Accountability of Business Improvement District in Urban Governance Networks: An Investigation of State Enabling Laws

Abstract

A conceptual framework is proposed to investigate the accountability of business improvement district (BID) in urban governance networks and it is applied in analyses of BID state enabling laws in the United States. The conditions that lead to their emergence and the enhancement of their functions and how BIDs and their accountability issues should be conceptualized are discussed. The multidimensional framework proposed in this study includes political and bureaucratic accountability, transparency, liability, and responsiveness mechanisms. The results of the analyses show that the laws rely primarily on political and bureaucratic control mechanisms and provide some transparency mechanisms. The problems in implementing the bureaucratic and political control mechanisms are elaborated. The implications of the findings for future empirical studies are discussed.