships to sub-districts, the upgrading of townships to towns, and the set-up of towns and the addition of new regional offices. We summarize the municipal urban spatial structure, including the sub-district office area in the central urban area, the regional office area in the new urban area, the mixed area of villages, towns, and sub-district offices in the suburb area, and the township area in the outer suburb area.

3) The adjustment of administrative divisions triggers a significant circulative accumulation effect, resulting in the spatial locking of population and industrial agglomeration. It affects the evolution of the urban spatial form and plays an important role in shaping the urban spatial structure to move to the characteristic of multicenter.

In general, the adjustment of administrative divisions was an important factor affecting the inflated statistical level of urbanization and also an important driving force for the evolution of Chinese urban spatial organization structure.

The adjustment of administrative divisions is one of the important factors guiding China’s urbanization, which has profound economic and social effects for regional development. In this paper, we comprehensively describe the process of the adjustment of administrative divisions at provincial and municipal levels in China and summarize the effects on the basic structure and patterns of the spatial development. We quantitatively assess the effects on fields such as urbanization and social economy through the use of multidimensional scaling. 

Published in Chinese Geographical Science | Hu Yu | 2018 https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Evolutionary-Pattern-and-Effect-of-Administrative-Yu-Deng/98d6bd0dfabee913eca15776fc762b5652216125

Do ‘city shapers’ really support urban consolidation? The case of Brisbane, Australia

“Findings indicate that urban consolidation debates and justifications diverge significantly from stated policy intentions and are based on differing views on ‘good’ urban form, the role of planning and community consultation and the value of higher density housing.

We conclude that there is utility and value in identifying how urban consolidation strategies are influenced by the shared beliefs, myths and perceptions held by city shapers. Understanding these narratives and their influence is fundamental to understanding the power-laden manipulation of policy definitions and development outcomes.”

Cities all over the world have activated policy support for urban consolidation in recent decades. Rationales for urban consolidation focus on its perceived ability to achieve sustainability goals, including decreased automobile dependence, increased social cohesion and greater walkability. Despite this, there are few international examples of urban consolidation policy implementation that has achieved its stated aims.

This paper explores the nature and character of perceptions of urban consolidation held by urban planners, developers, architects and local politicians. The perspectives held by these ‘city shapers’ are integral to urban consolidation debates and delivery, yet the nature and character of their specific views are underexplored in urban studies literature.

This paper combines the theoretical lens of Social Representations Theory with the methodological approach of Q-methodology to understand the common sense understandings of urban consolidation held by city shapers in Brisbane, Australia. It identifies, synthesises and critically discusses the social representations employed by city shapers to understand, promote and communicate about urban consolidation.

Published in Urban Studies | Katrina Raynor | 2018 https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Do-%E2%80%98city-shapers%E2%80%99-really-support-urban-The-case-of-Raynor-Mayere/8202896e61964573ac6b646809b910b5713e1c3f

Municipal consolidation and local government behavior: evidence from Japanese voting data on merger referenda

“Municipalities that could enjoy large economies of scale from consolidation prefer consolidation, while large and small municipalities are likely to merge. Moreover, municipalities receiving large unconditional grants from the central government are unlikely to merge.”

The empirical literature investigating the role of key features of local governments regarding decisions on consolidation tends to use a dummy dependent variable that takes 1 if both adjacent local governments decide to merge and 0 if one of them does not approve consolidation. Under this estimation method, however, it is difficult to know which governments refused to consolidate, as consolidation was not realized. The current study empirically tests the effects of economies of scale, population size, heterogeneity of preferences, and financial factors on municipal preferences for consolidation. It uses voting data from Japanese local referenda to identify preferences of specific individual municipalities, thus allowing a richer examination of local government behavior. 

Published in Economics of Governance | T. Miyazaki | 2014 https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Municipal-consolidation-and-local-government-from-Miyazaki/9d753be8a5d6dc263c92731c62fb957d2a015b30

Scale Economies And Police Department Consolidation: Evidence From Los Angeles

“Empirical analysis here rejects the hypothesis that police output is produced under increasing returns, which would be an efficiency explanation for the large degree of consolidation found within the county.”

This paper tests for scale economies for police departments operating in Los Angeles County. Intergovernmental sharing in providing police services prevails within the county, suggesting that scale economies exist in producing this public good.

Published in Contemporary Economic Policy | Miles M. Finney | 1997 https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Scale-Economies-And-Police-Department-Evidence-From-Finney/c8d1f92bd947852c82e00db5e88e9c2f9a55c172
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