[ Hubbell Home Page | Economics Courses | Entry Page]

437 State and Local Government Finance
Reference #00000
Fall 199X
Class meets in Rm 000 Haag Hall  at 00:00 MWF

                      Econ 437 - State and Local Government
                                  Fall 1195
                         Professor L. Kenneth Hubbell 

The objectives of this course are: 
   1.To familiarize the student with the range of important issues in state and local government
     finance; 
   2.To acquaint the student with the availability and use of existing data; 
   3.To provide an overview of various analytical approaches employed by state/local government
     fiscal analysis; and 
   4.To familiarize the student with the core institutions of our state/local government fiscal system. 
Text: E. K. and J. M. Browning, Public Finance and the Price System, 4th ed., Macmillian
Publishing, Co., 1994. 
During the course of the semester students are expected to read the assigned articles and papers,
review and make a class presentation on an assigned article, and take two exams--a mid-term and
final. Both exams will be essay and be drawn from the materials covered in the syllabus and lectures.
The reviewed article will count 20% of your final grade, and the mid-term and final 40%,
respectively. 
The formal prerequisite for the course is Economics 302, or an acceptible substitute. Students
without this prerequisite should consult the instructor. 
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday --9:00 AM to 10:00 AM, and 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM 
Professor Hubbell's Office is Room 311 Haag Hall
Telephone 235-2835 
All materials noted in the Syllabus are on reserve at the circulation desk at the General Library.
Non-Circulating Reserve. 

                             Public Sector Theory 
I. Data and Overview of State and Local Finance Structures: 
   1.International City Management Association, The Municipal Yearbook. 
   2.Governmental Finances in 1992-93, Services GF No. 6 (US GPO, Washington, DC: 1995). 
   3.Tax Foundation, Facts and Figures on Government Finances, 1993. 
   4.Federal-State-Local Finances: Significant Features of Fiscal Federalism, 1992-93.
     ACIR, Washington, DC: 1994. 
II. The Role of the Public Sector: 
   1.Browning & Browning Chs. 1 & 2. 
III. Fiscal Federalism: 
   1.Browning & Browning, Ch. 16, pp. 494-503. 
   2.Richard M. Bird, "Threading the Fiscal Labyrinth: Some Issues in Fiscal Decentralization."
     National Tax Journal, No. 2, June, 1993, pp. 207-228. 
   3.Edward M. Gramlich, "A Policymaker's Guide to Fiscal Decentralization." NTJ, No. 2, June,
     1993, pp. 229-236. 
IV. Principles of Expenditure Analysis: 
   1.Browning & Browning, Ch. 4 
V. The Growth of Public Expenditures: 
   1.W. J. Baumol, "Macroeconomics of Unbalanced Growth: the Anatomy of Urban Crises."
     American Economic Review, June, 1967, pp. 415-26. 
   2.Roy Bahl and Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, "Inflation and the Real Growth of State and Local
     Government Expenditures;" The American Association Papers and Proceedings, May,
     1990. 
                              Tax Policy Analysis 
VI. Principles of Taxation:
   1.Browning & Browning, Ch. 10. 
   2.J. A. Pechman & B. A. Okner, Who Bears the Tax Burden? Brookings Institution,
     Washington, D.C., 1980, Chs. 2, 3, & 4. 
VII. The Individual Income Tax
   1.Browning & Browning, Ch. 11 & pp. 523-525. 
   2.Maxwell & Aronson 
   3.Sally Wallace, "The Effect of State Personal Income Tax Differentials on Interstate
     Competition," State Tax Notes, Dec. 23, 1991, pp. 594-597. 
VIII. Property Taxes:
   1.Browning & Browning, pp. 425-428. 
   2.Charles McLure, "The New View of the Property Tax: A Caveat," NTJ, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp.
     69-74. 
   3.Robert W. Wassmer, Property Taxation, Property Base and Property Value: An Empirical
     Test of 'New View,'" NTJ, June, 1993, pp. 135-159. 
   4.Aaron Henry, Who Pays the Property Tax? Washington, D.C., Brookings Institution, 1975.
IX. Sales Taxes:
   1.Browning & Browning, pp. 417-424. 
X. Other Non-Tax Revenue Sources: 
   1.John L. Mikesell and C. Kurt Zorn, "State Lotteries as Fiscal Savior or Fiscal Fraud: A Look
     at the Evidence," Public Administration Review, July/Aug., 1986, pp. 311-20. 
   2.James Alm, Michael McKee and Mark Skidmore, "Fiscal Pressure, Tax Competition, and
     the Introduction of State Lotteries," NTJ, Dec. 1993, pp. 463-476. 
   3.Kurt Zorn, "Reaching for Revenue Options," American City & County, Vol. 108, Jan.
     1993, p. 12. 
                              Urban Fiscal Issues 
XI. Urban Fiscal Crisis: 
   1.Roy Bahl, et al., "Metropolitan Fiscal Disparities," The Proceedings 1993 National Tax
     Journal, pp. 186-192. 
XII. Tax Base Sharing:
   1.Peter S. Fisher, "Regional Tax-Base Sharing: An Analysis and Simulation of Alternative
     Approaches," Land Economics, Nov., 1982, pp. 497-515. 
XIII. Governmental Consolidation: 
   1.Beverly S. Bunch and Robert P. Strauss, "Municipal Consolidation: An Analysis of the
     Financial Benefits for Fiscally Distressed Small Municipalities," Urban Affairs Quarterly,
     Vol. 27, June 1992, pp. 615-629. 
XIV. Economic Development:
   1.Timothy J. Bartik, "Jobs, Productivity, and Local Economic Development: What Implications
     Does Economic Research Have for the Role of Government?", NTJ, Dec. 1994, pp.
     847-861. 
   2.Paul N. Courant, "How Would You Know a Good Economic Policy If You Tripped Over
     One? Hint: Don't Count Jobs," NTJ, Dec. 1994, pp. 863-881. 
   3.Leslie E. Papke, "Tax Policy and Urban Development: Evidence from the Indiana Enterprise
     Zone Program," Journal of Public Economics, May, 1994, pp. 37-49. 
   4.Kenneth Poole, Tanya Kennedy, and Elizabeth Butler, Survey of Public Economic
     Development Agencies; Summary of Results. Washington, D.C.: National Council for
     Urban Economic Development, 1993. 







[Top of Page | Hubbell Home Page | Economics Courses | Entry Page]