Self-Determination, Accountability Mechanisms, and Quasi-Governmental Status of Busines Improvement Districts in the United States

Abstract

Business improvement districts (BIDs) are special districts established by government with a nonprofit that sets policy and carries out services. Traditionally in BID literature, this arrangement is considered to be publicly authorized but privately initiated and managed. This paper argues that a more proper way of describing BIDs is that they are quasi-governmental entities, or organizations that have features of both government and private organizations. This structure lets them be more than public and more than private, one of the keys to their success. This theory that BIDs are quasi-governmental entities is supported by a survey that shows that BIDs are private entities that provide governmental services with substantial policy-setting independence from government. It also argues that quasi-governmental entities such as BIDs are created in situations where both the private market and government fail to adequately provide needed goods or services. This theory is backed up with interviews and research into why BIDs are created.