Competition and Local Government: A Public Choice Perspective

On a Diet: Explaining Differences in Overhead among Public Agencies in the Era of Austerity

“…Some authors find positive effects (Hammerschmid, Krischok, & Steigenberger, 2012;Kraak & Van Oosteroom, 2002;Office of Public Services Reform, 2002), others find negative effects (Boyne, 1996), and most studies seem to find no clear effects (Andrews, 2011;James, 2003). Overall, previous research confirms that more empirical research on the context-dependent effects of autonomy and result control is necessary.…”

An empirical analysis of municipal choice in Portugal

“…The bureau-shaping model has been applied to the study of institutional change, and has produced some evidence that 'size' is not an adequate measure of the influence of bureaucracy. Boyne (1996a) criticised the RSI models because of their excessive dependency on economic assumptions, ignoring other dimensions, such as ideology, that could be influential. An alternative hypothesis to RSI models admits as a component the fidelity of candidates to their parties' ideology.…”

The Methodology of The Public Choice Research Programme: The Case Of ‘Voting With Feet’

“…He argues that on all counts the local government system in Britain is such as to reduce the likely salience of Tiebout effects. 18 The structure of the system refers primarily to the size of local authority jurisdictions: the argument is that in the UK jurisdictions are generally too large, relative to typical relocation distances, to have to compete with each other. Similarly, the lack of local flexibility over the range and level of service that can be offered, the limits on local tax-raising powers and the heavy reliance on central government funding and equalisation grants mean that the bundle of services offered and levels of taxation do not vary sharply between localities.…”