Elected Versus Appointed Policymakers

摘要

How cities pick their treasurers -- whether by elections or through appointments -- can have an impact on their cost of borrowing. In California, cities that appoint treasurers spend 13 to 23 percent less in borrowing costs than comparable cities with elected treasurers, according to Elected Versus Appointed Policymakers: Evidence from City Treasurers (NBER Working Paper No. 15643). Were all California cities with elected treasurers to replace them with appointed ones, they could save more than $20 million collectively, author Alexander Whalley estimates.