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Leituras

State and Local Government Regulation and Economic Development

A wide variety of factors affect the economic development of states and local communities. Among these factors, the effects of taxes and local public services have been studied the most, because these are policy variables that can be directly altered by state and local governments. Another set of policy variables that may affect economic development are government regulations.
However, in comparison with taxes and public services, the effects of state and local government regulations on economic development have received scant attention from regional scientists. Without knowing these effects, it is hard to judge whether these regulations enhance social welfare, even if they do achieve a narrowly defined intended outcome.

(...)Land-use regulations, utilities regulations, and regulations governing state workers’ compensation programs(...) are found to have important effects on the economic development of areas, but in some cases the estimated effects are far smaller than those commonly alleged by development-minded policymakers seeking regulatory reform.(...)


By Keith R. Ihlanfeldt In Journal of Regional Science Vol. 26 n. 1