Assessing Local Capacity for Federal Grant-Getting

Local areas, consisting of governments, special districts, and nonprofits, benefit from the receipt and use of federal funds in support of local programs and projects. This study examines the combined effects of political and administrative capacity factors that influence flows of federal grant funds into local areas. The effects of these capacity dimensions are measured and tested using pooled cross-sectional time-series analysis. The results indicate clearly that institutional measures of capacity must take into account not only political dimensions but also administrative and need/demand dimensions. These results help to explain the disparity observed between high- and low-capacity areas and provide some general lessons for enhancing local grant-getting capacity under differing conditions.