HISTORY,INSTITUTIONS, AND CITIES: A VIEW FROM THE AMERICAS*

ABSTRACT Every nation, formally or informally, defines and establishes the lines of political and fiscal authority among its national, regional, and local governments. Historically, centralized governments tend to restrict the power and autonomy of provincial and local governments. In this paper, we exploit the quasi‐experimental distribution of political institutions in the Americas caused by variation in European colonial experience to examine the impact of institutions on urban and local development, specifically on the degree of urban primacy, the size distribution of cities, the number and density of local government units, and the fragmentation of metropolitan areas. We argue that centralization of political power at the national level, as experienced in many countries in Latin America, contributes to urban primacy and a size distribution of cities favoring large cities. Additionally, even in more politically decentralized countries such as Canada and the U.S., variance in political centralization at the provincial (state) level over local governments led to significant divergences in urban primacy, the distribution of city sizes, as well as the form, number, and density of local governments. While we cannot rule out the importance of other factors, our findings suggest that political centralization affects spatial economic development.     

政府控制、权力制衡与旅游上市公司经营绩效的关系研究

政府控制是我国旅游上市公司中常见的现象。在2011）年沪深两市共26家旅游上市公司中,仅有新都酒店、ST东海、大连圣亚、世纪游轮四家公司的实际控制人为自然人或民营企业法人,政府直接或间接控制的上市公司数量占比高达85％。根据终极产权理论和相关的经验研究结果,不同的终极控制人的性质对企业经营绩效的影响存在很大差别。本文利用沪深两市2003～2010年间旅游上市公司的非平衡面板数据,对政府控制、权力制衡与旅游上市公司经营绩效之间的关系进行了实证研究。,研究结果表明,在当前的市场环境下,地方政府控制的旅游上市公司经营绩效高于非政府和中央政府控制的旅游上市公司,同时,适当减少地方政府控制权比例,建立科学的制衡机制将有助于提高;茂国旅游上市公司的经营绩效。     

毛泽东“放权”改革的路径与特征分析

本文主要分析了社会主义改造前后毛泽东提出"放权"改革的历史动因和理论依据,阐述了毛泽东"放权"改革的路径选择,理性地总结和分析了毛泽东"放权"改革的特征.认为毛泽东"放权"改革的目的是为了解放生产力,但是他的"放权"改革没有触及国家与企业的实质关系,也未能真正理顺中央、地方、企业的关系,中央和地方分权主要是行政分权,忽视了市场机制的作用;没有将以"放权"为核心内容的经济管理体制改革与政治体制改革结合起来,同步推进"放权"改革;对中央和地方的权力分配上没有掌握好一个合适的界限,"放权"和"收权"都带有很大的主观随意性.     

THE IMPACT OF LOCAL DECENTRALIZATION ON ECONOMIC GROWTH: EVIDENCE FROM U.S. COUNTIES*

ABSTRACT We analyze the impact of fiscal decentralization on U.S. county population, employment, and real income growth. Our findings suggest that government organization matters for local economic growth, but that the impacts vary by government unit and by economic indicator. We find that single‐purpose governments per square mile have a positive impact on metropolitan population and employment growth, but no significant impact on nonmetropolitan counties. In contrast, the fragmentation of general‐purpose governments per capita has a negative impact on employment and population growth in nonmetropolitan counties. Our results suggest that local government decentralization matters differently for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties.     

The Effects Of Impact Fees On Multifamily Housing Construction*

Abstract. Development impact fees may create more housing opportunities for lower‐income households within suburban areas if there is a fiscal incentive behind the adoption of exclusionary land‐use regulations. Using panel data estimation techniques that allow us to control for unobservable heterogeneity and potential endogeneities, we estimate the effects of different types of impact fees on multifamily housing construction using data from Florida counties. Impact fees earmarked for public services other than for offsite water and sewer system improvements are found to expand the stock of multifamily housing construction within inner suburban areas. Water/sewer impact fees, on the other hand, are found to reduce construction throughout the entire metropolitan area.     

