What Determines Where Public Investment Goes? Regional Governance and the Role of Institutional Rules and Power
研究美国大都市规划组织如何通过投票权分配影响交通投资的区域分布，发现区域政策委员会的权力结构是投资地理分布的主要决定因素，且主导城市的权力集中度会影响其他城市权力的作用。
Abstract As an embodiment of the collaborative governance model, metropolitan planning organizations in the United States allocate federal, state, and local funds to member municipalities for transportation projects across their regions. To examine how institutional rules and power shape where public investment goes, the authors consider the extent to which the allocation of local voting power in regional governing policy boards influences the spatial allocation of transportation investments. The analysis shows that the power structure of regional policy boards is consistently a major factor associated with the observed geographic distribution of investments. Moreover, the results suggest that the degree of power concentration of the dominant city in the region influences whether the remaining cities’ power matters. These results suggest that institutional governance rules may be more important than previously recognized.