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Do Policymakers Locate Prisons for Economic Development?
Author(s) -
Cherry Todd,
Kunce Mitch
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
growth and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.657
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1468-2257
pISSN - 0017-4815
DOI - 10.1111/0017-4815.00174
Subject(s) - lagging , externality , public good , business , economies of agglomeration , public economics , social welfare , process (computing) , economics , welfare , economic growth , market economy , microeconomics , political science , medicine , pathology , computer science , law , operating system
While public goods can provide an overall increase in welfare, ‘inferior’ public facilities produce externalities specifically impacting host locations. Heterogeneous jurisdictional attributes, however, can cause net social benefits to vary across potential host communities. Using data from a unique public works project, this paper empirically investigates whether policymakers consider heterogeneous conditions when locating prison facilities. Results indicate that policymakers follow a process that maximizes net social benefits by systematically delegating such facilities to lagging communities; thereby potentially using the public facilities for economic development. Additionally, results suggest that policymakers properly consider existing infrastructure and agglomeration economies in the siting mechanism.