Doctoral Dissertation Research: Valuing Property

题目：博士论文资助：评估财产。自2005年美国最高法院Kelo诉新伦敦市案（City of New London）认定在经济发展项目中使用土地征用权符合宪法以来，在全国范围内就土地征用权问题产生了大量的政治争议。改革立法已经在34个州的立法机构和10个州的投票倡议中通过。穷人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短缺的政府，以及政府是否尊重所有权，这些问题都引起了人们的关注。然而，后基洛的辩论表明，我们对“征收”权力是如何行使的知之甚少。2006年11月，政府问责局向国会提交了一份题为“土地征用权：信息....”的报告是有限的。”本文将对土地征用权如何用于城市经济发展进行深入的案例研究，并为未来的比较研究提供一个前kelo基准以及建议和模板。它还将使用征用权来理解如何在实践中解决不同的私有财产概念和政府在市场中的行为之间的理论冲突。本研究主要关注费城土地征用权实践的三组实证问题，在过去的几十年里，费城城市重建局已经获得了数千个用于城市重建的房产。(1)政府何时行使土地征用权进行城市改造？为了什么目的？对于哪些属性？(2)什么会影响土地征用程序的结果（默许、同意或财产所有者的争议和/或政府放弃项目）？如果结果是争论，结果是什么（协商解决，诉讼，还是政府放弃项目）？(3)如何确定财产的“公正补偿”，它对“索取”的结果有何影响？文献证据和访谈数据将揭示费城和其他城市政府如何决定使用其征用权进行重建的政策困境的轮廓。从1995年到2005年，费城市重建局提出的“收入”的定量数据以及这些建议的结果将揭示这些决定的范围和变化。通过广泛的访谈、观察和档案证据，将更彻底地调查一小部分有目的的抽样案例，以重建特定财产的获取复杂性和相关行为者的观点。这些案例研究将回答有关在当代城市中使用土地征用权的许多激励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就财产做出决策，以及他们的选民如何看待这些决策的合法性。政策制定者和社区活动人士——要么关注阻止政府滥用权力，要么关注利用政府权力实现社区发展——将获得工具，以理解和沟通涉及这一棘手问题的许多利益和观点。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结合提供了重要的战略机遇。该项目旨在通过财产和法律的概念，对政府和企业之间的争议和合作如何在日常实践中进行管理进行理论解释。自Kelo事件以来，学者、政策制定者和广大公众这三个群体一直在要求获得更多关于征用权的信息。这项研究的结果将为所有三个对象起草并分发给他们。

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.