Size Of Municipality Research Articles

Mind the gap, please! Pinpointing the influence of municipal size on local electoral participation

ABSTRACT Turnout rates vary between local and national elections. This paper promotes the national–local turnout gap as the best way to pinpoint the local component of voting at local elections. By analysing the national–local turnout gap instead of the raw local turnout rate, one can reduce the potential bias originating from the differences in socio-demographic composition and civic skills existing between municipalities of various sizes. Including data from 12 countries and almost 15,000 municipalities, it is demonstrated that a clear and consistent relationship between municipal size and local turnout exists: the larger the municipality the fewer eligible voters turn out at local elections (compared to national elections).

Carbon footprint, municipality size and rurality in Spain: Inequality and carbon taxation

By using an environmentally extended multi-regional input-output model, this paper analyses the Spanish households’ carbon footprint for the 2008–2017 period considering the municipality size as well as the urban or rural residential zone where families live. Results show that, on a per capita basis, inhabitants of medium-large municipalities emit fewer carbon emissions than those settled in small ones (between 0.34 and 0.54 tCO2/cap depending on the year studied). This carbon unbalance is mainly explained by the higher direct carbon footprints of dwellers who reside in small municipalities and, in special, in rural zones. Furthermore, applying inequality measures through a consumption-based carbon footprint Gini coefficient, we show that both income and CO2 emissions inequality are lower in small municipalities. In the light of the findings, in Spain, the application of a carbon pricing on direct and indirect carbon footprints will be regressive, disproportionally affecting people of small municipalities and rural areas. Accordingly, household carbon inequalities must be contemplated to avoid poorly designed climate change mitigation policies.

Econometric Modelling of Long-Distance Domestic Travel

The main goal of this study is to determine the effects of socio-economic, demographic and land-use factors on long-distance travel. Intercity trips are not very frequent activities, which caused a large share of the survey respon-dents to report zero kilometres travelled. The Double Hurdle Model, Infrequent Purchase Model and Heckman Selection Models are estimated. Distance tra-velled in trips longer than 50 km. is a function of gender, age, income, size of municipality, region of residence, mode of transport and trip purpose. Results indicate that zeroes reported in the survey are caused by corner solutions, which allow us to make recommendations about designing long-distance sur-veys.

Municipal bonds as a tool for financing capital investment in local government units in Palestine

Municipal bonds are an option available to many cities to raise long-term financing to finance the infrastructure projects. This study aims to develop and find local measures of creditworthiness that are suitable and applicable for local government units in Palestine. Different variables are recognized to see the effect on the issuance of municipal bonds, macroeconomic variables measured by revenues and expenditures per capita, cost of capital, and unemployment rate. Municipal status variables have subgroup variables of municipality size, financial reporting quality, outstanding debt, and financial distress. Various financial ratios, comparative and cross-sectional analysis, horizontal and vertical analysis were used. These ratios and analysis have been used to determine the municipal status variable. The results of the study were limited to the largest 11 sample municipalities; each is the central local government unit at the governorates and was not generalized for all municipalities in Palestine. The study found that macroeconomic and municipality status affects the issuance of municipal revenue bonds. Based on the study results, municipal bonds are highly recommended. Also, instructions from the Ministry of Local Government need to be established and to enforce municipalities about the declaration date of publishing audited financial statements.

Trend and distribution of the homicide mortality rate in accordance with the size of the population of Brazilian municipalities - 2000 and 2015

The scope of this study is to analyze the trends and distribution of homicide mortality rates (HMR) according to the population size of Brazilian municipalities between 2000 and 2015. It is an ecological study of deaths recorded in the Mortality Information System, with HMR standardized by the direct method and 95% confidence interval. HMR in Brazil grew 6% (to 29.1/100,000) in the period, with an increase in small municipalities (83%; 12.7 to 23.2/100,000) and mediumsized cities (52%; 19.7% to 30.1/100,000); which is true for both sexes, different ages, regions and firearm-related events. HMR decreased in major cities (19%; 40.6% to 32.9/100,000) and the Southeast region (55%; 45.6% to 20.6/100,000). The relative risk (RR) of small and medium-sized cities in relation to large cities is already greater than or close to 1 among women (RR 0.99; 1.03), people aged 60 years or older (RR 1.43; 1.36) and homicides by other means (RR 1.16; 1.18). The cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro contributed the most to the reduction of HMR, especially in large cities (-37.6 and -22.3 homicides/100,000 inhabitants). Small and medium-sized municipalities have consistent trends of an increase in HMR even considering population subgroups.

The impact of population size on the risk of local government default

Since the outbreak of the international economic crisis in 2008, governments’ fiscal policies have been strongly influenced by high levels of public debt and default. Studies of the causes of debt problems for large local governments have emphasised the interest and timeliness of identifying factors that may influence the probability of municipal default, and have concluded that fiscal policies should be defined according to population size. The present empirical study was conducted on a sample of 1476 local governments, with data for the period 2009–2014, to determine the influence of financial, socioeconomic and population factors on default risk in small, medium-sized and large municipalities. The results obtained show that the factors that influence the risk of default vary according to the size of the municipality, although some are common to all or most cases, such as real estate taxes, vehicle taxes, financial autonomy and per capita income. The main elements found to vary according to municipal size are overall immigration, female immigration, female unemployment and proximity to the next elections. Our findings show that the financial risk of local governments is affected not only by population size but also by financial and socioeconomic variables. These results can help policymakers to design fiscal policies appropriate for the size of each municipality, thus contributing to avoiding bankruptcy, cuts in public spending and tax increases. Our study findings may be of interest to politicians, managers, fiscal authorities, central governments, supervisory bodies, financial institutions, banks, voters, taxpayers and users of public services.

Электоральная активность на муниципальных выборах в посткоммунистических странах

In this article, the electoral turnout in the municipal elections held in post-communist states is compared. Using correlation analysis, comparing electoral turnout and its change as well as municipal/national electoral gap, the authors reveal principal features of the electoral behavior in the local elections. The study shows that the electoral turnout is not affected by the level of political competition and a size of municipalities either in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) or in Russia. However, the turnout itself which is usually low can be explained with the use of the second-order elections theory. At the same time, the ongoing change does not prove the increasing number of disinterested or disappointed voters in some of the consolidated CEE democracies. On the contrary, a number of CEE states demonstrate a growing interest of voters towards a local government, sometimes by contrast with a real disappointment in national politics. Indeed, more successful democracies in the Northern part of Central and Eastern Europe usually deliver a higher turnout level. In Russian cities, the crucial influence of pro-regime mobilization is in evidence, while poorly developed civic culture of participation depresses the turnout. As a result, under conditions of weak interest of Russian authorities to boost turnout in the local elections, Russia experiences a natural decline in voter turnout also reflecting poor social efficiency of municipal authorities, which puts the country seriously behind CEE in terms of electoral turnout. Thus, the more successful consolidation of democracy in the CEE states has created a turning point between growing and falling interest in local elections in different states and/or cities depending on individual political developments at the national level. Meanwhile, Russia experiences its own “natural” development resulting in falling local turnout caused by the lack of interest both from local communities and authorities.

Notions of local democracy among Czech mayors

The aim of this manuscript is to analyze notions of democracy among Czech mayors. Czechia is dotted with municipalities of various sizes, each with its own mayor, each of whom has a vision of how democracy at the local level should be practiced. Our focus here is on two types of democracies that are seen as alternatives: participatory democracy and representative democracy. For the analyses, two mutually interleaved data sources concerning the Czech mayors were employed: Political Leaders in European Cities (2015) and European Mayor II (2016). Based on an analysis of mayors’ attitudes towards local democracy, our findings suggest that municipal size is an important predictor of local democracy in Czechia - although an association of these attitudes with the mayor’s partisanship and age was found as well. The data also shows a relatively strong connection between attitudes towards local democracy and the mayors’ support for reform at the local level, including the instruments of direct democracy.

Politics, marketing and social media in the 2018 local elections in Iceland

The importance of marketing techniques in political campaigning has increased as communicating politics has become more complex in a highly fragmented media environment. With different media logics interacting in a hybrid media system, political marketing methods through social media have drawn considerable attention and even been seen to pose a threat to democratic processes. This paper looks at the extent and nature of the use of marketing techniques in the 2018 municipal elections in Iceland, by using a mixed methods approach. The findings of a candidate survey and interviews with campaign managers suggest that the methods used are by and large a technical extension of previous methods and not qualitatively different from traditional electioneering. Both social media and traditional media are important marketing vehicles, but the importance of social media clearly on the rise. However, in larger communities in the capital region there tends to be a higher degree of professionalism than in other parts of the country and the size of municipality is important, while the type of party or age of candidates is not.

