Why Some Cities Provide More Public Goods than Others: A Subnational Comparison of the Provision of Public Goods in German Cities in 1912

Abstract

What determines a government's level of public goods provision? Most scholarship tends to focus on the "demand side" of public goods provision, highlighting how varying patterns of social preferences shape the provision of public goods. In an analysis of municipal hospitals and infant health clinics in Germany's 84 largest cities in 1912, this article uses an original dataset to test a variety of hypotheses to introduce an alternative logic centered around the institutional capability of local governments. The findings suggest a supply-side theory of public goods provision in which the fiscal resources of cities and the professionalism of local government officials are important determinants of the level of public goods. The implications of these findings are two-fold: first, in federal political systems, highly capable local governments-with resources, expertise and professionalismmight represent a "decentralized" or "bottom-up" path for achieving higher overall levels of state infrastructural power in a political system. Second, public health threats might serve as a crucial trigger for the development of local capacity and hence state infrastructural power more broadly.

Delivering More with Less: Subnational Service Provision in Low Capacity States

“…In reality, state capacity varies extensively across different parts of the same country (Gingerich 2013), with significant implications for quality of life across communities (O'Donnell 1993). These subnational differences in capacity play a significant role in explaining spatial differences in service delivery (Ziblatt 2008).…”

“…Spatial variation can also emerge due to basic differences in staffing across localities. In a study on the provision of public health services across German cities in the early twentieth century, Ziblatt (2008) finds that cities with more fiscal resources and higher staff professionalization deliver more services. Indeed, many areas of policymaking fall under the jurisdictions of local governments, especially as countries continue to embrace decentralization.…”

Migrant Transnational Participation

“…On the supply side, government contributions to coproduction are shaped by local budget constraints as well as the training and professionalism of local government officials and staff (Ziblatt 2008). On the supply side, government contributions to coproduction are shaped by local budget constraints as well as the training and professionalism of local government officials and staff (Ziblatt 2008).…”

The Politics of Building Municipal Institutional Effectiveness in Chile

“…While much of the scholarship about institutional effectiveness focuses on nationallevel policy administration (Evans 1995;Fukuyama 2013;Soifer 2014;McGuire 2010), a growing body of research investigates variation in local-level implementation of social policy programs (Niedzwiecki 2013;Osterkatz 2013;Ziblatt 2008;Luna and Mardones 2013;Alves 2013). These studies seek to understand why some territorial units are more effective than others at administering education, health, and income transfer programs, and they have generally focused on economic, political, and sociostructural variables.…”