Spatial Spillover Effects in the Swedish Local Rescue Services

Abstract

This paper studies what factors determine the expenditures on rescue services by municipalities in Sweden. The main purpose is to identify spatial spillover effects between municipalities in order to analyse strategic behaviour. The analysis is based on a joint product model, where collective security is assumed to contain local and regional public good elements. In the empirical analysis we find that the reaction functions are negatively sloped, meaning that we cannot reject the hypothesis of free riding behaviour. It is also found that rescue services can be considered a normal good and that the municipalities respond positively to security policy threats. Cet article cherche à étudier les facteurs qui déterminent les dépenses des municipalités suédoises pour les services de secours. Le but principal est d'identifier les effets de débordement géographiques sur les municipalités afin d'analyser le comportement stratégique. L'analyse est fondée sur un modèle de produits liés, dont la sécurité collective est censée inclure des éléments de bien public à la fois locaux et régionaux. Il en résulte de l'analyse empirique que les courbes qui tracent les fonctions de réaction sont descendantes, ce qui veut dire que l'on ne peut pas rejeter l'hypothèse de l'entrée libre. Il s'avère aussi que les services de secours peuvent être considérés un bien normal et que les municipalités réagissent de façon positive aux menaces pour leur politique de sécurité. In diesem Aufsatz wird untersucht, welche Faktoren bei schwedischen Gemeindeverwaltungen die Ausgaben für Rettungsdienste bestimmen. Der Hauptzweck ist, die Folgen eines Überfließens der Bevölkerung von Stadtbezirk zu Stadtbezirk zu identifizieren, um dann strategisches Verhalten zu analysieren. Die Analyse stützt sich auf ein Modell des Gemeinschaftsproduktes, bei dem angenommen wird, daß die kollektive Sicherheit örtliche und regionale Elemente des Gemeinwohls enthält. In der empirischen Analyse wird festgestellt, daß die Reaktionsfunktionen ein Gefälle aufweisen, was bedeutet, daß die Autoren die Hypothese einer offenen Diskussion nicht ablehnen können. Es erweist sich auch, daß Rettungsdienst als Grundrecht angesehen wird, und daß Stadtverwaltungen positiv auf Bedrohungen ihrer Sicherheitspolitik reagieren.Rescue Services, Joint Product Model, Spatial Spillovers, Spatial Autoregression,

An empirical investigation of public choices for green spaces

“…Therefore, we shall include spatial effects when investigating public choices. Some empirical studies show that jurisdictions tend to adopt strategic behaviours in the provision of local public goods (Murdoch et al, 1993;Hanes, 2002;Lundberg, 2006;Solé-Ollé, 2006).…”

“…Hence most work on local public goods use expenditure per capita as an indicator, e.g. Baudry et al (2002) use it for municipal spending in France, Hanes (2002) for rescue services in Sweden, Lundberg (2006) for leisure and cultural services in Sweden and Solé-Ollé (2006) for local expenditures in Spain. Some authors choose other indicator: Murdoch et al (1993) use expenditures per acre for recreational activities in the United States or Lundberg (2006) uses expenditures per square kilometer for leisure and cultural services in Sweden.…”

The provision of urban parks: an empirical test of spatial spillovers in an urban area using geographic information systems

“…They find no evidence of free-riding behaviour and conclude that recreation spending are strategic complements among communities. Hanes (2002) explores spatial spillovers for rescue services for 284 Swedish municipalities. He finds evidence of free-riding behaviour, which leads to a non optimal level of rescue services.…”

“…Thus, empirical studies into the determinants of the provision of such goods should introduce spatial effects. Spatial spillovers regarding the provision of local public goods have received little focus in the empirical literature (Murdoch et al 1993;Hanes 2002;Lundberg 2006;Solé-Ollé 2006). This literature suggests that spatial spillovers may lead local jurisdictions to adopt free-riding or mimetic behaviour depending on what local public good is at stake.…”

A Simultaneous Equations Model of Fiscal Policy Interactions*

“…Spatial econometrics studies sometimes include control variables to account for differences in production costs of public services. Hanes (2002), for example, includes land area of each municipality to control for transportation or thinning costs. In contrast, in our approach, spending needs are modeled explicitly.…”