This article develops a framework to classify and compare state administered enterprise zone programs based on survey data from state program administrators. Three themes are described as having led to the design and implementation of individual state programs: economic theory, political theory, and programmatic experience. From these themes, seven key dimensions are identify ed, within which state programs can be expected to vary. The analysis measures the variation among states' programs within these dimensions and assesses the usefulness of the framework developed here as a guide to comprehensive evaluation of individual and comparative program performance.
Although the proposal was initially and unsuccessfully raised at the national level every year since 1980,30 states have come to adopt their own version of an enterprise zone system. This article reports the results of a 1985 mailed survey of the chief administrative officers of the state enterprise zone programs, analyzing how these officials: (1) rated the types of objectives that states have established for their programs, (2) evaluated the complexion of the political coalitions that led to the design of their programs, (3) described the degree of innovativeness and prior experience embodied within their state's initiative, and (4) characterized the nature of state level intervention into local government zone packages, and state intentions toward altering local public‐private sector economic relationships through the use of their programs. The article concludes that the states are at it again—experimenting, adapting, sometimes disagreeing, but in particular innovating with a timely policy issue.
Survey research undertaken under the auspicies of HUD. and ana1.vzed in this paper. demonstrates that municipal ojjicials,/rom smaller cities do not perceive their situation in /he intergovernmental grant proc'ess to be suiressjirl. The smaller the city, the more like1.v are ojjicials to feel that the grants proi'ess is outside their capacity and control. Attributes associated with city size appear to be the major lactors explaining variations in the municipal ojjicial's perceptions oftheir capaciiies to successfully vie in thefederal grants netnwk. Grants management capacity is described not us a unidimensional concept, but as one whi1.h varies by the location ofcapacity, by the level ofcapacity, and b.v the stability of that capacity over time (longitudinally. and more narrowI.v, during the grant acquisition process). It is reported that nothing in the recent past indkates that the system is about to change and, w,hile regu1ator.s reform may prove beneficial, it "ill noi by itself provide the economic. political and managerial resources necessary to alter the intergovernmental transfer oJ.funds along more equitable lines. The Federal Assistance MalaiseCurrently there is no clear or consistent national grants policy designed to address the variety of needs in smaller cities. Local complaints about the operation and impact of the federal grants-in-aid system include an awe induced by the array of programs, disgruntlement caused by the burdensome administrative requirements of program management, and an increasing fear over financial and programmatic dependence on the federal government. For example, two scholars have commented: "The sheer number of programs can ... overwhelm state and local officials to the point that they are often unaware of grant money for which they may be eligible. This is especially true of smaller jurisdictions that lack specialized staffs to deal with grants."' At a time when the needs of small municipalities range from a basic struggle to maintain the quantity and quality of services in declining communities, to the needs of those communities facing conditions of startling growth, Congress is faced with a national kaleidoscope of urban-rural trends, problems and demands. On the other hand, individual municipal governments face what seems an inflexible collage of grant purposes, requirements, coordination structures and public officials, with interests other than general municipal fiscal assistance. In summarizing the current condition of fiscal federalism, one official of the Congressional Budget Office, Robert Reischauer, observed "(t)he diversity in the provision of services is matched by the diversity of responsibilities for supplying financial support. The existence of large amounts of intergovernmental grants means that often the jurisdiction responsible for providing a particular service is not the one responsible for its fiscal support."2 Perhaps the most striking observation that can be made about the current array of federal aid programs for municipal governments is that there i...
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