This paper presents a dynamic political economy model of community development. The model highlights the role of public wealth accumulation in development. A community’s wealth is the difference between the value of its publicly-owned assets and liabilities. Wealth accumulation arises when residents tax-finance investment in durable public goods or pay down public debt. It stimulates future development because of the fiscal externality created by the collective ownership of community wealth. Moreover, when this development occurs, future residents have an incentive to engage in further accumulation because the cost can be spread over a larger group. In this way, public wealth accumulation can fuel gradual community development.

本文提出了一个动态的社区发展政治经济学模型。该模型突出了公共财富积累在发展中的作用。社区的财富是其公有资产和负债的价值之差。当居民对耐用公共产品进行税收投资或偿还公共债务时，就会出现财富积累。由于社区财富的集体所有权产生了财政外部性，因此刺激了未来的发展。而且，当这种发展发生时，未来的居民就有动机进行进一步的积累，因为成本可以分摊到更大的群体中。这样，公共财富积累可以促进社区的逐步发展。