Incorporation of municipalities and population growth: A propensity score matching approach.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the German state governments reduced the number of municipalities. Many independent municipalities in the outskirts of cities became districts of the respective cities. Using propensity score matching, I examine how the reforms influenced population growth in these incorporated units. The results show that the population of small incorporated municipalities grew by about 47 percentage points faster than the population of small municipalities that remained independent. The results do not show that large incorporated municipalities grew faster than large municipalities that remained independent. Population growth was stronger in municipalities that were incorporated later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]