Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

Tax Increment Financing – The Impact Of Tax Incentives On Investment Attraction In Ontario’S Small And Medium Sized Municipalities, Jeff Loney

MPA Major Research Papers

This research evaluates the opinions of the Community Improvement Plan Administrators for 21 of Ontario’s small and mid-sized communities as it relates to Tax Increment Equivalent Grants. Through thematic coding, the research evaluates the following question: Do tax increment equivalent grants drive more new investment to small and medium-size municipalities than other types of grants in Community Improvement Plans? The study concludes that Tax Increment Equivalent Grants do not drive more investment to municipalities than different types of grants. However, it provides insight into how municipalities can better structure existing grants to assist in smaller centres. Furthermore, the study finds …

Tourism, Mapping, Retail And Recreational Trails: A Case Study Of Connectivity Between Trails And Adjacent Downtowns In Anniston, Alabama, Usa, Jennifer Green

Theses

This study examines the estimated increase in economic impact on a geography’s local economy by creating cross-marketing efforts between expanding an established outdoor recreation trail to a closely located city downtown commerce district. This research will analyze the resulting potential rise in sales/lodging tax revenues for that city by mapping the trail and downtown district, and cross-marketing the other to users of both or either venue. Potential increase in economic impact will be estimated utilizing IMPLAN methodology by assessing the economic impact on the local economy that a percentage range of increased spending resulting from this cross-marketing effort could generate.

Employing A Public Policy Evaluative Framework: An Analysis Of Domestic Theme Park Development, Anthony Gray Houser

Honors Theses

The intention of the thesis is to examine the relationship between the development of the Walt Disney Company’s theme parks and public policy. Using the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California and the Walt Disney World Resort outside of Orlando, Florida as case studies, this thesis will execute a comparative analysis to better understand the relationship between the Walt Disney Company’s theme parks and public policy. Using an evaluative framework, this thesis will provide a deeper understanding of how public policy affected the development and the current operations of these theme parks. The driving research question in this thesis is, ‘what …

A Cautionary Tale From Nevada's Desert-People Before Company: A Case Study On Economic Development Approaches In Nevada, Ryann P.S. Juden

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This project utilized a mixed methods research design consisting of a case study of Nevada to explain the state’s reliance on company-based government incentives to attract new businesses to the state. Additionally, the project applied a comparative analysis of Brazil’s and Tennessee’s use of company-based government incentives, and a more detailed comparative analysis of Virginia’s people-based government incentive approach to economic development incentives to explore policy alternatives available to decision makers. This project used the historical institutionalism approach to show how policymakers have certain institutionally dominated predispositions impacting policy outcomes leading to a path dependency where rational choice theory’s credit …

The Political Pandemic: The Relationship Between Political Leanings, Covid-19, And The Economy In 2020, Garrett Clark

Honors College Theses

The effect of political leanings on the pandemic outcomes, both in terms of the COVID-19 cases and death totals and the extent that the pandemic affected the economy, is the analysis of interest. The literature indicates a relationship between political leanings and the COVID-19 response. Data is gathered from a variety of sources, and a series of regressions are performed to analyze several control variables and determine their significance. The results indicate a relationship between political leanings and COVID-19 outcomes. However, results regarding the effects of politics on the economy are less clear. Possible explanations are provided for the results.

Three Essays On “Energy , Environment, And Developmental Economics”, Bolarinwa Ajanaku

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This dissertation examines topics related to renewable energy development and investment planning, energy markets, environment degradation and economic development. The substantial ecological costs of deforestation are well known and considered globally important due to biodiversity loss, land degradation, soil erosion, and contributions to climate change. The first essay focuses upon understanding the tradeoff between development and deforestation in Africa. In the second essay, spatial analysis and Geographic Information System (GIS) are applied to determine potential locations for wind farms development in the state of West Virginia. Lastly, the third essay examines the role of wind power penetration on wholesale electricity …

Supporting Knowledge Clusters: An Analysis Of The Organizational Structures And Policies Of Economic Development Agencies In Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo, And Windsor, Duncan Purssell

MPA Major Research Papers

To determine if there is a correlation between the organizational structure of economic development agencies and whether these structures facilitate or hinder the success of development policies. To determine what factors other than the organizational structures of economic development agencies facilitate or hinder the success of economic development policies. Methods Used: In this paper a review of the literature in municipal economic development was completed. Three case studies of economic development strategies for midsized urban areas in Southwestern Ontario were completed. The success of each urban areas economic development strategies was evaluated. The structure of each regions economic development agencies …

