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AN EMPIRICAL METHODOLOGY FOR ANALYZING THE PROPERTIES OF PUBLIC GOODS
Author(s) -
Linneman Peter
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
economic inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1465-7295
pISSN - 0095-2583
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7295.1980.tb01224.x
Subject(s) - tiebout model , public good , economics , goods and services , sample (material) , empirical research , categorization , microeconomics , public economics , empirical evidence , computer science , economy , mathematics , philosophy , chemistry , statistics , chromatography , epistemology , artificial intelligence
This paper notes that economists generally accept that locally provided public services behave as Tiebout goods while non‐locally provided public services possess the properties described by Samuelson. These beliefs are held despite the absence of empirical evidence supporting this dichotomous categorization. This paper derives an empirical methodology for testing the properties possessed by a public good by noting that only Tiebout goods will necessarily display price/quantity relationships which are consistent with demand theory restrictions. The methodology is applied to a sample of New Jersey suburbs with respect to educational services and non‐educational local services.