Barriers to inter-municipal cooperation
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Administratie si Management Public |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | https://www.ramp.ase.ro/vol41/41-07.pdf |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.24818/amp/2023.41-07 |
| Keywords | Municipality; Inter-municipal cooperation; Local public services; Slovakia |
| Attached files | |
| Description | This article investigates barriers to inter-municipal cooperation in Slovakia, a country that is essentially formed of small municipalities. In a fragmented municipal structure, inter-municipal cooperation could be the way to achieve lower costs for service provision while maintaining or even increasing a quality service, taking into account economies of scale. The study aimed to identify the barriers to inter-municipal cooperation in Slovak conditions. The study uses a questionnaire and a qualitative expert opinions method. The potential of cost saving in local public services was identified as a motivation for inter-municipal cooperation. The main identified barriers are transaction costs (of different types), non-existent benchmarks (no regular comparisons of best solutions), and limited motivation to select the optimal mode of service provision. |