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Key Points Question What hospital characteristics are associated with overuse of health care services in the US? Findings In this cross-sectional study of 1 325 256 services performed at 3351 hospitals, we found that hospitals in the South, for-profit hospitals, and nonteaching hospitals were associated with the highest rates of overuse. Meaning Variation within specific hospital types and regions may uncover opportunities for targeted interventions to address overuse.

The release of 2000 U.S. Census and 2001 Canadian Census data sparked significant interest in immigrant dispersal outside major urban centers. This article analyze show the meaning of immigration settlement patterns is socially constructed by using a comparative textual analysis of newspaper coverage of census findings as well as government documents and think tank studies. The authors argue that in Canada, immigration settlement is interpreted as a national policy problem necessitating federal state intervention, whereas presentations in U.S. print media construct immigration settlement as the outcome of choices made by individual immigrants and, thus, as local policy problems. In each case, construction of immigrant dispersal draws on national mythologies and omits alternative interpretations of the geography of immigrant settlement.

Distributive justice in cities has suffered from the inability of local governments to control productive resources, especially land. Contrary to Paul Peterson's argument, cities are not acting on their “corporate interests” when they favor development because, historically, the legal status of cities has diminished their corporate powers in favor of private property rights. Recent court cases reflect judicial ambivalence about local control of land. While the Supreme Court has criticized far‐reaching land regulations, many innovative policies aimed at increasing commercial landowners' obligations to the community have gained doctrinal approval. Local governments may be able to exploit these legal openings to challenge the immutable unitary conception of property that makes cities dependent on private investment decisions. In short, local officials need to argue in court for public property rights. Ultimately, the political process within cities will determine whether localities govern land innovatively and justly, but more just urban political economies are not possible without judicial support.

Urban political economists observe that growth seeking dominates Canadian and U.S. local governance. Others believe Canada's collectivist culture exempts cities from the privatistic policies common in the United States. The authors argue that local constitutional regimes (the legal definition of cities, rules about private property, and federalism) best explain patterns of governance. Inducements shape urban development policy in both countries, but U.S. cities generally compete independently for growth, whereas provinces more often direct Canadian urban growth strategies. Provinces may reduce interlocal competition, but they may also move the locus of urban growth politics upward or stifle progressive initiatives.