“借口”:中国城市资本高度集聚的政治经济学分析框架

面对改革开放以来中国快速城市化现象,本文从中国投资拉动的经济增长模式出发,发现中国城市存在着高度积累,特别是行政级别高的城市持续投资增长的现象,在分析投资、投资效率与大型事件关系的基础上,提出了官员晋升竞标赛和财政分权预算约束条件下的制度机会主义行为假设,认为大型事件不过是政府构建的一个有利于在城市体系下,通过打破传统的政府预算约束,实现资本高度集中促进经济持续增长的制度机会主义行为。"借口"模式旨在揭示大型事件现象背后的政治与经济激励,并以2010年广州举办亚运会为例,按政府构建—突破约束—官员晋升的结构,分析了广州市政府构建全社会共识,举办亚运会带来巨额投资促进城市发展实现政治与经济激励的事实,为"借口"模式提供了实证的案例。最后,对"借口"模式的未来趋势进行了探讨。     

宋代路级机构间关系之研究

宋代统治者为防止唐末五代藩镇割据局面的重现,首次在路这一高层政区设立多个互不统属的机构,如转运司、提刑司、提举常平司等,它们共同掌管一路内的各项事务。这些路级机构由于职权互相交叉,在地方管理中也形成错综复杂的关系,主要表现为:路级机构间互相监督、考核,联合行动与分部按察,长官互兼等。路级机构长官之间也因在同路为官,有或亲密、或交恶的私人关系。宋代路级机构间所确立的复杂关系,有效防范了地方分裂割据,推动了宋代地方事务处理的专业化,促进国家行政机器的正常运转。但同时也出现了机构众多,权力分散,行政效率不高等问题。这表明政府在加强制度约束的同时,必须掌握好权力集中与分散的"度",同时提高为官者的素质,其中的利弊得失值得今人认真总结和借鉴。     

民国初年广东乡村的基层权力机构

民国初年,受到辛亥革命冲击的广东乡村基层权力机构以各种方式恢复和重建。这些机构包括警局、区乡办事所和团局,而主要是团局。控制乡村基层权力机构的人物有士绅、商人、回乡官吏、退伍军官等,有军事经历、直接掌握武力者通常在这些机构中担任主角。由于广东政局动荡,省、县政府对乡村往往不能充分行使权力,乡村基层权力机构获得很大的独立性,有时甚至同政府、军队发生冲突。国民政府成立后,广东实行新县政,但民国初年形成的乡村基层权力机构的格局,在不少地区一直延续到40年代末。     

WET GROWTH: EFFECTS OF WATER POLICIES ON LAND USE IN THE AMERICAN WEST*

ABSTRACT Rapid population growth and increasing water development costs have prompted many western governments to condition residential development approval on the adequacy of water supplies. We examine the effects of these regulations on housing supply in Colorado and New Mexico using fixed‐effects panel regressions. Our findings suggest that price‐based tools to ensure water availability may be a preferred regulatory alternative to quantity restrictions. Attempts to restrict groundwater basin access have not unambiguously corrected negative externalities related to growth. Meanwhile, Colorado cities' aggressive use of impact fees has facilitated water resource development, without limiting growth.     

Local Governments and Indigenous Australians: Developments and Dilemmas in Contrasting Circumstances

This paper examines developments and dilemmas in relations between local governments and indigenous Australians over the last quarter century. It establishes a framework for analysis based on differences in local government systems, circumstances and populations. It then examines two sets of developments in relations which have occurred in contrasting circumstances. The first is ongoing poor relations in incorporated local government areas, focusing on a complex of issues surrounding landownership, rates and services. The second is discrete predominantly Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities in sparsely settled areas themselves becoming local governments. Both of these sets of developments are seen as being accompanied by significant dilemmas. In relation to the first, the major dilemma identified is how superordinate levels of government should best proceed in attempts to improve relations. In relation to the second, major dilemmas are identified relating to indigenous 'ownership' of the resulting local government structures and the weakness of the financial position of these newly emerging local governments. The paper suggests there have been some very significant and quite complex developments in relations between local governments and indigenous Australians over the last quarter century. However, these developments have only tentatively moved relations in a more positive direction, if indeed at all. Poor relations still predominate between local governments and indigenous Australians.     

