Did amalgamation make local government more fit for the future
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11960930 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joseph Drew (0000-0003-3579-5758, Institute of Public Policy and Governance University of Technology Sydney Moonbi New South Wales Australia, corresponding author), Dana Mcquestin (0000-0002-0137-0260, Institute of Public Policy and Governance University of Technology Sydney Ultimo New South Wales Australia), Brian Dollery (0000-0003-2760-865X, University of New England, UNE Business School Armidale New South Wales Australia) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 81 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 383-398 |
| Publication date | 2021-12-09 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Australian Journal of Public Administration (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0313-6647 • E-ISSN: 1467-8500 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1467-8500.12530 |
| OpenAlex | W4200282577 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 18 |
Local government amalgamations, mostly aimed at improving financial sustainability, remain a strongly contested public policy option. Proponents of amalgamation tend to emphasise the advantages of scale and plan around population size targets. By contrast, some scholars note the importance of understanding the needs and tastes of residents for local public services and stress the dangers of amalgamation dominated by population size considerations alone. In this paper, we conduct a robust empirical investigation of a recent amalgamation program dominated by population size considerations. Our results suggest that local government boundaries constructed principally to secure scale benefits have largely failed to deliver on the pecuniary promise of its public policy proponents. We conclude by offering some central public policy recommendations aimed at ensuring that future amalgamation programs might be more successful
Business · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Government (linguistics · Local government · Plan (archaeology · Political science · Population · Population size · Public economics · Public policy · Scale (ratio · Sociology · Sustainability · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Public Administration · Taxation and Compliance Studies
Local government amalgamations
Rules of Evidence, Efficiency Claims, and Local Government Amalgamation
Devolution and local government
Is ‘more’ better? Testing the assumption that larger local governments are more sustainable
The other side of the local government ledger—The association between revenue growth and population growth
Implementing Matching Estimators for Average Treatment Effects in Stata
The Effects of Local Government Amalgamation on Public Spending, Taxation, and Service Levels
Do municipal mergers reduce costs? Evidence from a German federal state
An Essay on Fiscal Federalism
Less Haste, More Speed
Keeping It In‐House
How High Should They Jump? An Empirical Method for Setting Municipal Financial Ratio Performance Benchmarks
No Aladdin’s Cave in New South Wales? Local Government Amalgamation, Scale Economies, and Data Envelopment Analysis Specification
Do municipal amalgamations work? Evidence from municipalities in Israel
Size, Structure and Administrative Overheads
How Coerced Municipal Amalgamations Thwart the Values of Local Self-Government
Progressive and reactionary rhetoric in the municipal reform debate in New South Wales, Australia
Plato on Population and the State
Jurisdiction Size and Local Government Policy Expenditure
| Citations per year | 1.67 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |