Using the adapted cities framework to evaluate per capita expenditures in small U.S. municipalities
Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management
ISSN: 1096-3367
Article publication date: 1 March 2011
Abstract
Researchers have generally compared council-manager municipalities against mayor-council forms when seeking to measure the efficiency gains envisioned by early twentieth century reformers. Many studies have used per capita expenditure levels of municipalities as a proxy for efficiency, associating lower spending levels with greater efficiency. This study utilizes the “Adapted Cities Framework” advocated by Frederickson, Johnson, and Wood (2004) which classifies municipalities into five, rather than two, institutional types to analyze per capita expenditure data from a national survey of 1,000 small municipalities. Using OLS regression and other statistical analyses, the authors demonstrate that there is a significant difference between the per capita expenditure levels of the five city types. As municipalities more closely conform to the pure reformed councilmanager model of government, higher per capita expenditure levels are evidenced.
Citation
Eskridge, R.D. and French, P.E. (2011), "Using the adapted cities framework to evaluate per capita expenditures in small U.S. municipalities", Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 338-360. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-23-03-2011-B002
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2011 by PrAcademics Press