| What factors account for local institutional choices such as adoption of impact fees? Is there a pattern to impact fee adoptions? These questions are of critical importance, because in the United States, local governments are primarily responsible for defining property rights concerning how people use land and providing basic public services to citizens. The comparative study of impact fee decisions across Florida counties can provide useful insights into local land use practices, because it helps us understand how impact fee arrangements modify new development of land in private markets. The theoretical framework to investigate impact fee adoption combines the political market framework (Crain, 1977; Alston, 1996; Libecap, 1996; Feiock & Lubell, 2003) and the diffusion model of innovation (Mohr, 1969; Walker, 1969; Gray, 1973; Berry & Berry, 1990, 1992, 1999). Empirical analysis focuses on impact fee adoptions in 66 Florida counties from 1977 to 2001, using event history analysis (EHA).;Previous studies viewed impact fees as policy instruments for local planning, growth management, and land use regulation (Frank & Downing, 1988; Nelson, 1988; Yinger, 1998; Ihlanfeldt & Shaughnessy, 2002). This dissertation argues that impact fees can also function as fiscal institutions, because they are prescribed in local ordinances as a means to resolve local fiscal stress and infrastructure deficiencies. This dissertation develops a theoretical framework combining political market approaches based in interest group theories of property rights and diffusion theories of innovation. The framework identifies the local demanders and suppliers, intergovernmental institutions, administrative capacity, diffusion, financial conditions, and geographical factors.;EHA provides useful analytical tools for local decisions on whether or not to adopt impact fees. Using cross-sectional and time-series data of 66 Florida counties between 1977 and 2001, the empirical analysis examines six types of impact fees: transportation, parks, fire/EMS, police/corrections, school, and library.;The first impact fees were adopted by Broward County in 1977. The first ten adoptions occurred in counties located in the southern and central regions of Florida except for Holmes County, and then spread to the northern counties.;To identify the determinants of impact fee adoptions, this dissertation estimates seven models. Seven specific conclusions are drawn from this analysis. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
