scholarly journals Better Alone? Evidence on the Costs of Intermunicipal Cooperation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clemence Tricaud
Keyword(s):  
Intermunicipal Cooperation

scholarly journals Long-Term Benefits of Intermunicipal Cooperation for Small Municipalities in Waste Management Provision

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1449
Author(s):  
Michal Struk ◽  
Eduard Bakoš
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Long Term Results ◽  
Municipal Solid Waste Management ◽  
Long Term Study ◽  
Financial Benefits ◽  
Intermunicipal Cooperation

Intermunicipal cooperation offers an interesting alternative in cases when municipalities are too small to individually provide public services at an efficient cost level but are reluctant to form a municipal amalgamation in order to benefit from economies of scale. Forming a body consisting of multiple municipalities with a specific focus provides a way to reduce costs on service provision while maintaining municipal sovereignty in other areas. In our paper, we quantify the cost benefits of utilizing intermunicipal cooperation in the field of municipal solid waste management. We examine this using data from a 10-year period from municipalities in the South Moravian Region in the Czech Republic, where high municipal fragmentation results in many dominantly small municipalities that often are not able to provide public services at reasonable costs. This analysis contributes to the literature by conducting a long-term study of the effects of intermunicipal cooperation on public service provision costs. Our results suggest that municipalities participating in intermunicipal cooperation focused on waste management experienced annual cost savings of approximately 13.5% for provision of this service throughout the examined period of 2010–2019 when compared to municipalities that did not cooperate. These long-term results show how beneficial intermunicipal cooperation can be in reducing service costs. In addition to the direct financial benefits, municipal representatives stated that intermunicipal cooperation often brings other qualitative and non-financial benefits such as better service quality, the possibility to share infrastructure, and relief from administrative and managerial burdens through the utilization of professional management, which was especially appreciated by the smallest municipalities with limited administrative staff.

scholarly journals Institutional restrictions on the development of inter-municipal cooperation at the subregional level (for example, the Yangantau Geopark)

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gul’nara Khuzhakhmetova
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Interregional Interaction ◽  
Republic Of Bashkortostan ◽  
Socio Economic Development ◽  
Intermunicipal Cooperation ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Chelyabinsk Region

The article examines the institutional limitations of intermunicipal cooperation at the subregional level on the example of the UNESCO Yangantau Geopark, which consist in the flaw in formal institutions and gaps in the current legislation. The realities of the modern economy set the tone from competition from neighboring regions to cooperation and cooperation. According to the Strategy for Spatial Development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025, measures to strengthen interregional interaction include the development and implementation of strategies for the socio-economic development of macroregions. The formation of such macroregions should have an institutional basis and should take into account some principles: to be neighboring regions, to be able to develop common infrastructure and complement each other in terms of socio-economic development. Institutional constraints in intermunicipal cooperation of the Republic of Bashkortostan and neighboring regions in the field of tourism and environmental protection measures are associated with the development of the system-wide infrastructure, the tourist destination of territories. In the Salavat region of the Republic of Bashkortostan, there is the Yangantau resort, which meets the highest standards, a geopark is also located here. On the example of a geopark, the degree of development of the tourism business of the Republic of Bashkortostan and the Chelyabinsk region is considered. The territory is located within the boundaries of the municipal districts: Salavatsky, Nurimanovsky, Kiginsky, Duvansky and borders on the municipalities of the Chelyabinsk region Ashinsky, Katav-Ivanovsky, Ust-Katav, Satkinsky. In these municipalities, depopulation processes are observed, characteristic of depressed territories, and the level of unemployment is high. The author presents statistical material on the indicators of the unemployment rate in this region. One of the institutional limitations of the pandemic period is that the service sector, like other types of service, is subject to rapid decline and slow recovery. The author also attaches great importance to the development of transport, logistics and engineering infrastructure. There are road and rail links in this area. Federal highway M-5, which is the main highway here, is overloaded and massive accidents happen on it. At the moment, the track is being reconstructed.

