This research investigates the ways that citizens and policy makers attend to stimulus funds under the Recovery Act of 2009. The research develops new methods to estimate the impact of stimulus funds on the perceptions of citizens and the choices of local community decision makers. The project leverages another research design that is preparing to go into the field. That project draws a sample of citizens and public officials across matched communities and builds a panel. The research added here will increase the size of the panel of subjects, changes how often we return to the communities and allows us to study expectations for stimulus spending and, subsequently, the short-term impact of stimulus spending under the Recovery Act of 2009.
Substantial research will debate the economic effects of the Recovery Act of 2009. The social and political aspects of the influx of money into government institutions will be less understood. This research will enable us to understand how citizen trust in government is related to stimulus spending and the actions of public officials. This relates to broader questions of citizen confidence in democratic institutions.
This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