Community Improvement Plans: An Analysis Of Content And Outcomes Of Community Improvement Plans In Ontario, Paul Pirri

MPA Major Research Papers

Community Improvement Plans are an often used, but seldom studied economic development and planning tool used to spur economic growth within an economically depressed area. But are they effective? This paper answers two questions concerning Community Improvement Plans. First, “How are Community Improvement Plans used in the Province of Ontario?”; and second, “Is the execution of these plans resulting in greater economic prosperity for the communities that have enacted them?”. This work is undertaken by reviewing the content of 202 Community Improvement Plans across the Province of Ontario. Regression tests on municipal assessments from 2001-2018 to determine what effect the …

At The Nexus Of Dallas' Neighborhood Arts Districts And Tax Incremental Financing Zones: The Question Of Affordable Housing In A Socially Just Economy, Katherine M. Kosut

Public Affairs Dissertations

This dissertation examines the effects of urban economic development policies on affordable housing and the resident working-class populations within neighborhood arts district (NAD) and the Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) support of the NAD revitalization. This study questions whether municipally endorsed “creative gentrification” in the form of the tax-based economic development policy—tax incremental financing—increases the effects of gentrification and housing affordability loss in low-income neighborhood arts districts in the United States, using Dallas TX as a case study. Historically intended to provide fit-housing in low-income “blighted” neighborhoods, States have adopted TIF policies in reliance upon the concept that “but-for” the use …

Levelling The Urban Playing Field: How Municipalities Can Increase Leverage From Sports Franchises During Sports Venue Public-Private-Partnerships Negotiations, Bipin Dhillon

MPA Major Research Papers

The modern era of sports venue funding (post-1984) has shown a shift toward downtown revitalization arena projects as a remedy to the costly nature of sporting venue public-private-partnerships between municipalities and major league franchises. Sports franchises use their advantage to request attractive funding packages from desperate municipalities because of factors such as the supply and demand of franchises, municipal competition, and growth in consumption-based economic development. In response, the purpose of this report is to determine how municipalities can maximize leverage when trying to secure downtown sporting venues funded by public-private-partnerships. More specifically, which set of “leverage variables” under municipal …

The Influences On And Impact Of Economic And Community Development Policies In A Micropolitan City, Anna M. Kautzman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As the U.S. economy changed from industry to information, small cities suffered a decline in quality of life and an increase in poverty. The existing research has focused on demographics and descriptive attributes of micropolitan cities, but not on efforts to overcome these challenges. The purpose of this study was to explore and understand how a micropolitan city used economic and community development policies to rebuild its economy and improve quality of life. Using Holland's conceptualization of complex adaptive systems, research questions focused on triggers for policy creation and its use to create social change by improving the local economy …

The Role Of Local Government In China’S Urbanization: The Relationship Between Local Land Finance And Government-Led Urbanization, Ying Qiu

MPA Major Research Papers

Over the past several decades, dramatic growth and institutional reforms have taken place in the Chinese economy and society, which has been accompanied by accelerated urbanization. This paper examines the rationale behind the local government’s pursuit of urbanization and its deep relationship with fiscal reform, local land management, and the political performance evaluation system of local cadres by central officials. The findings reveal that, rather than being a natural consequence of economic development and a complex outcome of population urbanization and land urbanization, China’s urbanization in recent decades can be identified as a local government-led development deriving from the municipalities’ …

The Impact Of Environmental Factors On Policy Decisions As It Relates To Community Development Block Grant Allocations, Al G. Gourrier

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

For decades urban centers across the country have experienced significant transition in demographics, population, composition of workforce, and the industries that constitute their economic base. The Federal Government has sought to address the issues of urban cites through a series of urban polices. This study explores one of the more prominent and sustained urban policies, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and evaluates a series of political factors on local decision making in the allocations of Community Development Block Grant dollars.

Using path analysis, the research explores the statistical significance of social, economic and political factors combined with historical …

Against The Grain: The Imf, Bread Riots, And Altered State Development In The Hashemite Kingdom Of Jordan, David M. Leathers

CMC Senior Theses

Since the end of World War II, and especially over the past three decades, there has been a dramatic increase of interactions between international financial institutions (IFIs) and states. This paper will explore these interactions by examining the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This paper rests on the assumption that the complex implications of these interactions are not yet comprehensively understood and will move towards that goal by setting forth a collection of new approaches to further understand IFI-state interaction. It will discuss Jordan’s economic and political history, structural adjustment policies implemented by the IMF, …

Investing In The Arts As A Regional Economic Development Tool: A Case Study Of Suny Buffalo State College Arts Students, Dinash Lal Mpa