Municipal size and institutional support as differential elements in the implementation of freedom of information legislation by Spanish local governments

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to contribute to the literature on the implementation of worldwide freedom of information (FOI) laws, as observed in Spanish local governments, by hypothesizing and obtaining empirical evidence that municipal size and institutional support are differentiating elements in the implementation process. This evidence also reveals that factors such as municipal budget surplus, low levels of borrowing, the brevity of time elapsed from promulgation of the law to its implementation and political support from the mayor’s office are all positively associated with the level of institutional support for local governments’ implementation of FOI laws.

The Dynamics of the Electoral Geography of the Five Star Movement: The Role of Territorial Area and Municipality Size

ABSTRACTThe aim of the article is to trace the evolution of the Movimento 5 Stelle (Five Star Movement [M.5.S.]) over the last four national elections (the 2013 and 2018 general elections and the 2014 and 2019 European elections). In particular, our goal is to understand how the electoral support for the party changed, in the context of the broad transformations of the Italian electoral geography. In order to accomplish this goal, we investigate the explanatory role of the spatial dimension on electoral support, specifically in terms of geographical zone and municipality size. The M.5.S. is also compared with the two parties that reported the best results in the last European elections: the Lega (League) and the Partito Democratico (Democratic Party [P.D.]). Our results show that the recent European elections do not represent a turning point in the (electoral and geographical) history of the M.5.S.: its territorial rooting in the south of the country and in medium-sized municipalities are present from the 2014 European elections onwards. Interpretations and implications of these findings are discussed in the conclusions.

Administering elections in a digital age: Online voting in Ontario municipalities

AbstractTo date, online voting studies have focused on impacts on political behaviour and voting security. Analyses of impacts on administrators and electoral governance remain sparse internationally and are relegated to overviews in technical reports in Canada (Pammett and Goodman 2013; Goodman and Pyman 2016). Drawing on an original survey of local administrators in Ontario following the 2014 municipal elections, this article explores how online voting impacts election administration. Findings suggest strong satisfaction with online voting, citizen‐centered rationales for adoption, and key differences in challenges and cost based on municipal size. We conclude with implications for the local governance of elections as technology plays a greater role in voting processes.

Alcance das intervenções em atividade física na saúde pública de Santa Catarina

Para verificar o alcance das intervenções em atividade física (IAF) na saúde pública de Santa Catarina (SC), quanto ao porte dos municípios, ao vínculo com as estratégias de promoção de atividade física, aos grupos populacionais atendidos e as características de participação, foram questionados 146 coordenadores de IAF das Secretarias Municipais de Saúde de SC. O alcance foi calculado dividindo o número de participantes nas IAF pela população total e estratificada, e pelos grupos etários (crianças, adolescentes, adultos e idosos). O alcance absoluto das IAF foi de 3,8% e o relativo de 4,9%. Os maiores valores de alcance absoluto e relativo foram da população idosa (8,4% e 8,8%, respectivamente) e os vinculados ao programa Academia da Saúde, em todos os grupos populacionais atendidos (5% e 7%, respectivamente). Das IAF, 56,3% atendem menos de 100 usuários, com maior participação do público adulto e idoso. Destaca-se o agente comunitário de saúde como a estratégia de recrutamento dos participantes para as IAF (95,3%) e “ter indicação ou autorização do médico” como critério para participação (79,2%). Conclui-se que há um baixo alcance da população nas IAF das Secretarias Municipais de Saúde de SC, tornando-se necessário repensar os seus programas.

What is the relative impact of primary health care quality and conditional cash transfer program in child mortality?

