Did Fire, Police, and EMS Departments Take Advantage of the 9/11 Attacks to Get More Money?

18 Pages Posted: 15 Mar 2018

See all articles by David M. Brasington

David M. Brasington

University of Cincinnati - Department of Economics

Date Written: March 12, 2018

Abstract

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 increased U.S. patriotism, but did they affect voting behavior? Did fire, police, and EMS departments sense an opportunity to increase their funding after the highly-publicized rescue efforts? We find no evidence of more frequently proposed tax levies as a result of 9/11. However, we find that fire and police departments asked for 25% and 39% larger tax levies. Support for police levies was essentially unchanged, and voters decreased their support for fire levies by only 1.3 percentage points. We find no change in size of or support for EMS, recreation, or road levies.

Keywords: terrorism, public taxation, voting behavior, public goods, Leviathan

JEL Classification: D72, H71, H41

Suggested Citation

Brasington, David M., Did Fire, Police, and EMS Departments Take Advantage of the 9/11 Attacks to Get More Money? (March 12, 2018). University of Cincinnati Lindner College of Business Research Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3140675 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3140675

David M. Brasington (Contact Author)

University of Cincinnati - Department of Economics ( email )

Carl H. Lindner Hall 2925 Campus Green Drive
PO Box 0371
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0211
United States

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