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ABSTRACTAssigning students to draft and publish a Wikipedia contribution is no longer a novelty. The pedagogical benefits from assigning a Wikipedia article vary depending on discipline, lesson plan, and how it is incorporated into the class. This research considers how a Wikipedia assignment can effectively overcome common challenges in teaching controversial topics including peer relations, teacher–student power dynamics, and (mis)perceptions of "the other."

The vast majority of local governments in the United States have populations with less 5,000. Local government research, particular in the area of e-government, has focused on larger cities. This article addresses the gap in the research but examining empirically the factors that influence the adoption and development of Web sites by smaller local governments.

The vast majority of local governments in the United States have populations with less 5,000. Local government research, particular in the area of e-government, has focused on larger cities. This article addresses the gap in the research but examining empirically the factors that influence the adoption and development of Web sites by smaller local governments. Adapted from the source document.

Does intrajurisdictional tax competition lead local governments to offer larger tax abatements to firms? The authors build upon the traditional literature that models tax abatements as a negotiation between individual governments and firms by including systemic political and economic trends affecting the bargaining power of local governments and businesses. The authors use a longitudinal data set from 1983 to 2004 with detailed information on the 4,408 individual tax abatements negotiated between local governments and firms to examine how tax abatement generosity varies in response to the relative bargaining position of governments and firms. They find that as Ohio has increased the number of local governments able to offer tax abatements, local governments have offered larger abatements to firms.

Does intrajurisdictional tax competition lead local governments to offer larger tax abatements to firms? The authors build upon the traditional literature that models tax abatements as a negotiation between individual governments and firms by including systemic political and economic trends affecting the bargaining power of local governments and businesses. The authors use a longitudinal data set from 1983 to 2004 with detailed information on the 4,408 individual tax abatements negotiated between local governments and firms to examine how tax abatement generosity varies in response to the relative bargaining position of governments and firms. They find that as Ohio has increased the number of local governments able to offer tax abatements, local governments have offered larger abatements to firms. Adapted from the source document.

While the financial crisis of 2008 ultimately affected the range of U.S. financial institutions, it began with practices in home ownership finance. The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank) System was the first instrumentality created by the U.S. government, in 1932, to sustain affordable home ownership finance. In this article, the authors ask what role, if any, the FHLBanks played in the subprime lending and securitization practices that precipitated the current crisis. The authors analyze publicly available FHLBank financial data in terms of a framework focused on the System's assets: advances; mortgage loans acquired from members; and investments, particularly in mortgage‐backed‐securities. They conclude that the FHLBanks did not contribute significantly to problematic practices. Nonetheless, they recommend consideration of three reforms to the FHLBanks to ensure a return to effective regulation and responsible, affordable home ownership finance.

Objective. The objective of this article is twofold. First, why did states adopt enterprise zones, which allow designated economically distressed areas to provide significant financial incentives to attract firms? Second, why did some states significantly increase the number of zones within the state and transform what began as a spatially targeted program aimed at helping poor places into a state‐wide incentive program aimed at improving the state's competitive position? We also demonstrate the value of examining how changes in a state's policy environment can undermine a policy innovation, namely, the adoption of place‐based economic development policies.Methods. We use event history analysis to model when states adopt enterprise zones and an event‐count model to estimate when states increase the number of enterprise zones, and thereby undermine the original intent of the program.Results. States with larger urban populations and neighboring states with enterprise zone programs are more likely to adopt enterprise zone programs. States are more likely to increase the number of enterprise zones when they have larger urban populations, more neighboring states with enterprise zone programs, professional legislatures, more centrist elected officials, and as the program ages.Conclusions. Although the adoption of enterprise zones signaled states' commitment to improve conditions in the most distressed areas of the states, that commitment gradually wanes in the face of internal political demands and external competition for investment and jobs. By extending our analysis to examine what happens after the adoption of enterprise zones, we develop a more pessimistic assessment of states' capacity to pursue spatially targeted economic development policies to help economically distressed areas.

Congress established the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs) in 1932 to pursue the public purpose of homeownership. Recently, three views of their mission have emerged; one is that their purpose is to help small banks to remain viable. Why did their mission expand in this direction? We argue that mission expansion is a process that is better understood in terms of behavioral choice than public choice. Change began when expert attention was directed to small banks in rural areas and officials innovated within the existing rules to address their needs. Recognizing the FHLBs' usefulness, community bankers sought a more fundamental change in their practice. Responding to the general interest in preserving small banks' viability, legislative entrepreneurs advanced permissive rule changes. These were implemented to different extents in individual FHLBs in response to local needs. The case illustrates the usefulness of the behavioral‐choice paradigm for understanding change in public agencies and suggests legitimacy for mission change and the value of maintaining publicly directed administrative capacity.