To file or not to file: The causes of municipal bankruptcy in the United States

About 500 municipalities have declared bankruptcy since Congress passed the Municipal Bankruptcy Act in 1937. Based on the experiences of these municipalities and the municipal bankruptcy literature, this paper develops a theory of why municipalities go bankrupt and discusses various ways to prevent other municipalities from going bankrupt. The paper identifies three-dimensional factors that may make municipalities go bankrupt: long-term and short-term, political and economic, and internal and external perspectives. The paper ends with an observation that government failure in the form of municipal bankruptcy can be reduced by strengthening the audit powers of the states and by utilizing more municipal bond and liability insurance policies.