Information Utilization in Municipal Decision-Making: An Exploratory Study of the Social Compact Neighborhood Market DrillDown

Abstract

This dissertation is exploratory in design and employs an electronic survey and comparative case studies to examine the factors that shape the impact of a non-traditional data source that measures the market power of urban neighborhoods, the Social Compact Neighborhood Market DrillDown, on the policymaking process of local government officials concerned with neighborhood economic development. The four case studies are: Baltimore, MD, Louisville, KY, Detroit, MI, and Tampa, FL. The study examines the conditions that affect decision-making at the different stages of information use and considers instrumental, conceptual, and symbolic uses of information. The observation of seven variables (applicability to agenda of lead sponsor, congruence between findings and prior preferences, trust of information producer, availability of alternative information sources, information sustainability, costs of production, information as private sector "lure") provide the context for theory and hypotheses on information impact in which three factors are found to be significant (applicability to agenda to lead sponsor, information sustainability, and information as private sector "lure"). Overall, the study finds evidence that information use is inherently a political endeavor in which its use is dominated by the preferences of those who sponsor its production and use information toward initiatives that are important to them.