Bruce D Mcdonald
Biographic Data
| ID | 4128335 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Bruce D Mcdonald |
| GIVEN NAMES | Bruce D |
| FAMILY NAME | Mcdonald |
| SIGNATURE | MCDONALD B D |
| AFFILIATIONS | North Carolina State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8963-8606 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 82 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 22 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
The Determinants of Fiscal Health
The public administration literature has largely focused on local government fiscal health, mostly using data from the U.S. However, how well does this research hold up in other contexts? Using data from 5,524 municipalities from 2013 to 2021, we explore determinants of financial conditions, employing two financial indicators tailored to Brazil’s context: operational positioning and immediate liquidity. Our findings reveal that municipalities wit…
Introduction to the Special Issue
Fiscal condition, which refers to a government’s capacity to meet its financial and service obligations, remains a critical topic in public budgeting and finance, as well as in public administratio
Learning from public administration faculty
Higher education is confronting how faculty burnout has affected employee morale and job satisfaction. To better understand the implications of a pandemic on higher education. we survey over 900 public administration faculty to determine if they are burnt out and what motivates them to come to work. We apply emotional labour theory to the burnout measure system to understand the job experiences, level of satisfaction, well-being, and benefits of …
A Polyphonic Debate on Social Equity Budgeting
This paper is polyphonic (i.e., a debate involving multiple perspectives) and highlights emerging interdisciplinary thoughts on past, current, and future social equity budgeting (SEB). We present a vision for the field and emphasize the potential impact of this paper. We hope to enliven debates regarding context, underpinning philosophies, and methods, thus fostering a greater theoretical and practical reconsideration of SEB. The impact of this p…
Scholarly hypocrisy or apostasy in public administration
This Issue
The future of public administration research
Research in the field of public administration has changed and advanced significantly in recent years. These advancements concern both how we engage in research—such as the methods we apply, the interdisciplinary nature of the theories we use, and the research questions we ask. Increasingly, we are witnessing a shift in public‐sector values away from efficiency and effectiveness and toward a paradigm that highlights equity. In this article, we re…
Celebrating the centennial anniversary of Public Administration
Does the charter form lead to lower borrowing costs? Examining the case of California local governments
In this paper, we examine the impact of the charter form of government on the borrowing costs of local governments. A substantial amount of research has been undertaken to date in which scholars have investigated the determinants of borrowing costs for governments. However, little research has been conducted hitherto on the impact that the particular form of government – a key issuer characteristic – has on determining its specific borrowing cost…
A new era for Public Administration
Ethics and Public Policy
State Preemption of Local Laws
American cities are creatures of their states, with states both granting and limiting the power of their cities. This relationship is characterized by how cooperative or competitive states are with cities in their legislation. Despite the recent attention given to state preemption of local laws, this is not a new phenomenon. Part of the confusion surrounding preemption is that there is no shared definition or understanding of its forms. The purpo…
You Don't Always Get What You Want
Governments frequently use financial incentives to encourage the creation, expansion, or relocation of businesses within their borders. Research on financial incentives gives little clarity as to what impact these incentives may have on governments. While incentives may draw in more economic growth, they also pull resources from government coffers, and they may commit governments to future funding for public services that benefit the incentivized…
A human capital model of the defense-growth relationship
This paper develops a model to illustrate how human capital investments made by the defense sector impact economic performance. Emphasizing the on-the-job accumulation of human capital during military service, the model demonstrates the effect of investments on the accumulation of human capital and output of the defense sector, whose military good has a spillover effect on general production. Calibrated with data from the United States for the ye…
Making public service motivation count for increasing organizational fit
Many studies in public administration have modeled employees’ person–organization fit perceptions as a function of public service motivation, but previous work has not adequately addressed the causal relationship between these concepts. This article represents the first attempt to explain the “black box” that links public service motivation to person–organization fit. Given the various positive benefits associated with person–organization fit in …
Helpful local surtaxes? Florida and disadvantaged families
Well-intended tax policy often produces unintended consequences. In this article, we look at one such tax policy, specialised surtaxes in the State of Florida. Surtaxes are frequently adopted to provide financial assistance to poverty-based local programmes and services. Despite the intended benefits, we show that the contributors of the tax have been able to capitalise the cost into the residential property market, ultimately placing the burden …
Understanding Employee Engagement in the Public Sector
