R5 – Page 3 – Regional Science Inquiry

Xiang CAI

Lecturer, The University of Texas at Dallas,

xiang.cai@utdallas.edu

Abstract

In response to the wide social concerns of exponential price inflation and the severe demand for affordable housing over the last decade, the Chinese government has enforced a national plan to enhance the large-scale construction and provision of affordable housing, while municipal governments are responsible at the local level for implementation and allocation via various housing provision programs. In this paper we collected first-hand data from a series of personal interviews with government officials to conduct a systematic analysis of the challenges of housing allocation from the perspectives of administrators at the city level. In light of the responses from practitioners, the four main concerns giving rise to low efficiency and unfairness in housing allocation are: the faction of agencies, ineffective monitoring systems, the lack of transparency of information, and the absence of legal enforcement. Legal enforcement is the most important institutional establishment as it stipulates agency collaboration and monitoring. Transparency, which is affected by legal enforcement, also enhances cooperation among departments.

Keywords: Affordable Housing, Determinants, Allocation and Distribution, Local Officials

JEL classification: R5, R580
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G. Jason JOLLEY

Assistant Professor and MPA Director, Ohio University, Voinovich School of Leadership & Public Affairs

jolleyg1@ohio.edu

Anirudh V.S. RUHIL

Associate Professor, Ohio University, Voinovich School of Leadership & Public Affairs

ruhil@ohio.edu

Stephen KLEINSCHMIT

Assistant Professor, Western Michigan University, School of Public Affairs and Administration

stephen.kleinschmit@wmich.edu

Aleksey KOLPAKOV

Assistant Professor, University of Nevada, Reno, Political Science Department

akolpakov@unr.edu

Abstract

In an age of increased competition for economic growth, attracting destination retail is becoming an increasingly popular development strategy. Local governments engage in inter-jurisdictional competition to attract large-scale retail outlets, which may also serve as a lucrative source of local government sales tax revenue. This study uses a natural experiment design to examine sales tax revenue collections in a seven county region in the state of North Carolina in the United States focusing on the entrance of the Tanger Outlet Mall in Alamance County. After its opening, the county experienced several years of increased sales tax collections, particularly for apparel, relative to the surrounding region. Our evidence suggests that destination retail may prove a desirable strategy for promoting development, though we posit that structural changes in retail and apparel markets, as well as state tax policies, may work to undermine the utility of this approach as means of generating local tax revenue.

Keywords: Tanger, outlet malls, sales tax, LOST, destination retail

JEL classification: H73, H2, R5, R1, L81, Z38

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