LOCAL ECONOMIC POLICIES AND SOCIAL CITIZENSHIP IN SPANISH CITIES

This paper examines the restructuring of the local economy in Spain's largest cities, particularly Barcelona, but also Madrid and Seville, in relation to the main changes that have taken place in the urban environment since local democracy was re-established after the elections of 1979. This involves an analysis of the real capacity and impact of local council intervention in the economy and in the extension of the social dimension of citizenship. Despite their relatively small resources, local administrations have in the last few years attempted to create a more dynamic approach of leading, or at least collaborating in, economic and social reconstruction. The increasing role of localities in the economy has been particularly important since, in addition to counteracting a strong centralist tradition, it has coincided with the emergence of a new urban democratic arena which permits more social participation. However, the restructuring of state political and administrative power remains problematic at the local level due not only to the historical will of central government to apply a homogeneous pattern to heterogeneous urban realities, but also to the control that new regional governments seek to exercise over cities.     

Scaling down or scaling up? Local actor decisions and the feasibility of decentralized environmental governance: a case of Páramo wetlands in Southern Ecuador

In Latin America and the Global South, policy-makers are adopting community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) principles for local governments. The idealized emphasis on ‘local’ collaborative approaches is known to neglect human geographic contexts and issues of capacity, power, and human drivers of change at larger scales. However, critiques lack empirical evidence of policy implementation decisions. How do local government and community actors choose to use decentralized environmental governance policies in relation to a threatened cultural and natural landscape across their jurisdictions? This question is explored in an ethnographic case of a high Andean wetland region in southern Ecuador by focusing on the context and micro-politics of two seemingly contradictory local government decisions: proposals to nationalize a local community protected area and to work with other local governments to construct a road across the wetlands that could threaten protected area status. When different sectors are devolved to different local actors without strong sub-state institutions for conflict management, decentralization may create incentives for conflict rather than conservation. Governance design depends on understanding how and why diverse local actors engage in boundary-spanning regional strategies, calling for additional contributions from political geographers.     

Transcending the fixity of jurisdictional scale

In this commentary I argue that the case study of the Hanford Reservation illustrates that local interests are not coterminous with the scale of local government. Hanford is an example of a decentralized land-use decision-making process, whereby multiple government jurisdictions and diverse interest groups are involved in the negotiations. While the governments are fixed by scale, the other actors are not, and their interests are fluid across scales. Interest groups are most concerned with land-use outcomes, whereas Morrill presents local governments as most interested in their authority over land use. Analysis of land-use conflicts, therefore, must involve examination of both scale-bounded government autonomy as well as the power struggles and cross-scale alliances of the multiple interests and social identities expressing concern about the outcome.     

政府企业化背景下的中国城市郊区化发展研究

文章在论述了政府企业化的产生背景与实质后,以此为切入点从新的视角研究我国城市郊区化的动力机制和空间特征,并简要评价了政府企业化对城市郊区化的影响。     

How Do Different Types of Local Governments' Sustainability Programs Relate to Their Environmental Outcomes

Local governments worldwide have developed a suite of sustainability programs to improve environmental conditions within their jurisdictions. However, critics suggest that local governments' sustainability programs are more symbolic than substantial in that they are often developed to create the appearance of addressing environmental issues rather than actual environmental performance outcomes. Despite the skeptics, as yet, we have little empirical understanding of the environmental impact of local sustainability programs. This paper bridges the gap by considering how the design of 102 county governments' individual sustainability programs relates to improvement of their ozone quality between 2003 and 2013. After controlling for the spatial dependence of ozone quality among neighboring counties, this paper offers the evidence that local sustainability programs are related to improved environmental conditions. Moreover, the sustainability programs that are designed more comprehensively across environmental issues appear to have greater policy efficacy compared to those focusing on a few environmental issues. These findings provide optimistic views about the local, non-regulatory policy effort for improving collective environmental quality. This implication is particularly salient given the lack of strong national and international environmental regulatory regimes.     

地方治理与利益诉求:民国初年陕绥划界纠纷研究

陕绥划界是民国初年西北地区省界调整中发生的一起政治事件。上自北京政府、陕绥各级地方政府,下到争议区的伊克昭盟王公、士绅民众,分别从国家政令统一、边疆安全、争议区经济利益归属、基层社会事务决策权归属等角度,围绕蒙陕边界地区的划界问题展开利益诉求。蒙陕边界地带士绅民众在清末督办蒙旗垦务大臣贻谷整理垦务时期认购土地,拥有了争议区土地的所有权,其是否会因为政权更迭而发生改变,遂成为陕绥划界纠纷的核心问题。在近八年的纠纷过程中,北京政府与地方政府、地方政府与地方政府(陕、绥双方)、地方各系势力与两级政府之间展开利益角逐。最终,北京政府让步于既成事实的陕西一方,即移民不可能退回去的事实。而陕北沿边地方政府和士绅利用自身的威望和号召力,对争议区内民众进行宣传和引导,组建利益共同体,维护地方社会事务话语权的“正当性”。     