Supervisor support is often argued to be a meaningful predictor of employee engagement; however, existing research has yet to fully support this hypothesis. Drawing from the research on social exchange theory, organizational support theory, and job characteristics model, this study investigates the mediating role of perceived organizational support in the link between supervisor support and employee engagement. How this mediating effect might be …
The Nexus of State and Local Capacity in Vertical Policy Diffusion
This article examines the vertical diffusion of a policy between a state and its local governments. Although policy diffusion typically relies upon multiple mechanisms, diffusion between a state and its local governments relies primarily on coercion. Using a case study of state-mandated adherence to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), we show that the coercion mechanism is dependent upon the capacity of the state and local government…
Does Public Service Motivation Matter in Public Higher Education? Testing the Theories of Person–Organization Fit and Organizational Commitment Through a Serial Multiple Mediation Model
To address some of the inconsistencies in the literature regarding links between public service motivation (PSM) and individual performance, this study proposes and tests a three-path mediation model in public higher education in which the relationship is mediated by person–organization fit (P-O fit) and organizational commitment (OC) in serial. Based on a sample of 692 faculty at an urban public university, we find that P-O fit and OC as a causa…
Sanction Failure
Political actors have assumed that economic sanctions hinder a nation's stability by reducing its economic growth, though history has shown otherwise. One potential explanation for this phenomenon is that any decline in a growth is offset by the economic benefit they receive from a response of increased militarization. Using a defense-driven model, we test this explanation with data Iranian from 1959 to 2007. The findings show that economic sanct…
Does the Charter Form Improve the Fiscal Health of Counties
The public administration literature has paid attention to the relationship between the structure of a government and its ability to provide public services, reflected by its fiscal health. Although this literature has provided a useful understanding of government structures, it has largely ignored the charter form of government. As a formal written document that grants counties the power of self‐governance, a charter frees the county from state …
Determinants of Charter County Decisions
The establishment of a county charter, or “home-rule” provision, is intended to remove the resolution of local problems from the state legislature’s busy agenda and give the county greater control over its regional affairs. Although the literature has paid significant attention to the institutional determinants of local city structure and reform, little is understood about how and why a county would reform its governing system. For example, not a…
The Bureau of Municipal Research and the Development of a Professional Public Service
This article explores the professionalization of public administration in terms of its relation to the New York Bureau of Municipal Research. The formation of the New York Bureau of Municipal Research in 1907 served as the catalyst for the creation and expansion of a professional public service. Although public administration has failed to transform into a profession, this article shows that the Bureau contributed to professionalization by (a) de…
The future of public administration research
Research in the field of public administration has changed and advanced significantly in recent years. These advancements concern both how we engage in research—such as the methods we apply, the interdisciplinary nature of the theories we use, and the research questions we ask. Increasingly, we are witnessing a shift in public‐sector values away from efficiency and effectiveness and toward a paradigm that highlights equity. In this article, we re…
Determinants of Charter County Decisions
The establishment of a county charter, or “home-rule” provision, is intended to remove the resolution of local problems from the state legislature’s busy agenda and give the county greater control over its regional affairs. Although the literature has paid significant attention to the institutional determinants of local city structure and reform, little is understood about how and why a county would reform its governing system. For example, not a…
You Don't Always Get What You Want
Governments frequently use financial incentives to encourage the creation, expansion, or relocation of businesses within their borders. Research on financial incentives gives little clarity as to what impact these incentives may have on governments. While incentives may draw in more economic growth, they also pull resources from government coffers, and they may commit governments to future funding for public services that benefit the incentivized…
The Nexus of State and Local Capacity in Vertical Policy Diffusion
This article examines the vertical diffusion of a policy between a state and its local governments. Although policy diffusion typically relies upon multiple mechanisms, diffusion between a state and its local governments relies primarily on coercion. Using a case study of state-mandated adherence to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), we show that the coercion mechanism is dependent upon the capacity of the state and local government…
Does Public Service Motivation Matter in Public Higher Education? Testing the Theories of Person–Organization Fit and Organizational Commitment Through a Serial Multiple Mediation Model
To address some of the inconsistencies in the literature regarding links between public service motivation (PSM) and individual performance, this study proposes and tests a three-path mediation model in public higher education in which the relationship is mediated by person–organization fit (P-O fit) and organizational commitment (OC) in serial. Based on a sample of 692 faculty at an urban public university, we find that P-O fit and OC as a causa…
