Hierarchies of Need in Sustainable Development: A Resource Dependence Approach for Local Governance

Abstract

Urban sustainability is a burgeoning focus for urban scholarship but rarely examined within the larger context of local government economic activities. Why should cities focusing on cutback management and competition for tax revenues be expected to devote all but the fleetest of attention to carbon footprints or metropolitan-wide environmental or social problems? To address this question, we utilize a resource dependence (RD) theoretical framework to conceptualize sustainable development as a pattern of contractual arrangements between governments and firms shaped by resource constraints. Utilizing survey data of U.S. cities and a Bayesian methodological approach, we present evidence that municipal job-recruitment efforts reduce the probability of observing an overall sustainability policy commitment. Cities which placed greater emphasis on retaining and developing existing businesses are also more committed to sustainability.

Sustainability Synergies or Silos? The Opportunity Costs of Local Government Organizational Capabilities

“…First, many of the items that make up the composite indices are observed rather than latent (the presence or absence of specific programs, investments, plans, or personnel), and IRT serves as a data‐reduction method. Second, IRT models are advantageous because they weight survey items differentially based on both the degree of difficulty and discrimination of individual items (DeMars 2010; Deslatte and Stokan 2017). Thus, rather than use an additive index that assumes, for example, that each additional business incentive policy choice is equally difficult to adopt or implement (tax abatements versus employee screening), the IRT model produces distinct discrimination and difficulty parameters for each collection of items.…”

“…Many cities in the United States and across the globe have also become active in taking steps to improve their economic, social, and environmental sustainability through smart growth, new urbanism, green building and other energy reduction programs, water conservation, recycling, and GHG reduction efforts (Hawkins et al 2016; Portney 2013b). Recent empirical evidence suggests that tax‐incentive‐based business recruitment efforts can curtail these broader sustainability commitments (Deslatte and Stokan 2017). We argue this is because traditional economic development capabilities present opportunity costs; however, some development capabilities closely mirror sustainability activities and have higher fungibility.…”

“…Economic development, as an example, requires long‐term strategic planning and management, ongoing stakeholder engagement, financial instruments and tax incentives to entice firms, and systems for monitoring performance and enforcing agreements (Leigh and Blakely 2016). Some of these capabilities (e.g., strategic planning systems, performance measurement, auditing personnel) may be more suitable to being repurposed or used in tandem for broader organizational goals (Deslatte and Stokan 2017; Fiorino 2010; Hawkins et al 2016).…”

“…Moreover, perceptions of competition for economic development positively mediate the relationship between the strategies governments develop to pursue sustainable economic development and the performance information they collect. This suggests that economic competition between cities in metropolitan regions strengthens commitments to performance measurement (Deslatte and Stokan 2017; Hawkins 2014; Teske et al 1993). Cities utilize sustainability investments to distinguish themselves from competitors; measuring the impact of these investments facilitates branding and helps justify the efforts to stakeholders.…”

How Can Local Governments Address Pandemic Inequities?

“…Recent research suggests there are factors that determine which trajectory governments pursue (Deslatte and Stokan 2019). Localities make trade‐offs between traditional firm‐based approaches focusing on tax abatements and TIFs and alternative approaches featuring job training assistance, community development loans, entrepreneurship and sustainability (Stokan, Deslatte, and Hatch 2020).…”