Primary Research Focuses: Public Finance, Urban Economics

Secondary Research Focus: Applied Microeconometrics

References: 

• Michael Greenstone
• Magne Mogstad
• Alexander Torgovitsky

Job Market Paper: "Overlapping Jurisdictions and the Provision of Local Public Goods in U.S. Metropolitan Areas"

[Abstract] Local governments in the United States are vertically differentiated: in a given location, multiple overlapping jurisdictions provide distinct local public services and draw revenue from shared portions of the property tax base. This paper estimates the fiscal spillovers generated by this structure and proposes a mechanism that internalizes them in local policy choice. I assemble a new georeferenced dataset covering the universe of local government boundaries and nominal property tax rates nationwide over the past two decades. Using a dynamic regression discontinuity design, I estimate fiscal spillovers from narrowly approved property tax referenda. To extrapolate beyond effects identified at the approval threshold, I develop a spatial equilibrium model with overlapping jurisdictions and majority voting over the provision of local public goods. I use the model to quantify spillovers for all school districts and municipal governments in the United States and find sizable effects. I then evaluate a policy that (i) informs voters about cross-jurisdiction spillovers and (ii) applies symmetric intergovernmental transfers (taxes or subsidies) upon approval of a spending change. The counterfactual regime yields aggregate welfare gains.