US sub-national governmental response to the ‘Great Recession’: implications for the ‘equitable distribution of the costs and benefits of public services’
研究了美国州和地方政府在大衰退期间采取的削减服务、扩大财源或裁员的应对措施，评估这些措施对妇女、少数族裔和弱势群体造成的非公平影响，并提出缓解策略。
Experts suggest that when faced with fiscal stress public managers can engage in three coping practices: an actual cutback in services, expansion of existing financial resources, or reduction in work force. During the Great Recession (2007–2012), US subnational governments utilized all three of these practices. The purpose of this article is to identify coping mechanisms used by state and local governments to respond to the Great Recession, and identify approaches to minimize the negative and disproportionate impact of these actions on women, minorities, and the economically disadvantaged. The authors provide specific examples of tactics employed by US subnational governments in response to fiscal stress and evaluate the equity of their consequences on the distribution of goods and services. A review of the concept of social equity, its related literature, and an analysis of the disparate impact of coping practices on underrepresented groups is provided. Finally, the article presents mitigating strategies in order to reduce the regressive impact of these coping practices on the vulnerable populations. Points for practitioners This article identifies ‘coping’ strategies used by US Subnational Governments in response to the Global Recession. It presents the inequities caused by these responses and suggests some ‘mitigating’ strategies to reduce the regressive impact on the disadvantaged.