Thomas F. Pogue

Effect of Police Expenditures on Crime Rates: Some Evidence

The main concern of this paper is the relationship between public sector use of resources for law enforcement and the rate of criminal activity. In addition, this paper reports tests of the hypotheses that crime rates are influenced by economic and demographic factors that condition the individuals environment and alternatives. The results support several tentative conclusions: existing intercity differences in crime rates cannot be attributed to the existing and substantial intercity differences in resources devoted to public law enforcement. Nor can the major share of crime rate variation be attributed to environmental factors that are widely regarded as determinants of individual decisions to engage in unlawful activity, although some of these factors (income, race, age, city size) appear to have a significant and stable effect on crime rates.

Higher education enrollment: The interaction of labor market conditions, curriculum, and selectivity

Abstract A number of recent studies have shown that conditions in the labor market for college graduates (LMCG) influence higher education enrollment. However, they have not considered how a colleges curriculum and selectivity may affect the sensitivity of its enrollment to fluctuations in the LMCG. To examine this interaction, a model of enrollment demand was developed and its parameters were estimated from 1965–1981 data on a set of 64 independent colleges in Iowa and Illinois. The results show that colleges with an emphasis on traditional arts and sciences tend to have greater enrollment growth when the LMCG is improving, colleges with an emphasis on occupational fields tend to have greater enrollment growth when the LMCG is deteriorating.

Intergovernmental Aid To Reduce Fiscal Disparities: Problems of Definition and Measurement

This article examines the problem of structuring intergovernmental aid to correct for fiscal disparities. In general, distributing aid to equalize average tax effort will not eliminate underlying fiscal disparities. To do so requires that aid be distributed so as to equalize the local tax rate necessary to finance a base level of public services. Reviewed briefly are the potential consequences of these two approaches for horizontal equity and tax base mobility. Using data for Arizona school districts, the two approaches are shown to have widely disparate implications for the distribution of state school aid.