Doctoral Dissertation Research: Valuing Property

标题：博士论文助学金：评估财产。自从美国最高法院在Kelo诉新伦敦市(2005)一案中认定，将征用权用于经济发展项目是违宪的以来，全国范围内围绕征用权的政治争议一直很大。改革立法已经由34个州立法机构和10个州投票倡议通过。人们对贫困和少数族裔社区是得到了帮助还是受到了伤害，私人开发商是否利用了资金紧张的政府，以及政府是否尊重所有权提出了担忧。然而，后凯洛时代的辩论揭示出，我们对“索取”权力是如何行使的知之甚少。政府问责局(2006年11月)向国会提交的一份报告题为“征用权：信息……是有限的”。本文将提供一个关于征用权如何用于城市经济发展的深入案例研究，并为未来的比较研究提供一个前KELO基准以及建议和模板。它还将利用征用权来理解不同的私有财产概念和市场中的政府行为之间的理论冲突是如何在实践中解决的。这项研究集中在费城征用权实践的三组经验问题上，在过去的几十年里，费城重建局已经收购了数千处房产用于城市重建。(1)政府何时行使市区重建征用权？为了什么目的？对于哪些财产？(2)什么影响征用权诉讼的结果(财产所有者的默许、同意或争辩和/或政府放弃项目)？如果争议是结果，结果是什么(通过谈判达成和解、诉讼或政府放弃项目)？(3)如何确定财产的“公正补偿”，以及它如何影响“征用”的结果？文件证据和采访数据将揭示费城和其他城市政府决定如何利用征用权进行重新开发所涉及的政策困境的轮廓。关于费城重建局在1995-2005年间提出的“收入”的量化数据以及这些建议的结果将揭示这些决定的范围和变化。将通过广泛的访谈、观察和档案证据对一小部分有目的的抽样案件进行更彻底的调查，以重建特定财产被夺取的复杂性和有关行为者的观点。这些案例研究将回答有关当代城市使用征用权的许多动机因素和结果的重要实际问题。这个项目将帮助我们了解城市政府如何在财产方面做出决定，以及他们的选民如何看待这些决定的合法性。政策制定者和社区积极分子--无论是关注阻止政府滥用权力，还是关注利用政府权力实现社区发展--将获得工具，以了解和沟通这一难题所涉及的许多利益和视角。从理论上讲，征用权为研究政府与经济如何通过法律实践相交提供了一个重要的战略机遇。该项目旨在通过财产和法律的概念，对政府和企业之间的竞争和合作在日常实践中是如何管理的进行理论描述。自Kelo以来，学者、政策制定者和更广泛的公众三个群体一直在要求提供更多关于征用权的信息。这项研究的结果将被起草并分发给所有三个受众。

Title: Doctoral Dissertation Grant: Valuing Property. Co-PI's: Kim Scheppele and Debbie BecherProposal Number: 0648083AbstractSince the U.S. Supreme Court case Kelo v. City of New London (2005), which found the use of eminent domain for an economic development project constitutional, there has been substantial political controversy over eminent domain nationwide. Reform legislation has already been passed by 34 state legislatures and 10 state ballot initiatives. Concerns about whether poor and minority communities are helped or hurt, about whether private developers take advantage of cash-strapped governments, and about whether government respects ownership rights have been raised. Yet the post-Kelo debate has revealed how little we know about how "takings" power is practiced. A report produced for Congress by the Government Accountability Office (November 2006) is titled "Eminent Domain: Information....Is Limited." This dissertation will provide an in-depth case study of how eminent domain is used for urban economic development and offer a pre-Kelo benchmark as well as suggestions and templates for future comparative research. It will also use eminent domain to understand how theoretical conflicts among different conceptions of private property and government action in the market are resolved in practice. This study focuses on three sets of empirical questions of eminent domain practice in Philadelphia, where the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia has acquired thousands of properties for urban redevelopment over the last few decades. (1) When does government exercise eminent domain power for urban redevelopment? For what purposes? For which properties? (2) What affects the outcomes of eminent domain proceedings (acquiescence, agreement, or contestation by the property owner and/or government abandonment of project)? If contestation is the outcome, what is the result (negotiated settlement, litigation, or government abandonment of the project)? (3) How is "just compensation" for property determined, and how does it contribute to the outcomes of the "taking"? Documentary evidence and interview data will reveal the contours of policy dilemmas involved in how Philadelphia and other urban governments decide to use their eminent domain power for redevelopment. Quantitative data on the "takings" that were proposed by the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia from 1995-2005 and the results of these proposals will reveal the scope and variation of these decisions. A smaller set of purposefully sampled cases will be investigated more thoroughly with extensive interviews, observations, and archival evidence to reconstruct the complexity of the taking of particular properties and the perspectives of actors involved. These case studies will answer important practical questions about many of the motivating factors and outcomes for the use of eminent domain in contemporary cities. This project will help us understand how urban governments make decisions with respect to property and how their constituents perceive the legitimacy of those decisions. Policy-makers and community activists - concerned either with stemming government abuse of power or with using government power to accomplish community development - will gain tools to understand and communicate about the many interests and perspectives involved in this difficult issue. Theoretically, eminent domain offers an important strategic opportunity for studying how government and the economy intersect through legal practice. This project aims to develop a theoretical account of how contestation and cooperation between government and business is managed in everyday practice through conceptions of property and the law. Three groups, academics, policy-makers, and the wider public, have been demanding more information about eminent domain since Kelo. The results of the study will be drafted for and disseminated to all three audiences.