scholarly journals Economies of Scale on the Municipal Level: Fact or Fiction in the Czech Republic?

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lenka Matějová ◽  
Juraj Nemec ◽  
Milan Křápek ◽  
Daniel Klimovský
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Elementary Education ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Local Administration ◽  
Government Performance ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Territorial Structure ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Municipal Level

AbstractMany countries have carried out extensive amalgamation-related territorial reforms at the level of local self-government and created relatively large municipalities. The Czech Republic is one of the few remaining European countries with a fragmented territorial structure. There is a lot of discussion in the country about the need for amalgamation, but this discussion is mainly based on political arguments rather than on empirical evidence about the feasibility of amalgamation and its potential to improve local government performance. This paper analyses economies of scale on the local level as a factor that should be reflected in debates about the pros and cons of amalgamation in the Czech Republic. To add to the existing knowledge about the reality of economies of scale on the municipal level in the Czech Republic, we processed the municipal costs of three selected areas on a representative sample of municipalities in the South Moravian Region. The analysis showed that economies of scale can be identified for collecting local fees and for pre-school and elementary education, but not for local administration. Our results suggest that the existence of too small municipalities in the Czech Republic results in inefficiencies and should be addressed.

scholarly journals Citizens local political participation in the Czech Republic: rural-urban comparison

2008 ◽  
Vol 53 (No. 1) ◽  
pp. 21-29
Author(s):  
J. Cmejrek
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Local Administration ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Public

The Velvet Revolution in November 1989 in the former Czechoslovakia opened the way to the renewal of the democratic political system. One of the most visible aspects of the Czech political development consisted in the renewal of the essential functions of elections and political parties. On the local level, however, the political process - as well as in other post-communist countries - continued to be for a long time influenced by the remains of the former centralized system wherein the local administration used to be subjected to the central state power. Municipal elections took hold in these countries, however, the local government remained in the embryonic state and a certain absence of real political and economic decision-making mechanism on the local level continued to show. The public administration in the Czech Republic had to deal with the changes in the administrative division of the state, the split of the Czechoslovak federation as well as the fragmentation of municipalities whose number increased by 50 percent. Decision making mechanisms on the local and regional level were suffering from the incomplete territorial hierarchy of public administration and from the unclear division of power between the state administration and local administration bodies. Only at the end of the 1990s, the public administration in the Czech Republic started to get a more integrated and specific shape. Citizens participation in the political process represents one of the key issues of representative democracy. The contemporary democracy has to face the decrease in voter turnout and the low interest of citizens to assume responsibility within the political process. The spread of democratising process following the fall of the iron curtain should not overshadow the risk of internal weakness of democracy. The solution should be looked for in more responsible citizenship and citizens’ political participation. The degree of political participation is considered (together with political pluralism) to be the key element of representative democracy in general terms, as well as of democratic process on the local and regional level. The objective of this paper is to describe the specifics of citizens local political participation in the Czech Republic and to show the differences between rural and urban areas. The paper concentrates on voting and voter turnout but deals also with other forms of citizens political participation.

scholarly journals Personalizace na komunální úrovni: existuje a lze ji v českém prostředí zkoumat?

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-221
Author(s):  
Andrea Smolkova ◽  
Stanislav Balík
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Electoral Behaviour

Against the background of current research and literature, the article discusses local level-personalization in the Czech Republic as well as the ways it can be studied. Emphasising topics such as personalization of the electoral behaviour, electoral system, and political elites’ strategy, the authors present a novel research design aimed at identifying and better understanding the phenomenon of personalization on the local level. The research design develops some original identifiers such as popularity of the candidate, while also employing traditional criteria such as preferential voting or incumbency effect.

