Political Economics of Municipal Consolidation

2009 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20730200
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Public finance/Monetary economics
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: HIZEN Yoichi Hokkaido University, 大学院・経済学研究科, 准教授 (10344459)
• Project Period (FY): 2008 – 2009
• Keywords: 市町村合併 / 住民投票 / 政治経済学

Research Abstract

This research analyzes what types of municipalities obtain a larger share of approval votes, in their referendums, for their consolidations with their neighboring municipalities. We employ the political-economics approach to construct a theoretical model, and we test the theoretical results using the data of the Japanese Heisei municipal consolidation. It is revealed that the share of approval votes for consolidation increases if, after the consolidation, the ratio of over-65 citizens to the whole population, the inhabitable land area, and/or the per-capita income increase, and/or if the whole population and/or the dept-expenditure ratio decrease. In addition, the share of approval votes is positively correlated with the length of time after the consultation of the consolidation started, whereas it is negatively correlated with the provision of financial support to the consolidated municipalities.