What impact does state authorization have on local decisions to use economic development policies?

What is it about?

This article looks at the impact that state authorization has on local government's decisions to adopt important local economic development policies (tax abatements, tax increment financing, enterprise zones). It also refines what we know about the forces that drive local governments decisions to use those incentives (e.g. competition, actors, etc.).

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Why is it important?

This article is important because it recognizes the role that states play in local decisions. At the most basic level, local governments are dependent upon states for authorization of these financial instruments. Failing to account for this has led us to incorrectly perceive some factors or forces as being more or less important in their impact on local economic development usage. Given that it refines those forces and factors, it adds to this body of literature in other important ways.