Collaborative Research in The Growth and Decline of State Public Assets: A Study in Instrutional Political Economuy

20世纪70年代的纽约市和克利夫兰财政危机， 公共基础设施老化，公务员养老金不断增加 债务，以及现金预算短缺的发生率增加， 州和地方政府建议，并非所有州和地方政府 政府的财政基础稳固。 最近和持续的削减 在联邦国内支出和州及地方政府的援助中 这意味着对国家和地方政府增加了财政和政治压力， 板块 需求和要求保持不变， 我曾经去华盛顿寻求公共资金和有利的监管 现在集中在国家和地方部门。 这些因素对财政可行性有重大的长期影响 州政府和地方政府。 随着现有资源的减少， 支出压力上升，这些政府的官员可能会转向 资产账户是唯一可以用美元的地方。 通过 由于资金不足， 养老金，或者仅仅通过借贷来支付当前的服务， 政治家和官僚可以聚集更多的资源， 服务需求。 然而，问题是，虽然目前 服务提供，公共资产耗尽。 的主管人员 在这一过程中，往往会失去未来的纳税人，他们继承了较低的 公共资产基础比他们应该。 在这次调查中， 研究人员正在评估国家的资产和负债基础， 政府以及它在过去15年中的变化。 数据 这个项目的时间是1971年至1984年， states. 这项研究的数据包括政府对 持有的公共财富，定义为一个国家的价值与 政府的资产和负债。 A股 政府的资产是其基础设施（道路，建筑物， 及电脑）及金融资产（现金、股票及债券）。 负债包括短期和长期债务以及无资金准备的公共养老金 资金 在一个财政年度中，公共财富水平的变化 是政府储蓄还是储蓄，取决于政府是否 财富增加或减少。 研究人员评估了州政府官员的预算决定， 扩大当前的服务和转移支付，降低当前的税收水平， 最后是扩大或消耗国家公共资产。 中隐含 该评估分析了为什么时间偏好表现出 在公共和私营部门可能有所不同。

The New York City and Cleveland fiscal crises of the 1970's, the decay of public infra-structures, growing public employee pension debt, and the increased incidence of shortfalls in the cash budgets of state and local governments suggest that not all state and local governments stand on a firm fiscal base. Recent and continued cutbacks in federal domestic spending and in aid to state and local governments means added financial and political pressure on the state and local sectors. Needs and demands remain constant and interest groups who once went to Washington for public dollars and favorable regulation now focus on the state and local sectors. These factors have significant long-run effects on the fiscal viability of state and local governments. With declining current resources and rising spending pressures, officials in these governments may turn to the one place where dollars are available - - the asset accounts. By failing to maintain the state's infra-structure, by underfunding pensions, or by simply borrowing to pay for current services, politicians and bureaucrats can gather additional resources to meet service demands. The problem obtains, however, that while current services are provided, public assets are depleted. The persons who tend to lose in this process are future taxpayers who inherit a lower public asset base than they should. In this investigation, the researchers are assessing the asset and liability base of state governments and how it has changed in the past fifteen years. The data period for this project is 1971 to 1984 for the forty-eight mainland states. The data for this research include new estimates of governmentally held public wealth, defined as the difference between the value of a government's assets and of its liabilities. The stock of a government's assets are its infra-structure, (roads, buildings, and computers), and its financial assets, (cash, stocks and bonds). Liabilities are short and long-term debt and unfunded public pension funds. Change in the level of this public wealth over a fiscal year constitutes government savings or dissavings, depending upon whether wealth increases or decreases. The researchers assess the budgetary decisions of state officials to expand current services and transfers, to reduce current tax levels, and finally to expand or deplete state public assets. Implicit in this assessment is an analysis of why the time preferences exhibited in the public and private sectors may differ.