A Quantitative Analysis of Municipal Public Administrators' Use of Eminent Domain after Kelo

In 2005, the Supreme Court of the United States amended more than two centuries of eminent domain law to allow the government to take private property for the purpose of economic development. The legal changes create a gap in the methods for measuring the likelihood that a public administrator will use eminent domain to take private property. For business, the legal change impacts the way managers plan for property ownership, including acquisition and long-term use. Quantitative methods were used to measure the degree of association between the specific characteristics of the municipal public administrator and the willingness of the administrator to use eminent domain for the purpose of economic development. The postulate is that an administrator has an increased likelihood in using eminent domain for the purpose of economic development when they have a high level of knowledge about eminent domain, they have a history of use of eminent domain, or when they have a high perception for the need to use eminent domain. The study revealed a strong association ( r(130) = .757, p < .05) between the administrator's level of knowledge about eminent domain and the willingness to use eminent domain. A strong association (r(130) = .691, p < .05) was also found between the administrator's perception of need and their willingness to use eminent domain. A significant, yet weak, association (r(130) = .157, p < .05) was found between the administrator's past use of eminent domain and their willingness to use eminent domain. The conclusion is that when an administrator has a high level of knowledge about eminent domain, or where they have a high level of perceived need to use eminent domain, the administrator is more likely to use eminent domain for the purpose of economic development. Future research should focus on the causation issue, with an emphasis on the development of theoretical models usable in forecasting future use of eminent domain.