Stronger together? Assessing the causal effect of inter-municipal cooperation on the efficiency of small Italian municipalities

Luca, Davide and Modrego, Felix (2020) Stronger together? Assessing the causal effect of inter-municipal cooperation on the efficiency of small Italian municipalities. Journal of Regional Science. ISSN 0022-4146

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Abstract

When local governments are small and fragmented, promoting inter-municipal cooperation (IMC) among them is seen as a tool to improve the management of public services by reaping economies of scale and scope. Yet, the empirical evidence on the impacts of IMC on local governments' efficiency is scarce and inconclusive. In this paper, we investigate the experience of Italy's municipal unions (Unioni di comuni). We develop an index of technical efficiency by means of robust data envelopment analysis. We then exploit nearest-neighbor matching and fuzzy regression discontinuity design estimators to explore whether municipal unions have any impacts on the administrative efficiency of member municipalities. We fail to find any strong, significant effect.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14679787
Additional Information:	© 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC
Divisions:	Middle East Centre
Subjects:	J Political Science > JS Local government Municipal government
JEL classification:	D - Microeconomics > D7 - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making > D73 - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption D - Microeconomics > D7 - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making > D74 - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances H - Public Economics > H7 - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations > H70 - General H - Public Economics > H7 - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations > H77 - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism; Secession R - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics > R5 - Regional Government Analysis > R51 - Finance in Urban and Rural Economies
Date Deposited:	06 Jan 2021 17:09
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 02:25
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/108193

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