Evaluate how coverage and quality of primary health care (PHC) and a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program associate with child mortality in Brazil. Multivariate linear regression models and least absolute shrinkage and selection estimator (LASSO) were utilized with the municipal level child mortality rate as the key dependent variable. PHC quality with PHC and CCT coverage were the independent variables. The quality of the Brazilian PHC was assessed using the Brazilian National Program for Access and Quality Improvement in PHC data. PHC and CCT coverage were calculated based on Brazilian official databases. Human developmental index (HDI), municipality size, and country region were used as control variables. A total of 3441 municipalities were evaluated. We found that ESF(Estratégia Saúde da Família) quality variables PLANNING [Family Health Team Planning activities], CITYSUPPORT [municipality support for Family Health Strategy activities], EXAMS [exams offered and priority groups seen by the family health team], and PRENATAL [prenatal care and exams provided by the family health team], as well as HDI, percentage of PHC coverage, percentage of CCT coverage, and population size have significant and negative relationships with 1-year-old child mortality. LASSO regression results confirmed these associations. Quality is an important element of effective social service provision. This exploration represents one of the first investigations into the role of PHC system quality, and how it is related to health outcomes, while also considering PHC and conditional cash transfer program coverage. Quality of PHC, measured by work process variables, plays an important role in child mortality. Efforts on PHC quality and coverage, as well as on CCT program coverage, are important to child mortality reduction. Therefore, this is an important finding to other PHC public health services.

Common pool effects and local public debt in amalgamated municipalities

This paper investigates whether the large scale municipal amalgamations in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg in the early 1970s led to considerable common pool exploitation. Through amalgamation the resources of several municipalities are pooled together disclosing the former independent municipalities a larger source of funds. Additionally, the pooling also decreases the cost of local public goods, as those have to be borne by the whole of the amalgamated municipality. By exploiting the huge variance in the amalgamation process in terms of number of participating municipalities, but also in municipality size or amalgamation strategy, we identify considerable common pool effects. Amalgamated municipalities show considerably stronger acceleration in debt accumulation compared to non-amalgamating municipalities. This common pool exploitation is stronger if more municipalities participate and when municipalities amalgamate by annexation.

Analysis of per capita revenue in catarinian municipalities according to net current revenue

Purpose: The objective of this research was to identify the per capita income in the municipalities of Santa Catarina based on Net Current Revenue and the relation between own revenues, transfers with the capacity of each municipality.
 Methodology: The present study, with regard to the objectives as descriptive, as it seeks to analyze public revenue per capita, analogous to procedures is characterized as documentary, since it makes possible, from the published reports, in relation to the approach to the problem, as quantitative research, using values ​​and their correlations. The period under analysis comprises the years 2015 and 2016. The sample consists of 295 municipalities in Santa Catarina.
 Results: The results show that, in the stratification and analysis, the Per Capita Net Current Revenue by size of Municipality, to which the larger municipalities have, proportionally, a better distribution of the municipal collection, which culminates in a greater capacity to cope with the demands social policies. On average, the per capita net current revenue of the municipalities of Catarinenses in the years 2015 and 2016 was R $ 3,332.61, with a variation between the minimum and maximum per capita income of R $ 1,377.24 and R $ 8,055.16, which shows a significant discrepancy between the analyzed municipalities.
 Contributions of the Study: Considering the values received by the municipalities of Santa Catarina, the research sought to demonstrate and clarify the influence of values received from the Union and the State for investment and maintenance of activities, depending on the population and size of each municipality.the planning and funding of resources for the benefit of the population.

Análise da receita per capita nos municípios catarinenses conforme a receita corrente líquida

Objetivo: A pesquisa objetivou identificar a receita per capita nos municípios catarinenses com base na Receita Corrente Líquida e a relação existente entre receitas próprias, transferências com a capacidade de cada município.
 
 Metodologia: O estudo que ora se apresenta, quanto aos objetivos como descritiva, pois busca analisar a receita pública per capita, analogamente aos procedimentos caracteriza-se como documental, pois torna possível, a partir dos relatórios publicados, em relação à abordagem do problema, como pesquisa quantitativa, com emprego de valores e suas correlações. O período em análise compreende os anos de 2015 e 2016. A amostra consiste nos 295 municípios catarinenses.
 
 Resultados: Os resultados apontam que, na estratificação e análise, a Receita Corrente Líquida Per Capita por porte de Município, aos quais, os municípios com maior porte possuem, proporcionalmente, melhor distribuição da arrecadação municipal, que culmina na maior capacidade de enfrentamento às demandas sociais. Na média da Receita Corrente Líquida Per Capita dos municípios Catarinenses, nos anos de 2015 e 2016, foi de R$ 3.332,61, com uma variação entre a receita per capita mínima e máxima de R$ 1.377,24 e R$ 8.055,16, o que demonstra haver discrepância significativa entre os municípios analisados.
 
