The Homevoter Hypothesis: How Home Values Influence Local Government Taxation, School Finance, and Land-Use Policies

by William A. Fischel

Overview

Just as investors want the companies they hold equity in to do well, homeowners have a financial interest in the success of their communities. If neighborhood schools are good, if property taxes and crime rates are low, then the value of the homeowner’s principal asset—his home—will rise. Thus, as William Fischel shows, homeowners become watchful citizens of local government, not merely to improve their quality of life, but also to counteract the risk to their largest asset, a risk that cannot be diversified. Meanwhile, their vigilance promotes a municipal governance that provides services more efficiently than do the state or national government.

Fischel has coined the portmanteau word “homevoter” to crystallize the connection between homeownership and political involvement. The link neatly explains several vexing puzzles, such as why displacement of local taxation by state funds reduces school quality and why local governments are more likely to be efficient providers of environmental amenities. The Homevoter Hypothesis thereby makes a strong case for decentralization of the fiscal and regulatory functions of government.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674263437
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	02/15/2005
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	344
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

William A. Fischel is Professor of Economics, Dartmouth College.

Table of Contents

Contents Preface 1. An Asset-Market Approach to Local Government 2. Local Government’s Corporate Form 3. Capitalization, Zoning, and the Tiebout Hypothesis 4. The Median Voter in Local Government Politics 5. Serrano and the California Tax Revolt 6. The Fruits of School-Finance Centralization 7. The Race to the Top in Environmental Protection 8. “Beggar Thy Neighbor” and Landfill Location 9. How Homevoters Remade Metropolitan Areas 10. Sprawl, Metropolitanism, and Local Control 11. Reforming and Reaffirming Local Government Case References General References Index

Editorial Reviews

Although other commentators have bemoaned voter apathy and the lack of civic engagement, Fischel shows how democracy thrives at the local level. As the ‘homevoter’ looks at all the factors that affect property values—good schools, effective management of traffic, fewer undesirable uses such as landfills and prisons—he or she becomes politically engaged… The Homevoter Hypothesis…[is] an important contribution to the ongoing conversation about how best to manage growth.

Boston Globe - Anthony Flint

The Homevoter Hypothesis was a pleasure to read. Fischel has a unique style for an economist. This book is full of anecdotes and personal observations, yet underlying these stories and observations is very impressive scholarship. Fischel has read and internalized everything worth reading in this area, and this scholarship comes through very clearly. This book shows a different and refreshing prospective; it is rich in detail and content, but also very coherent.

Jon Sonstelie

Fischel…describes ‘homevoters’ as homeowners whose votes determine the character of local government. From their ranks comes the median voter, whose needs are most likely to be met by democratically elected officials… Fiscal efficiency in local government, Fischel argues, requires close correspondence between taxes and the services they fund… Fischel rounds out his brief for local government with examples, anecdotes, and further suggestions for reform. Though best characterized as advocacy economics, the work is well documented and thoroughly researched, encouraging the diligent reader to engage in the debate. Recommended.

Choice - R. S. Hewett

The Homevoter Hypothesis is a valuable contribution to debates over how to allocate land use and environmental regulatory authority among the federal, state, regional, and local governments. Fischel bring sorely needed balance to those debates. He systematically builds a theory favoring local control over land use by bringing a large and wide-ranging literature to bear on the problems of localism versus federalism. It is a very important book.

Vicki Been