Pre-industrial landscape of the Jeseníky region as a natural and cultural heritage

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaromír Kolejka ◽  
Eva Nováková
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Local Administration ◽  
Economic Pressure ◽  
Forest Land ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Industrial Landscape ◽  
The Subject ◽  
State Protection

Small parcels of agricultural land are rare in the present landscape of Czech Republic and become the subject of interests of the state protection of the nature, the landscape and the environment. At the same time, such areas represent interesting subjects for the local administration as attractive tourist object. In the historical territory of Moravia (the eastern 1/3 of the Czech Republic), a regional inventory of areas with preserved ancient land use structure was carried out on all individual cadastral territories (focused not only on small parcels, but also on large aristocratic estates on agricultural and forest land originated before the main wave of industrial revolution Moravia, before 1850. The sites are still subjects to topic economic pressure on land consolidation. Their existence in the future is under threat and is decreasing every year both in number and size. The inventory results are presented on example of the Jeseníky region.

“Small Is Beautiful”

2016 ◽  
pp. 113-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juraj Nemec ◽  
Lenka Matejova ◽  
Jana Soukopová
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Scale Economies ◽  
Optimal Size ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Municipal Expenditures

This chapter discusses the problem of territorial fragmentation and summarizes the arguments for and against a solution in the form of territorial consolidation regarding the example of the Czech Republic. The main reason for the consolidation of municipalities are the benefits derived from the theory of the economies of scale. Linked to this is also the question of how to determine the optimal size of a municipality in order to make the best use of the principles of scale economies. The second part of this chapter shows an analysis of Czech municipal expenditures on selected public services that municipalities provide, and based on the results, determine the optimal size of the municipality for the analyzed services. Data from the Czech Republic do not clearly support the economic arguments for territorial consolidation

Monument to Marshal Konev as a victim of Czech contradictions on Russia

2021 ◽  
pp. 197-210
Author(s):  
Vadim V. Trukhachev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Local Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Red Army ◽  
Army Soldiers ◽  
Political Disputes

The authorities of the Prague 6 district took down the monument to Marshal Konev, who liberated the Czech capital in May 1945. Russia could not prevent this, because the monument was not subject to an intergovernmental agreement. The laws of the Czech Republic allow municipal authorities to decide the fate of monuments standing on their territory. The actions of Czech politicians on a regional level appeared to demonstrate profound ingratitude in the eyes of many people - some condemned the politicians in the sharpest possible terms, but others supported and praised the decision. Representatives of the majority of political parties represented in the Czech Parliament, as well as the country's President Miloš Zeman, spoke on the topic. The “bronze Marshal” became a victim of Czech internal political disputes over relations with Russia. There is no state-level “war” against monuments to Red Army soldiers in the Czech Republic. However, decisions to remove them have been taken several times at local level.

scholarly journals The competitiveness of Czech agrarian trade within the context of the global crisis

2013 ◽  
Vol 59 (No. 4) ◽  
pp. 183-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Smutka ◽  
J. Burianová
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
World Trade ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Agricultural Trade ◽  
High Rate ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The World ◽  
Territorial Structure ◽  
Merchandise Trade ◽  
Very High

World trade underwent a significant shock within the recent years, which caused a decline in the world economy primarily in the year 2009. Within the following years (2010 and 2011), the high rate of growth from the years preceding the crisis could not be restored. The crisis had an impact on all segments of the merchandise trade, whereby the trade in agricultural and food products was affected the least by the crisis. In the case of the Czech Republic, the crisis of the global and national economy was reflected in the case of agricultural trade primarily by the way of a decline in the rate of the growth of export, which was very high in the period prior to the crisis. As far as the territorial structure and commodity structure of agricultural trade is concerned, their development in the years 2008–2011 was not affected in any largely significant manner. In relation to the main objective of this article, which was to identify the effects of the crisis on the competitiveness of Czech agricultural trade, it may be stated that the crisis itself did not worsen the competitiveness of agricultural trade in any significant manner.  

