PUBLICATIONS -- Robert W. Wassmer, Ph.D.

BOOKS
Bidding for Business: The Efficacy of Local Economic Development Incentives in a Metropolitan Area, with John Anderson, Upjohn Institute, May 2000,
 
Readings in Urban Economics: Issues and Public Policy, Editor, Blackwell Publishers, January 2000.
REFEREED ARTICLES
"Does a More Centralized Urban Form Raise Housing Prices?" forthcoming in Journal of Policy Analysis and Management,
 
"The Influence of Local Urban Containment Policies and Statewide Growth Management on the Size of United States Urban Areas," forthcoming in Journal of Regional Science,
 
"Effect of Racial/Ethnic Composition on Transfer Rates in Community Colleges: Implications for Policy and Practice," with Colleen Moore and Nancy Shulock, Research in Higher Education 45, September 2004, pp. 539-60,
 
"Lessons from California's Public Elementary Schools Where Performance Exceeds Expectations," California Politics and Policy 8, June 2004, pp. 44-68,
 
"Fiscalization of Land Use, Urban Growth Boundaries, and Non-Central Retail Sprawl in the Western United States," Urban Studies 39, July 2002, pp. 1307-1327,
 
"Interstate Variation in the Use of Fees to Fund K-12 Public Education," with Ronald Fisher, Economics of Education Review 21, January 2002, pp. 87-100,
 
"Bidding for Business: New Evidence on the Effect of Locally Offered Economic Development Incentives in a Metropolitan Area," Economic Development Quarterly 15, May 2001, pp. 132-148,
 
"Public Sector Technical Inefficiency in Large U.S. Cities," with Philip Grossman and Panayiotis Mavros, Journal of Urban Economics 46, 1999, pp. 278-299,
 
"Economic Influences on the Structure of Local Government in U.S. Metropolitan Areas," with Ronald Fisher, Journal of Urban Economics 43, 1998, pp. 444-471,
 
"School Finance Reform: Proposals, Prospects, and Public Opinion Formation," Public Finance Review 25, 1997, pp. 393-425,
 
"An Evaluation of the Recent Move to Centralize the Finance of Public Schools in Michigan, with Ronald Fisher, Public Budgeting and Finance 16, 1996, pp. 90-112,
 
"The Decision to ‘Bid for Business’: Municipal Behavior in Granting Property Tax Abatements," with John Anderson, Regional Science and Urban Economics 25, 1995, pp. 739-757,
 
"Centralizing Educational Responsibility in Michigan and Other States: New Constraints on States and Localities," with Ronald Fisher, National Tax Journal XLVIII, 1995, pp. 417-428,
 
"Fiscal Dynamics of Local Elected Officials," with D. K. Bhattacharrya, Public Choice 83, 1995, pp. 221-249,
 
"Can Local Incentives Alter the Trend in an Urban City's Economic Development," Urban Studies 31, 1994, pp. 1251-1278,
 
"Property Taxation, Property Base, and Property Value: An Empirical Test of the New View," National Tax Journal XLVI, 1993, pp. 135-160,
 
"Optimal Mortgage Design When Transaction Costs Constrain Mobility," with Allen Goodman, Journal of Housing Economics 2, 1992, pp. 17-36,
 
"Property Tax Abatement and the Simultaneous Determination of Local Fiscal Variables in a Metropolitan Area," Land Economics 68, 1992, pp. 263-282,
 
"Local Fiscal Variables and Intrametropolitan Firm Location: Regression Evidence from the United States and Research Suggestions," Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 8, 1990, pp. 283-296.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
 
Book Reviews and Commentary
Book Review of Why Not in My Backyard?: Neighborhood Impacts of Deconcentrated Assisted Housing, George Galster et al., Cities Journal, 21(4) 2004, pp. 467-68,
 
Book Review of Improving Educational Productivity, edited by David Monk et al., Economics of Education Review, December 2003, pp. 651-652,
 
"Metropolitan Prosperity from Major League Sports in the CBD: Stadia Location or Just Strength of Central City?" Comment on Arthur C. Nelson's "Prosperity or Blight? A Question of Major League Stadia Location," Economic Development Quarterly, August 2001, pp. 266-271,
 
Book Review of Making Money Matter: Financing America's Schools, edited by Helen F. Ladd and Janet S. Hansen, Economics of Education Review, December 2000, pp. 609-611,
 
Book Review of Fiscal Equalization for State and Local Government Finance, edited by John E. Anderson, Economics of Education Review, July 2000, pp. 451-452,
 
"State-Local Fiscal Policy and Economic Development," with Ronald Fisher, Commentary, National Tax Association Forum, Winter 1992, pp. 1-5.
 
Non-Refereed Journals
"An Analysis of Subsidies and Other Options to Expand Tire Recycling/Diversion in California," Resource Recycling, September 2002,
 
"Why Growth?," Urban Land Institute Working Paper on Land Use Policy, 2002,
 
"Growth and Sprawl in California," Californiana, The Newsletter of the Center for California Studies, CSUS, V. 11, No. 2, Fall 2001, pp. 2-3,
 
"Defining Sprawl: An Academic Look at the Economic Tradeoffs Associated with Growth," Comstock's Business, November 2001, pp. 20-21, 81,
 
"Are Local Economic Development Incentives Effective in an Urban Area?," State Tax Notes, February 14, 2000, pp. 515-523,
 
"Local Financing Options for Urban Governments," State Tax Notes, January 19, 1998, pp. 197-200,
 
"The Forgotten Element in the High Tax /Low Growth Argument," State Tax Notes, December 9, 1991, pp. 521-23.
 