The politics of discretion: Authority and influence in asylum dispersal

This paper considers how discretion, understood as both a capacity to make decisions and a form of influence that is often hidden, operates within the accommodation and support of asylum seekers. Combining critical discussions of discretion with accounts of a ‘local turn’ in migration policy, I argue that discretion plays a key role in shaping how policy is implemented and offers insight into the changing governance of asylum at national and local levels. Drawing on empirical material examining the development of the UK's asylum dispersal system, the paper extends accounts of discretion beyond ‘street-level’ to argue for a focus on how discretion reflects different claims to institutional authority. Addressing four accounts of discretion in dispersal, I argue that tracing discretion can offer insights into how ‘implementation gaps’ in asylum policy are negotiated and how tensions between national and local governments are contained. Tracing discretion in this way may advance critical interrogations of power relations in welfare bureaucracies and develop understandings of institutional agency and influence within liberal democracies.     

Do more,with less: The realities of local government in rural Ontario

Over the past 30 years, the responsibilities, mandates, and activities of local governments in Ontario have undergone substantial transformations. Influenced by New Public Management, policy changes are characterized by marketization and managerialism resulting in downloading of responsibilities to local governments. This research examines the ebbs and flows of policy changes among different provincial governments since 1990 and the impacts of these policies on rural local governments in Ontario. Interviews were conducted with elected officials and senior staff in eight local governments to understand their realities. The findings demonstrate the continual policy changes led to the “do more, with less” approach currently faced by rural local governments—increased regulatory requirements, limited human and financial capacities, and small tax bases to support their activities. This experience, combined with limited fiscal levers, hinders the ability of rural local governments to address both new demands for infrastructure and existing infrastructure deficits, housing stock and affordability, and economic and workforce development strategies. The reality has necessitated local governments to seek alternative strategies to deliver programs and services through partnerships and collaboration.     

“You Cannot Trade What Is Not Yours”: Indigenous Governance and the NAFTA Negotiations

ABSTRACT

Contemporary International Relations scholars and practitioners generally recognize that substate governments affect the state’s international affairs; however, there is less acceptance of Indigenous governments as global actors that meaningfully impact the state. After all, the expectation would be that central governments, with considerably more resources and power, would be unlikely to face a challenge from an Indigenous government. However, Indigenous governments are negotiating new relationships with foreign and domestic governments, forming economic development corporations, hiring private firms to raise capital, funding trade missions, and even opening offices in key international locales such as Beijing to engage in trade promotion and push investment opportunities in projects such as resource extraction. Applying paradiplomacy theory, which argues that International Relations cannot be properly explained absent the global affairs of substate governments, this article analyzes the effect of Indigenous peoples and governance in the Canada–US trade relationship. It specifically considers how Indigenous engagement in the global economy affects the bilateral trade regime, foreign direct investment, and cross-border trade. The driver for these analysis centers on demands for the inclusion of a so-called “Indigenous chapter” in the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations in 2017 and 2018.     

Leaves in the wind? Local policies of small and medium-sized towns in metropolitan regions

Small and medium-sized towns (SMSTs) contribute to the economic performance of whole metropolitan regions. However, the variety of factors that influence the economic development of SMSTs is understudied and the impact and relevance of their local policies are especially unclear. This article studies local policies of SMSTs within the metropolitan region of Zurich (Switzerland) and the impact of local policies on the economic specialization of these towns. Switzerland serves as an interesting context in which to study SMSTs, particularly those in metropolitan regions, due to their constant growth and the high local autonomy enjoyed by Swiss local governments. Using a multiple case study design that relies on a pair-wise comparison, we find that the economic specialization of SMSTs can mainly be explained by factors that are exogenous to local policy-making such as the town’s location and its connectivity. Land-use strategies are the only local policies that can influence the economic specialization of SMSTs. Therefore, SMSTs are well advised to invest in professionalized land-use departments and to coordinate their land-use strategies with neighbouring jurisdictions.