Hou publishes edited
volume on local government budget stabilization

Yilin Hou, professor of public administration and
international affairs, has published an edited volume, Local Government Budget Stabilization: Explorations and Evidence, a
sequel to Hou’s (2013) authored book State
Government Budget Stabilization: Policy, Tools, and Impacts. The new volume shifts its focus from the
subnational level to the local level.
This edited volume is the first comprehensive, full-scale
treatment of the politics, law, and economics with regard to the policies and
policy instruments for budget stabilization at the local level. In Local
Government, Hou examines budget stabilization in the United States from
adoption of public budgeting through the Great Recession. He also provides details on the methods and
results of empirical tests of the effects of budget stabilization instruments
on government operations and key/basic services provisions, among others.
The project, which started in 2012, was conducted by a team
of scholars from seven research universities who specialize in various areas of
public finance and financial management, including revenue volatility, fiscal
condition, pension management, debt issuance and retirement, as well as tax and
expenditure limitations. Three faculty members of the Maxwell School are among
the chapter contributors (Bob Bifulco, Sharon Kioko, and Shena Ashley), each
drafting a chapter in their respective research area. 02/10/15