The Bureau of Municipal Research and the Development of a Professional Public Service
This article explores the professionalization of public administration in terms of its relation to the New York Bureau of Municipal Research. The formation of the New York Bureau of Municipal Research in 1907 served as the catalyst for the creation and expansion of a professional public service. Although public administration has failed to transform into a profession, this article shows that the Bureau contributed to professionalization by (a) de…
Understanding Employee Engagement in the Public Sector
Supervisor support is often argued to be a meaningful predictor of employee engagement; however, existing research has yet to fully support this hypothesis. Drawing from the research on social exchange theory, organizational support theory, and job characteristics model, this study investigates the mediating role of perceived organizational support in the link between supervisor support and employee engagement. How this mediating effect might be …
A new era for Public Administration
Ethics and Public Policy
A human capital model of the defense-growth relationship
This paper develops a model to illustrate how human capital investments made by the defense sector impact economic performance. Emphasizing the on-the-job accumulation of human capital during military service, the model demonstrates the effect of investments on the accumulation of human capital and output of the defense sector, whose military good has a spillover effect on general production. Calibrated with data from the United States for the ye…
Helpful local surtaxes? Florida and disadvantaged families
Well-intended tax policy often produces unintended consequences. In this article, we look at one such tax policy, specialised surtaxes in the State of Florida. Surtaxes are frequently adopted to provide financial assistance to poverty-based local programmes and services. Despite the intended benefits, we show that the contributors of the tax have been able to capitalise the cost into the residential property market, ultimately placing the burden …
Sanction Failure
Political actors have assumed that economic sanctions hinder a nation's stability by reducing its economic growth, though history has shown otherwise. One potential explanation for this phenomenon is that any decline in a growth is offset by the economic benefit they receive from a response of increased militarization. Using a defense-driven model, we test this explanation with data Iranian from 1959 to 2007. The findings show that economic sanct…
The Bureau of Municipal Research and the Development of a Professional Public Service
This article explores the professionalization of public administration in terms of its relation to the New York Bureau of Municipal Research. The formation of the New York Bureau of Municipal Research in 1907 served as the catalyst for the creation and expansion of a professional public service. Although public administration has failed to transform into a profession, this article shows that the Bureau contributed to professionalization by (a) de…
Determinants of Charter County Decisions
The establishment of a county charter, or “home-rule” provision, is intended to remove the resolution of local problems from the state legislature’s busy agenda and give the county greater control over its regional affairs. Although the literature has paid significant attention to the institutional determinants of local city structure and reform, little is understood about how and why a county would reform its governing system. For example, not a…
Does the Charter Form Improve the Fiscal Health of Counties
The public administration literature has paid attention to the relationship between the structure of a government and its ability to provide public services, reflected by its fiscal health. Although this literature has provided a useful understanding of government structures, it has largely ignored the charter form of government. As a formal written document that grants counties the power of self‐governance, a charter frees the county from state …
Understanding Employee Engagement in the Public Sector
Supervisor support is often argued to be a meaningful predictor of employee engagement; however, existing research has yet to fully support this hypothesis. Drawing from the research on social exchange theory, organizational support theory, and job characteristics model, this study investigates the mediating role of perceived organizational support in the link between supervisor support and employee engagement. How this mediating effect might be …
The Nexus of State and Local Capacity in Vertical Policy Diffusion
This article examines the vertical diffusion of a policy between a state and its local governments. Although policy diffusion typically relies upon multiple mechanisms, diffusion between a state and its local governments relies primarily on coercion. Using a case study of state-mandated adherence to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), we show that the coercion mechanism is dependent upon the capacity of the state and local government…
Does Public Service Motivation Matter in Public Higher Education? Testing the Theories of Person–Organization Fit and Organizational Commitment Through a Serial Multiple Mediation Model
To address some of the inconsistencies in the literature regarding links between public service motivation (PSM) and individual performance, this study proposes and tests a three-path mediation model in public higher education in which the relationship is mediated by person–organization fit (P-O fit) and organizational commitment (OC) in serial. Based on a sample of 692 faculty at an urban public university, we find that P-O fit and OC as a causa…
Sanction Failure
