Doctoral Dissertation Research: Valuing Property

Princeton University, Princeton NJ

Investigators

Abstract

Title: Doctoral Dissertation Grant: Valuing Property. Co-PI's: Kim Scheppele and Debbie Becher Proposal Number: 0648083 Abstract Since the U.S. Supreme Court case Kelo v. City of New London (2005), which found the use of eminent domain for an economic development project constitutional, there has been substantial political controversy over eminent domain nationwide. Reform legislation has already been passed by 34 state legislatures and 10 state ballot initiatives. Concerns about whether poor and minority communities are helped or hurt, about whether private developers take advantage of cash-strapped governments, and about whether government respects ownership rights have been raised. Yet the post-Kelo debate has revealed how little we know about how "takings" power is practiced. A report produced for Congress by the Government Accountability Office (November 2006) is titled "Eminent Domain: Information....Is Limited." This dissertation will provide an in-depth case study of how eminent domain is used for urban economic development and offer a pre-Kelo benchmark as well as suggestions and templates for future comparative research. It will also use eminent domain to understand how theoretical conflicts among different conceptions of private property and government action in the market are resolved in practice. This study focuses on three sets of empirical questions of eminent domain practice in Philadelphia, where the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia has acquired thousands of properties for urban redevelopment over the last few decades. (1) When does government exercise eminent domain power for urban redevelopment? For what purposes? For which properties? (2) What affects the outcomes of eminent domain proceedings (acquiescence, agreement, or contestation by the property owner and/or government abandonment of project)? If contestation is the outcome, what is the result (negotiated settlement, litigation, or government abandonment of the project)? (3) How is "just compensation" for property determined, and how does it contribute to the outcomes of the "taking"? Documentary evidence and interview data will reveal the contours of policy dilemmas involved in how Philadelphia and other urban governments decide to use their eminent domain power for redevelopment. Quantitative data on the "takings" that were proposed by the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia from 1995-2005 and the results of these proposals will reveal the scope and variation of these decisions. A smaller set of purposefully sampled cases will be investigated more thoroughly with extensive interviews, observations, and archival evidence to reconstruct the complexity of the taking of particular properties and the perspectives of actors involved. These case studies will answer important practical questions about many of the motivating factors and outcomes for the use of eminent domain in contemporary cities. This project will help us understand how urban governments make decisions with respect to property and how their constituents perceive the legitimacy of those decisions. Policy-makers and community activists - concerned either with stemming government abuse of power or with using government power to accomplish community development - will gain tools to understand and communicate about the many interests and perspectives involved in this difficult issue. Theoretically, eminent domain offers an important strategic opportunity for studying how government and the economy intersect through legal practice. This project aims to develop a theoretical account of how contestation and cooperation between government and business is managed in everyday practice through conceptions of property and the law. Three groups, academics, policy-makers, and the wider public, have been demanding more information about eminent domain since Kelo. The results of the study will be drafted for and disseminated to all three audiences.