The Impact of Intermunicipal Cooperation on Local Public Spending

Frère, Quentin; Leprince, Matthieu; Paty, Sonia

doi:10.1177/0042098013499080

Cited by 62 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Still, a different approach was chosen by Frère, Leprince and Paty (2014), who study the effect of IMC on total spending of French municipalities. They find no effect, either positive or negative.…”

Section: Previous Empirical Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intermunicipal cooperation, public spending and service levels

Allers

Greef

2017

Local Government Studies

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Local governments can increase size in particular policy fields through cooperation with other local governments. This is often thought to improve efficiency, but there is little empirical evidence supporting this hypothesis. We study the case of the Netherlands, which has been a veritable laboratory of intermunicipal cooperation (IMC), using panel data for 2005-2013. We find no evidence that IMC reduces total spending of the average municipality. Indeed, IMC seems to increase spending in small and large municipalities, leaving spending in mid-sized municipalities unaffected. In one specific field, tax collection, spending may be reduced through IMC. Spending in this field is low, which may explain why total spending is unaffected. Instead of lowering spending, municipalities may have used possible cost savings as a result of IMC to improve public service levels. We do not find evidence substantiating this hypothesis, however.

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Section: Previous Empirical Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intermunicipal cooperation, public spending and service levels

Allers

Greef

2017

Local Government Studies

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“…Results of these studies are mixed. Frère, Leprince, and Paty (2014) find no effect of cooperation on total spending of French municipalities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Intermunicipal cooperation, municipal amalgamation and the price of credit

Allers

Ommeren

2016

Local Government Studies

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In many countries, local government size is increasingly thought to be insufficient to operate efficiently. Two possible solutions to this problem are amalgamation and intermunicipal cooperation. This paper applies a novel methodology to shed light on the efficiency implications of this choice. Using a unique and rich micro-level dataset, we find that intermunicipal organisations (IOs) in the Netherlands consistently pay higher interest rates than municipalities, while there is no economic reason to do so. We interpret this as a form of inefficiency. Municipal amalgamation, on the other hand, does not result in higher interest rates. Our analysis eliminates one possible explanation, dispersed ownership of IOs, as the number of partners cooperating in an IO does not affect interest rates (no 'law of 1/n'). This leaves the introduction of extra hierarchical layers as a result of cooperation, and the ensuing reduction in monitoring, as the most probable explanation.

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“…(4) excludes the presence of strategic interaction between municipalities in the formulation of their votes, and assumes that the land-use decision of the mayor is guided solely by the median voter preference. Indeed, the results of the empirical investigation of local spending in France did not detect any strategic interaction between municipalities that have agreed on the collective delivery of specific local public goods within an intermunicipal organisation [56]. However, spatial dependence may persist between neighbouring municipalities.…”

Section: The Estimation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Integrating water resource management and land-use planning at the rural–urban interface: Insights from a political economy approach

Boschet

Rambonilaza

2015

Water Resources and Economics

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a b s t r a c tInstitutional obstacles to integrated water management at the river basin scale have been discussed in detail in the water governance literature, but there has been less attention to the development of analytical framework for understanding local government cooperation. In this study, a median voter model was developed to describe the political processes by which municipalities lend their support to land-use control in river basin management planning. Relative income, population growth, and land cover data -as measured at municipality level -are advanced to be the main determinants of municipalities' positioning on additional environmental zoning. The consultation process for the SAGE (planning and water management scheme) for the Gironde estuary and associated areas was used as a case study. Spatial logit estimation of the determinants of the results of voting in this consultation process suggests that municipalities' decisions are strongly influenced by the landscape preferences of the median voter. Acceptance of the SAGE project is an increasing function of relative income and population growth, as measured at municipality level. Furthermore, the municipalities that reject it are mainly those with the largest agricultural areas. The results confirm the existence of a very strong political component in the process by which a municipality decides whether or not to support a river basin plan. This decision can be linked to the preservation of natural landscape amenities in peripheral areas, while elsewhere it is connected to the protection of farming. Theoretical and empirical (R. Tina). 1 Tel.: þ33 5 57 89 08 37.Water Resources and Economics 9 (2015) 45-59 developments of political economy analysis provide an alternative framework by which to understand institutional fits and interplay in water resource management.

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The Impact of Intermunicipal Cooperation on Local Public Spending

Cited by 62 publications

References 38 publications

Intermunicipal cooperation, public spending and service levels

Intermunicipal cooperation, public spending and service levels

Intermunicipal cooperation, municipal amalgamation and the price of credit

Integrating water resource management and land-use planning at the rural–urban interface: Insights from a political economy approach

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