Public Administration Master’s Projects

The intent of this study was to determine the financial needs of the art students attending Buffalo State College when considering producing their art. In order to establish this need, this case study required the opinions of arts students on their current and future potential financial circumstances including, prospective income supplementation to produce their art work, ability to produce art work given their current and future financial outlooks, the importance of their financial circumstances in relation to the production of their art, the degree to which they currently or foresee the use of financial products and services to produce their …

Post-Secondary Promises: What Do Ontario Municipalities Expect To Realize From University Satellite Campuses?, Brittney Yeats

MPA Major Research Papers

This paper examines the local impact of university satellite campuses by focusing on the factors that motivate municipalities to pursue a satellite campus and the benefits they intend to realize with these developments. It uses four case studies – Laurier Brantford, Lakehead Orillia, McMaster Burlington, and University of Waterloo Stratford – as well as a diverse range of literature to gain further insight on the motivations and expected benefits that municipalities seek to accomplish. The findings reveal that municipalities pursue university satellite campuses as a form of development policy, with the expected benefits far exceeding the perceived costs to the …

How Left A Turn? Legacies Of The Neoliberal State In Latin America, Aaron Thomas Rowland

Doctoral Dissertations

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Latin American region experienced a profound shift in development ideologies that resulted in the creation of a new type of state: the Latin American neoliberal state. This state emerged in three stages: the stabilization stage—focused on balance of payments and austerity; the structural adjustment stage—which was more broadly and deeply focused on changing the structure and culture of society; and the institutional turn—which was an acknowledgment that the neoliberal state had not effectively dealt with poverty, inequality, or the quality of institutions that integrated market, society, and polity. Beginning in the early 2000s, an …

Homelessness In Winnipeg, Manitoba: An Analysis Of Local Government Inaction, Rhiannon Hayes

MPA Major Research Papers

This paper examines the topic of homelessness with a specific focus on Winnipeg, Manitoba to determine why it has remained inactive in addressing this social issue. It uses a qualitative approach in the form of interviews with different employees for the City of Winnipeg and members of non-governmental organizations to understand why the city has had such a limited response. This paper also compares Winnipeg to Edmonton, Alberta and Vancouver, British Columbia to analyze the experiences of other Canadian cities that are attempting to tackle homelessness. The findings reveal that Winnipeg does not actively address homelessness due to the failure …

Recommendations For Economic Development In Guadalupe, Ca, Larissa Requa Heeren

Master's Theses

It is recommended that the City of Guadalupe prepare and implement a small-scale business expansion and retention program using existing service providers in the area. This type of program model seems to hold the most potential for Guadalupe. A mixed-methods approach including in-depth cases studies of existing economic development programs and an analysis of opportunities and constraints in Guadalupe informs a set recommendations for future economic development in the City. Data was collected in three phases: short interviews with a variety of economic development program staff, short interviews with Guadalupe business owners and City officials and in-depth interviews with staff …

Alignment Of Community Preferences, Economic Development Goals, And Policy: Considering Economic Development Goals, Their Expression, And Their Execution In Economically Struggling Communities, Rebecca Lynn Moryl

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Across the U.S., and particularly in the Northeast, cities known as former "mill towns" have been largely unsuccessful in attempts to revive their economic vigor. States and cities invest millions each year in efforts to reinvigorate these cities through economic development policies. Debates about the effectiveness of such policies in generating economic growth outcomes are prevalent in the literature. This thesis takes a different focus by considering the alignment of economic development goals and actions among citizens and government professionals. I consider, compare, contrast, and draw lessons from three Massachusetts cities of similar government structure. Each of these cities has …

The Role Of Government In Economic Development: A Case Study Of The Tourism Industry In Bruce County, Malcolm Mcintosh

MPA Major Research Papers

This paper examines the role of government in economic development based on a case study of the tourism industry in Bruce County involving questionnaires and interviews with key stakeholders. The findings reveal that there can be a proper role for government in economic development and this role is determined by the severity of the economic and social circumstances affecting the community.

Toward An Economic Development Strategy For The County Of Middlesex, Stephen Evans

MPA Major Research Papers

This paper examines the factors that are necessary in the successful adoption of an economic development strategy in Middlesex County based on an analysis of Census data pertaining to population, gender, age, income, education, employment, housing, and agriculture and an investigation of the governance issues in the region. The findings reveal that in order to overcome conflict among constituent municipalities and foster a sense of cooperation between them, decisions about economic development initiatives must be removed from the political realm and placed in the hands of local, appointed business actors.