Decentralizing Development: The Economic Impacts of Government Splits
研究了巴西市政府分裂对地方经济的影响，发现分裂扩大了公共部门、改善了公共服务、刺激了长期经济活动，且对偏远落后地区效果更显著。
Changes in political boundaries aimed at devolving power to local governments are common across many countries. We examine the economic impacts of government unit creation through splitting. Exploiting reforms that led to sharp increases in the number of municipalities in Brazil, we show that voluntary splitting enlarges the public sector, enhances public service delivery, and stimulates long-term economic activity in new local governments. These gains are not offset by losses elsewhere and are stronger in peripheral, remote, and underdeveloped areas neglected by parent governments. Higher fiscal revenues and decentralized decision-making contribute to the positive effects on local economic activity.