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

Katarína Melichová,Lukáš Varecha

doi:10.3390/su12020709

Katarína Melichová, Lukáš Varecha

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020709

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Jan 18, 2020
Citations: 5	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Slovak University of Agriculture

Abstract

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).

Highlights

In Europe, major changes in the institutional environment can currently be witnessed at regional and local levels
Carrying out a case study aimed at an analysis of intermunicipal cooperation in one such nodal microregion adds an important dimension to the results presented in the paper, since any potential future amalgamation process will probably utilise this approach
We based our methodology on case studies of four different types of institutional arrangements, while analysing informal relations, cooperation based on sharing information, and consulting and cooperation in the form of joint activities and projects, in increasing the order of inter-municipal cooperation (IMC) intensity

Summary

Introduction

In Europe, major changes in the institutional environment can currently be witnessed at regional and local levels. Municipalities have the opportunity to establish relationships that promote social capital, trust, and reciprocal behaviour given by their immobile position and proximity to other municipalities and other actors [2] It is a key need for municipalities to cooperate and collaborate, as it is necessary to continuously create links creating and improving networks able to cope with the new challenges they face [1,3]. In order to ensure their long-term development and to sustain their ability to implement its purpose as a social system [10], municipalities engage in these governance arrangements, out of which the LEADER initiative is one of the most prominent in the EU, and form partnerships with other local governments, and with representatives of private and non-governmental sector [9,11,12,13,14,15]. These forms of arrangements present novel and more sustainable forms of IMC [11,16]

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