Barriers to inter-municipal cooperation

Abstract

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.