Description
Book SynopsisAn illustrious group of economists contribute to this volume honoring Dick Netzer, the public finance economist well-known for his research on state and local taxation, the provision of urban public services, and non-profit organizations. Following in his tradition, the contributors apply microeconomics to real world problems facing urban areas and use statistical analysis to gain insight into practical solutions.
The first four chapters of the book provide in-depth explorations of alternative methods of financing urban government such as: the relative merits of income and property taxation at the local level, the impact of sales and income taxation on property taxation, and the feasibility of adopting a land value tax. The next two chapters focus on government expenditures: the impact of subsidized housing investment on property values, and the theoretical and historical explanations for public ownership and direct provision of public services. The final two chapters of the book turn their attention to the non-profit sector, exploring subsidies to non-profit arts organizations and the role of the non-profit sector in providing K-12 education, specifically addressing the implications for segregation and equity.
Comprehensive and engaging, professionals and scholars in the fields of public finance, urban economics and public administration will find this collection of great interest.
Trade Review'The seven essays here have much to recommend them. The themes are important, the analysts are well known and well qualified, their analyses are carefully done and insightful, and the writing is concise but usually accessible to non experts. . . Dick Netzer's detailed, practical scholarship has inspired a generation of economists to study local governments and nonprofit artistic institutions in the hope of improving public policy. This book is a fine tribute, sure to stimulate further controversy, unlikely to settle many issues, but useful to policy makers and scholars alike.' -- David Merriman, Journal of Regional Science
Table of ContentsContents: 1. Introduction 2. What Should Local Governments Tax: Income or Property? 3. What a Tangled Web: Local Property, Income and Sales Taxes 4. Land Taxation in New York City: A General Equilibrium Analysis 5. The Role of Cities in Providing Housing Assistance: A New York Perspective 6. Public Ownership in the American City 7. The Nonprofit Sector in K-12 Education 8. The Partially Subsidized Muse: Estimating the Value and Incidence of Public Support Received by Nonprofit Arts Organizations Index