The Effects of Decentralization on Efficiency in Public Procurement: Empirical Evidence for the Czech Republic

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Plaček
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Linear Regression ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Scientific Discourse ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Different Levels

The impact of decentralization on efficiency in the production of public goods and services has been described by the current scientific discourse in some detail. In this article, we focus on an analysis of the impact of the factor of decentralization as well as other selected factors on efficiency in public procurement. We view the term efficiency to be the ratio between the tendered and the estimated price, but also as procedural correctness and legality, as it is reflected in the administration of complaints, investigations, and findings regarding violations of the law by the supervising authority. We then describe the phases of bidding and post-bidding. For empirical research, we used linear regression and logistic regression. These methods are applied to data regarding public procurement for the years 2010-2014. The results show that, among the contracting authorities at the different levels of decentralization, there were statistically significant differences which we can explain through the different levels of accountability, economies of scale, as well as the qualifications of the workers of the contracting authority.

scholarly journals Social Economy and Responsibility

2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Abramuszkinová Pavlíková
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Social Economy ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Social Entrepreneur ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Handicapped People ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activities ◽  
Physically Handicapped

Given the importance of entrepreneurial activities as an engine of economic growth and poverty alleviation, the issue of business development and entrepreneurial activities, has received increasing attention from a number of interested parties worldwide and also in the Czech Republic. The focus of this paper is on a social economy, a social responsibility and social enterprises. The development of the social economy framework will be introduced in the European context and specifically in the Czech Republic. A case study of a Czech social entrepreneur will be introduced based on qualitative research, namely the biographical narrative method.Social enterprises can support activities of various target groups, such as economic activities of mentally and physically handicapped people, which often operate in economically and socially marginalized situations, including stereotyped images. They give them a chance to become active members of society. In this way they can help to reduce the poverty on a local level. The aim of this paper is to introduce a social entrepreneurship as important part of social economy development in the Czech Republic.

scholarly journals EVALUATION OF ePARTICIPATION SERVICES ON CZECH MUNICIPAL WEBSITES

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-33
Author(s):  
Eva Ardielli
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Digital Governance ◽  
Improve Access

Rapid expansion of eParticipation as a tool of engagement and strengthened cooperation between governments and citizens is a contemporary trend worldwide. The objective is to improve access to information and public services as well as to promote participation in policy-making by usage of Information and Communication Technologies. eParticipation is also considered as a necessary component or a prerequisite of eDemocracy. The paper is focused on the issue of eParticipation and its application on local level of government in the Czech Republic. The aim of the research is to evaluate the offer and availability of eParticipation services provided on the municipal websites by the municipalities with extended powers in Moravian-Silesian Region. The methodology and structure of the criteria for assessing the level of eParticipation services in the presented research was designed on the basis of the Digital Governance in Municipalities Worldwide methodology. The data were obtained from author`s own investigation on the municipal websites. The data analysis was supplemented by cluster analysis. On the basis of the results of cluster analyses, the municipalities were divided according to their success in the selected criteria. The results of the research point out the insufficient offer of eParticipation services on municipal websites and on the poor options of citizen´s eParticipation at the local level of government in the Moravian-Silesian Region. Similar results may be expected across the Czech Republic. The results of this research are particularly relevant to the municipal authorities of the selected region and local government to indicate the weaknesses of online opportunities for society. At present, the topic of participation at the local level is very important as it contributes to the implementation of the concept of Smart Cities. This research emphasizes that the offer and availability of eParticipation services for citizens needs to be expanded. It is very useful and comfortable to use current technological possibilities and offer participation services online.

scholarly journals Problematika „environmentálních hazardů“ v geografickém vzdělávání

Envigogika ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Markéta Pluháčková
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Environmental Hazards ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Final Part ◽  
General Knowledge ◽  
Geographical Education ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Impact

This article deals with the topic of environmental hazards within geographical education. It describes how issues of environmental hazards at the local level can be communicated in education. The suggested method is project teaching divided into three levels. The first level aims at imparting general knowledge about a hazard and its appropriate terminology. The second level is based on protection against the hazard, and the last part deals with appropriate protection against the hazard in future. As an example, floods were chosen as a hazard that is very significant in the Czech Republic. The project presented here was partly performed using the Google Earth application that presents theoretical information applied in practice and includes some field work focused on the impact of previous floods. This project has been undertaken twice. An evaluation of the results can be found in the final part of this article.

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