Political actors have assumed that economic sanctions hinder a nation's stability by reducing its economic growth, though history has shown otherwise. One potential explanation for this phenomenon is that any decline in a growth is offset by the economic benefit they receive from a response of increased militarization. Using a defense-driven model, we test this explanation with data Iranian from 1959 to 2007. The findings show that economic sanct…
Helpful local surtaxes? Florida and disadvantaged families
Well-intended tax policy often produces unintended consequences. In this article, we look at one such tax policy, specialised surtaxes in the State of Florida. Surtaxes are frequently adopted to provide financial assistance to poverty-based local programmes and services. Despite the intended benefits, we show that the contributors of the tax have been able to capitalise the cost into the residential property market, ultimately placing the burden …
A human capital model of the defense-growth relationship
This paper develops a model to illustrate how human capital investments made by the defense sector impact economic performance. Emphasizing the on-the-job accumulation of human capital during military service, the model demonstrates the effect of investments on the accumulation of human capital and output of the defense sector, whose military good has a spillover effect on general production. Calibrated with data from the United States for the ye…
Making public service motivation count for increasing organizational fit
Many studies in public administration have modeled employees’ person–organization fit perceptions as a function of public service motivation, but previous work has not adequately addressed the causal relationship between these concepts. This article represents the first attempt to explain the “black box” that links public service motivation to person–organization fit. Given the various positive benefits associated with person–organization fit in …
State Preemption of Local Laws
American cities are creatures of their states, with states both granting and limiting the power of their cities. This relationship is characterized by how cooperative or competitive states are with cities in their legislation. Despite the recent attention given to state preemption of local laws, this is not a new phenomenon. Part of the confusion surrounding preemption is that there is no shared definition or understanding of its forms. The purpo…
You Don't Always Get What You Want
Governments frequently use financial incentives to encourage the creation, expansion, or relocation of businesses within their borders. Research on financial incentives gives little clarity as to what impact these incentives may have on governments. While incentives may draw in more economic growth, they also pull resources from government coffers, and they may commit governments to future funding for public services that benefit the incentivized…
Does the charter form lead to lower borrowing costs? Examining the case of California local governments
In this paper, we examine the impact of the charter form of government on the borrowing costs of local governments. A substantial amount of research has been undertaken to date in which scholars have investigated the determinants of borrowing costs for governments. However, little research has been conducted hitherto on the impact that the particular form of government – a key issuer characteristic – has on determining its specific borrowing cost…
A new era for Public Administration
Ethics and Public Policy
The future of public administration research
Research in the field of public administration has changed and advanced significantly in recent years. These advancements concern both how we engage in research—such as the methods we apply, the interdisciplinary nature of the theories we use, and the research questions we ask. Increasingly, we are witnessing a shift in public‐sector values away from efficiency and effectiveness and toward a paradigm that highlights equity. In this article, we re…
Celebrating the centennial anniversary of Public Administration
Scholarly hypocrisy or apostasy in public administration
This Issue
A Polyphonic Debate on Social Equity Budgeting
This paper is polyphonic (i.e., a debate involving multiple perspectives) and highlights emerging interdisciplinary thoughts on past, current, and future social equity budgeting (SEB). We present a vision for the field and emphasize the potential impact of this paper. We hope to enliven debates regarding context, underpinning philosophies, and methods, thus fostering a greater theoretical and practical reconsideration of SEB. The impact of this p…
Learning from public administration faculty
Higher education is confronting how faculty burnout has affected employee morale and job satisfaction. To better understand the implications of a pandemic on higher education. we survey over 900 public administration faculty to determine if they are burnt out and what motivates them to come to work. We apply emotional labour theory to the burnout measure system to understand the job experiences, level of satisfaction, well-being, and benefits of …
The Determinants of Fiscal Health
The public administration literature has largely focused on local government fiscal health, mostly using data from the U.S. However, how well does this research hold up in other contexts? Using data from 5,524 municipalities from 2013 to 2021, we explore determinants of financial conditions, employing two financial indicators tailored to Brazil’s context: operational positioning and immediate liquidity. Our findings reveal that municipalities wit…
Introduction to the Special Issue
Fiscal condition, which refers to a government’s capacity to meet its financial and service obligations, remains a critical topic in public budgeting and finance, as well as in public administratio
Political science (19 works) · Business (12 works) · Law (11 works) · Economics (10 works) · Law (10 works) · Public Policy and Administration Research (10 works) · Local Government Finance and Decentralization (9 works) · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth (8 works) · Public Administration (7 works) · Public Administration (7 works)