 Contribuições do Estudo: Considerando os valores recebidos pelos municípios catarinenses, a pesquisa procurou demonstrar e esclarecer a influência de valores recebidos da União e do Estado por ente para investimentos e manutenção das atividades, em função da divisão populacional e porte de cada município, sendo informações uteis e relevantes para o planejamento e captação de recursos para aplicação em benefício da população.

Territorial Policy Agenda Revised

This paper contributes to the ongoing debates on the relationship between municipality size and non-electoral citizen participation at the local level. We use the data from Lithuania as a case of strongly consolidated local government structures. We discuss three main points. First, our focus is on the limited question of how municipality size affects the intensity of citizens’ non-electoral participation in local decision-making, taking into account citizens’ participatory capacities, contact with municipal authorities and local agents, and municipal performance evaluations. Second, we consider the specificity of the territorial rescaling policy agenda in Lithuania, which is characterised by the long-term direction of the territorial consolidation process. Third, representative population survey data serve as a reasonable platform for testing the hypothesis on the relationship between different citizen participatory practices and municipality size. We assumed that citizen perceptions of municipal problem-solving capacities, local government accessibility, and assessment of local government performance could vary in municipalities of different size. We also expected to find significant correlation between citizen assessment of municipal performance, local government accessibility (varying by local contact activity), and citizen perception of municipal problem-solving capacities by producing statistical clusters of citizen participatory capacity types. The limitations of quantitative statistical approaches constitute a barrier to explaining the subjective perceptions of local citizens hold about their non-electoral participatory behaviour. Our conclusions demonstrate that the perceived potential of non-electoral democratic participation capacities is relatively limited in both small and large Lithuanian municipalities. Nevertheless, the findings indicate that citizens in large municipalities are more likely to establish local contact activity and have better perceptions of municipal problem-solving capacities than those in small municipalities.

Embedding environmental, economic and social indicators in the evaluation of the sustainability of the municipalities of Galicia (northwest of Spain)

Cities today are dense networks of interchanging investments, information, goods and people, as well as centers of innovation and knowledge management. In such a complex framework of housing, social and economic interrelationships, cities become large consumers of resources and producers of greenhouse gases. Therefore, and in order to preserve resources and guarantee social services and the well-being of citizens, planning and policy actions are required that contribute to achieving sustainable growth. Beyond the environmental perspective, a socio-economic analysis is essential to make a comprehensive sustainability diagnosis of urban and rural systems. This paper presents a methodology for sustainability assessment, based on 38 indicators that include the three pillars of sustainability: social, economic and environmental. To carry out this assessment, 64 municipalities out of 313 located in Galicia (Northwest Spain) were selected and classified in three categories according to their population size (Medium Size, Small Size and Village). Moreover, two weighting methods have been considered (equal weighting and measured weighting attributed through Analytic Hierarchy Process method). The results show that most sustainable municipalities are located in the north of the region. On the other hand, regardless of the weighting method, 57% of the medium-sized municipalities are rated sustainable compared to 45% of those of the categories of Village and Small Size categories. Therefore, municipal size is relevant for measuring sustainability and there are no significant differences between the results obtained with the two weighting methodologies, indicating that the method developed is robust and could be applied to other municipalities and cities.

Do municipal amalgamations affect interregional migration?

This paper examines the change of interregional migration following municipal amalgamations. Interregional migrations are mostly triggered by differentials in household utilities, local economic conditions, amenities and the like. Thus, it is reasonable to believe that if an amalgamation of municipalities leads to a better service or lower local taxes in a community, it would attract new inhabitants and thus, increase the net-migration - as suggested by Tiebout (1956). A macro panel data set from Iceland was used that represents several essential variables of the housing market for 79 municipalities in Iceland during the period from 1993 to 2006. The results returned mixed effects on net migration. The amalgamations seem to have had both negative and positive effects on net-migration due to the differences in the number of municipalities in each merger and the similarities in the population sizes of the previous municipalities that joined each merger.