Technological Innovation and Its Impact on Public Sector Efficiency and Performance: Aerial Imagery in Property Tax Assessment Administration

Geoffrey Propheter

International Journal of Public Administration, 2020, vol. 43, issue 7, 634-643

Abstract: Technological innovations can help public organizations deliver higher quality public goods and services at lower average costs. While a considerable literature exploring the determinants of technology adoption and diffusion exists, much less is known on whether technology innovations improve public sector outputs. This study investigates the impact of high-resolution, oblique aerial imagery, an increasingly common technology used by local governments in the US, on the inspection efficiency and quality of property assessment administration. Aerial imagery is often argued to be a low-cost substitute to in-person inspections of property. Drawing on data from 2013 through 2017 for property assessing districts in Texas, aerial imagery use is found to improve the rate at which properties are inspected as well as improve the quality of assessments. The results further provide evidence that investments in aerial imagery are best justified on budgetary grounds rather than as a means to improve organizational performance.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1080/01900692.2019.1644655

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