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Redistributive Policy And Devolution: Is State-Administration A Road Block (Grant) To Equitable Access To Federal Funds?, Brian Collins, Brian Gerber

Brian K. Collins

Over the last several decades, block grants have been a key instrument by which policy authority is devolved from federal to state governments. Whether the block grant approach produces more effective redistributive policy management (on equity or efficiency grounds) is an open and central question. We focus on the equity dimension by positing an explanatory framework that links access to federal block grant funding to the transaction costs associated with intergovernmental grant contracting. We argue that grant access is a function of both state-level institutional choices and the administrative capacity of local governments—which combine to influence the salient transaction costs …