Chapters Published in Book
"An Economic View of the Causes as Well as the Costs and Some of the Benefits of Urban Spatial Segregation," entry in Desegregating the City: Ghettos, Enclaves, and Inequality, Edited by David Varady, State University of New York Press, 2005, pp. 158-174,
 
"The Influence of Local Fiscal Choices and Growth Control Choices on Bog-Box Sprawl in the American West," entry in The Property Tax, Land Use, and Land Use Regulation, Edited by Dick Netzer, Edward Elgar Press, 2003, pp. 88-121,
 
"Introduction to Property Tax Policy," entry in Course 402: Property Tax Policy Student Reference Manual, International Association of Assessing Officers, 2003, pp., 1-55,
 
"Urban Devolution and Metropolitan Local Governance in California's Next Half Century of Growth," entry in Building a Civil Society: Separate Geographies, Shared Destinies, Edited by Ali Modares and Evelyn G. Aleman, Pat Brown Institute (CSULA) and Center for California Studies (CSUS), 2003, pp. 67-95,
 
"Commuter Taxes," entry in Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy, Edited by Joseph Cordes et al., Urban Institute Press, 1999, pp. 59-61 (update coming in 2005).
 
Papers Published in Conference Proceedings:
"Are Local Economic Development Incentives Effective in an Urban Area?" Proceedings of the 92nd Annual Conference on Taxation, Washington, D.C.: National Tax Association, 1999, pp. 469-480,
 
"Thoughts on Innovative Financing Options for Urban Governments, " Proceedings of the 90th Annual Conference on Taxation, Washington, D.C.: National Tax Association, 1997, pp. 387-392,
 
"The Use and Abuse of Economic Development Incentives in a Metropolitan Area," Proceedings of the 86th Annual Conference on Taxation, Columbus, Ohio: National Tax Association, 1993, pp. 146-157,
 
"Taxes, Property Tax Abatement, Expenditure, and the Composition of Property Bases in Communities Within a Metropolitan Area," Proceedings of the 83rd Annual Conference on Taxation, Columbus, Ohio: National Tax Association, 1990, pp. 132-140.
 
Instructional Materials Formally Published
Two Entries in the book: Great Ideas for Teaching Economics, Edited by Ralph Byrns and Gerald Stone, New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1992.
 
General-Audience Policy Writing (Last 5 Years)
A Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Auburn Boulevard Revitalization Project, with Susan Catron, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, February, 2005,
 
"Two Different Worlds: Where Resources are Greatest, Needs are the Fewest," Sunday Forum Section, Sacramento Bee, August 1, 2004,
 
A Regional View of Social Disparities: A Visual Examination of the Socio-Economic Status of the Greater Sacramento Region; with Katrina Middleton, Tina Glover, Kelly Grieve, and Terrie Chrysler; Community Services Planning Council, May, 2004,
 
Evaluation of Alternatives to the City's Gross Receipts Business Tax, Commissioned report for the City of Los Angles, Office of Finance, co-authored with Burr Consulting, et al., January, 2004,
 
K-12 Education in the U.S. Economy: Its Impact on Economic Development, Earnings, and Housing Values, Commissioned Report for National Education Association, September 2003,
 
"Learning From Atlanta: Others Errors Can Lead Us to Better Choices," with Robert Fountain, Sunday Forum Section, Sacramento Bee, November 24, 2002,
 
An Analysis of Subsidies and Other Options to Expand Tire Recycling/Diversion in California, Commissioned report for the California Integrated Waste Management Board with the assistance of CSUS PPA graduate students, 2002,
 
"Policy Lessons from California Public Schools that Achieve Higher than Expected," Commissioned report for the California Senate Office of Research with the assistance of Rosie Papazian and Kim Connor, 2002,
 
"Why Sprawl Flourishes, Cities Don't: State's Sales Tax Formula Costs Downtowns Billions. Sacramento is Exhibit A," Sunday Forum Section, Sacramento Bee, August 5, 2001,
 
"An Analysis of Regional Revenue Sharing Restructuring Proposals," with Eric Hays and Mat Newman, CSU Faculty Research Fellows and California Institute for County Government,  CA Assembly Speaker Hertzberg's Commission on Regionalism, Sacramento, 2001,
 
"Urban Sprawl in a U.S. Metropolitan Area: Ways to Measure and a Comparison to Similar Areas in California and the United States," Capital Region Institute and Valley Vision, Sacramento, 2000,
 
"Implications of the Current System of Incentives for County Property Tax Administration in California," with Matthew Newman and Colleen Moore, California Institute for County Government, Center for California Studies, California State University, Sacramento, 2000.
Dr. Wassmer has a comprehensive and current list of his research at his webpage.