Municipal Structure Matters: Evidence from Government Fiscal Performance

• Published date: 01 January 2022
• Author: Wenchi Wei
• Date: 01 January 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13183

160 Public Administration Review • January | Fe bruary 20 22

Abstract: Evidence for the fundamental presumption that municipal structure matters for government performance

is smaller and weaker than many might expect. This research contributes evidence to the literature by focusing on how

municipal structure affects government fiscal performance. Municipal structure is operationalized by constructing an

index on a political-administrative scale based on seven essential structural characteristics. As the index score increases,

the municipal structure becomes less political and more administrative or professional. Theoretically, municipal

structure can affect government performance by influencing managerial professionalism, managerial strategy stance,

and the relative attention of government officials to managerial accountability and efficiency. The empirical evidence

shows that municipalities adopting a structure with an imbalance toward administrative characteristics are more

likely to achieve the best fiscal conditions in cash solvency, dependence on intergovernmental revenues, and outstanding

debt level. Moreover, municipal structure moderates the influence of external environmental factors on government

fiscal conditions.

Evidence for Practice

• The prevalent cross-adoption of structural characteristics among municipalities in recent decades has

made the dichotomous classification of primary municipal structure as mayor-council or council-manager

problematic.

• A continuous index can be constructed based on the essential structural characteristics of mayor-council and

council-manager governments to measure municipal structure on a political-administrative scale.

• Municipalities adopting a structure with an imbalance toward administrative or professional characteristics

are more likely to achieve the best fiscal conditions in cash solvency, dependence on intergovernmental

revenues, and outstanding debt level.

• Adjusting structural characteristics to be more administrative or professional is one option for municipal

officials to improve fiscal performance and, potentially, government performance in other respects.

Wenchi Wei

Renmin University of China

Municipal Structure Matters: Evidence from Government

Fiscal Performance

Municipal structure is a basic institutional

factor that organizes local politics and

influences public policy formulation

and implementation (Judd and Swanstrom 2015;

Wheeland, Palus, and Wood 2014; Zhang 2014;

Zhang and Feiock 2010).1 Most U.S. municipalities

use either the mayor-council or the council-manager

form of government.2 The critical characteristics of

mayor-council municipalities, as summarized by the

National League of Cities, include the following3: the

mayor is separate from the council and elected directly

by voters; the mayor has significant administrative

and budgetary powers4; the council is elected and

responsible for legislation; a professional manager is

appointed in some mayor-council municipalities to

share limited administrative authority. The essential

characteristics of council-manager municipalities

include the following: the council has legislative

powers and retains ultimate responsibility for the

government; the council appoints a professional

manager as the chief administrative officer (CAO)

to manage administrative affairs; the mayor is

the presiding officer of the council and handles

ceremonial duties.5

Cross-adoption of structural characteristics among

mayor-council and council-manager municipalities

has been prevalent since the 1950s (Choi, Feiock,

and Bae 2013), motivating scholars to offer various

reclassifications of municipal form or structure

that recognize these modifications. One of the

contributions of this research is the introduction

of an index on a political-administrative scale to

reclassify municipal structure based on several

essential structural characteristics linked to

managerial professionalism, separation of powers

and checks and balances between officials, and local

electoral systems.

Wenchi Wei is assistant professor in

the School of Public Administration and

Policy at Renmin University of China. He

holds a doctoral degree in public policy

and administration from the Martin School

of the University of Kentucky. His research

focuses on public management and

performance, public and nonprofit financial

management, and policy evaluation.

His research has appeared in Public

Administration Review, the American

Review of Public Administration, and

Public Finance Review, among other

journals.

Email: weiwenchi@ruc.edu.cn

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 82, Iss. 1, pp. 160–173. © 2020 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13183.

Research Article