Nick Bauroth, assistant professor of criminal justice and political science, has published “Quasi-Governmental Institutions as a Form of Local Boundary Change: Explanations for the Proliferation of Economic Development Corporations in Texas” in the May 2009 edition of “Public Administration Quarterly.”

According to Bauroth’s research, the United States has experienced a proliferation of quasi-governmental institutions during the last three decades. He says the formation of such institutions represents an important form of local boundary change. Local boundaries determine service delivery, economic development and intergovernmental relationships.

“It remains unclear, though, how the process of boundary change unfolds. Using U.S. Census and Texas State Comptroller data, I examine the ability of four explanations of boundary change to account for the use of economic development corporations across Texas,” Bauroth wrote in his abstract. “I find that their creation is not driven by economic need or the desire to circumvent institutional constraints. Instead, local entrepreneurs and prior boundary change are associated with new corporations.”

For more information, contact Bauroth at 1-6174 or nicholas.bauroth@ndsu.edu.