Efficiency of social capital expenditures in Oregon towns and cities

Graduation date: 1969Efficiency in the provision of local public services is a neglected area of study. Absolute and relative increases in expenditures by the local public sector emphasize the increased importance of the study of efficiency. A look to the future sees even greater resource allocation by the local public sector. Increasing affluence will increase demands for all goods and services including those provided by local governments. This cross-sectional study attempts to identify significant economic and demographic factors that influence expenditures by local government units. The expenditure categories analyzed include general government, public works, police protection and fire protection for all incorporated Oregon cities. The factors of primary importance in explaining expenditure variations are population density, assessed property value, receipts from other governments and population change. These factors when subjected to regression analysis explained from nearly 50 to approximately 80 percent of the expenditure variation for Oregon's largest cities. These results compare favorably with previous studies of national scope. This and other studies illustrate that a great deal is left unexplained and emphasize the need for further research