Sustainability Synergies or Silos? The Opportunity Costs of Local Government Organizational Capabilities

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6360289
AutoresAaron Deslatte (0000-0001-5518-3949, Indiana University, autor correspondente), Eric Stokan (0000-0001-8409-5016, University of Maryland, autor correspondente)
Ano2020
Volume80
Fascículo6
Páginas1024-1034
Data de publicação2020-08-07
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoPublic Administration Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0033-3352 • E-ISSN: 1540-6210
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/puar.13237
OpenAlexW3048114318
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas27
Referências citadas67

Public managers serve many sovereigns, work within fiscal constraints, and face competing demands for finite resources. This article applies a strategic management lens to local government sustainability capabilities to examine the conditions under which local governments diversify into new areas of service delivery and when they do not. Building on recent efforts to apply resource‐based theories to the public sector, the authors distinguish between more and less fungible capabilities and posit that local government officials make such commitments to enhance the competitiveness of their communities. Two surveys of U.S. cities provide evidence that governments that rely on tax incentive‐based development approaches may struggle to make sustainable development gains. Such cities are more likely to devote resources disproportionately to delivering benefits to firms at the risk of incurring increasing opportunity costs over time. Prior commitments to traditional, firm‐based economic development capabilities appear to inhibit their ability to pursue broader sustainability policies. However, economic development strategic planning can also positively influence some investments in greenhouse gas reduction efforts. Moreover, cities facing more competition for development are more likely to integrate planning and performance measurement to assess their sustainability commitments

Business · Competition (biology · Economics · Government (linguistics · Incentive · Industrial organization · Local government · Market economy · Public economics · Public relations · Public service · Sustainability · Work (physics · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research