Municipal reaction to functional rescaling in Italy

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 448-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Bolgherini ◽  
Mattia Casula ◽  
Mariano Marotta
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Joint Management ◽  
Italian Regions ◽  
Intermunicipal Cooperation ◽  
Future Policy ◽  
Mind Set ◽  
National Policy Maker ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the municipal reaction to a recent rescaling policy in Italy that, since 2010, require to small municipalities to jointly manage their basic tasks (compulsory joint management – CJM) through intermunicipal forms of cooperation. The paper will investigate: how many small municipalities did effectively join their basic tasks; which forms of cooperation did they choose to perform these tasks; and which kind of reaction municipalities enacted toward the national provision.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative data rely on an original database collecting information on all Italian municipalities up to 2015. A qualitative research has also been conducted by submitting a semi-structured questionnaire and interviews to the civil servants in charge of the CJM in each of the 20 Italian regions and to other privileged interlocutors.FindingsItalian municipalities poorly complied with the CJM norm and when they did, they choose the easiest way to do it (using the simplest available intermunicipal cooperation form). Among the explanations for this reaction: the lack of consistency and clear political will of the national policy maker in respect to this norm and the lack of a mind set at the local level oriented to cooperation and networking.Originality/valueThis paper highlights the main patterns of conflict in functional rescaling of small-sized municipalities in Italy, thus providing both fresh new data on this phenomena and useful elements for shaping future policy making on this topic.

scholarly journals Endogenous Political, Institutional, Cultural, and Geographic Determinants of Intermunicipal Cooperation—Evidence from Slovakia

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarína Melichová ◽  
Lukáš Varecha
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Institutional Arrangements ◽  
Political Affiliation ◽  
Geographic Factors ◽  
Previous Evidence ◽  
Intermunicipal Cooperation ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
The Impact

All over Europe, but especially in post-communist countries, the institutional environment has been undergoing major changes. In Slovakia, regaining their autonomy has led local governments on the path of fragmentation, unsustainably high expenditures for the provision of public services, and an increase in transaction costs. Current policies targeting these issues are heavily focused on intermunicipal cooperation (IMC). Based on four case studies of different institutional arrangements, this paper aims to investigate which endogenous political, institutional, cultural, and geographic factors influence cooperation among Slovak municipalities. Through the application of social network analysis and regression analysis, we reached several relevant conclusions. A number of common assumptions were confirmed, namely that population size and heterogeneity play a major role, but also that the impact of political affiliation as a deciding factor of IMC is not as straightforward as previous evidence suggested. Results also underline the importance of cross-sectoral partnerships such as the EU’s LEADER initiative as a viable alternative to more traditional forms of IMC (but with some limitations).

Public Authorities and Intermunicipal Cooperation in a European Context

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 403-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Lidström
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
European Context ◽  
The Us ◽  
Intermunicipal Cooperation

Although not entirely clear with regard to definitions and delimitations, the article by Savitch and Adhikari opens up for a comparative research agenda of considerable importance for better understanding the preconditions for how the metropolis can be governed. Their suggestion that public authorities are important for solving collective problems in the metropolitan areas is also relevant in a European context. There is already a tradition in Europe to establish cooperative arrangements between metropolitan local governments for tasks that requires a larger territorial scale, but Savitch and Adhikari direct our attention to private law arrangements, i.e. inter-municipal corporations. Also in Europe, these have become increasingly common, which may be understood in the light of the increasing marketization of local government. Although lacking in democratic legitimacy, they provide more flexibility and may also include private businesses in their governing body. However, knowledge about their occurrence and functions is limited, which calls for further, systematic and comparative research. In particular, it should be investigated whether they, as in the US, are more common in the metropolitan areas with the strongest resources.

Polycentric spatial development: institutional challenges to intermunicipal cooperation

2011 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Rader Olsson ◽  
Göran Cars
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Development ◽  
Intermunicipal Cooperation ◽  
Institutional Challenges

scholarly journals Un nuevo enfoque en la enseñanza del derecho municipal: seminario de gobierno municipal y seguridad pública

2019 ◽  
pp. 13-20
Author(s):  
José Zócimo† OROZCO-OROZCO
Keyword(s):  
Legal Framework ◽  
Federal Policies ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Intermunicipal Cooperation ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
Conflict Resolutions

Teaching Law should be done in a dynamic way, new concepts are incorporated such as new laws. Students and professors need to use new knowledge to make an analysis of the object of study. In the case of the municipality Law it is important to study the legal framework. The students should study new concepts in intermunicipal cooperation, federal policies, cooperation in conflict resolutions. The responsability of the municipality authorithies when they make desicions should be studied.

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