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ID:
186955
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| Summary/Abstract |
Along with China's urbanization, the spatial redistribution of the country's population has led to difficulties for local governance, especially in areas experiencing population outflows. Municipal amalgamation is an effective response. This study uses administrative system code data that are accurate at the community and village level to verify the causal relationship between migration and village or community municipal amalgamation. It shows that migration has been an important reason for municipal amalgamation. Counties with greater population outflow have experienced more frequent amalgamation, manifesting a decrease in the numbers of villages and communities. This study also examined the consequences of this amalgamation, finding that it can significantly alleviate local governments' fiscal pressures and promote public services in the long term. It is of great importance for improving the grassroots governance of population outflow areas during rapid urbanization in China.
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| 2 |
ID:
149681
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| Summary/Abstract |
Across the developed world, the last 50 years have seen a dramatic wave of municipal mergers, often motivated by a quest for economies of scale. Re-examining the theoretical arguments invoked to justify these reforms, we find that, in fact, there is no compelling reason to expect them to yield net gains. Potential savings in, for example, administrative costs are likely to be offset by opposite effects for other domains. Past attempts at empirical assessment have been bedeviled by endogeneity—which municipalities amalgamate is typically nonrandom—creating a danger of bias. We exploit the particular characteristics of a recent Danish reform to provide more credible difference-in-differences estimates of the effect of mergers. The result turns out to be null: cost savings in some areas were offset by deterioration in others, while for most public services jurisdiction size did not matter at all. Given significant transition costs, the finding raises questions about the rationale behind a global movement that has already restructured local government on almost all continents.
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