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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Urban Studies and Planning

Wayne State University

Series

Collaboration

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Choices In Regional Governance Structures: Special Districts As Collaboration Mechanisms, Jayce L. Farmer Jan 2009

Choices In Regional Governance Structures: Special Districts As Collaboration Mechanisms, Jayce L. Farmer

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

This paper uses contextual explanations of regional governance to explore how the limitations to voluntary regionalism can lead to the more centralized, more regulated method of using regional special districts. An ICA perspective is used to discuss the range of choices in institutional arrangements available to jurisdictions. Motivations that jurisdictions may have to use more versus less autonomous methods of ICA are outlined to frame how regional districts fall within this spectrum. A rational choice perspective is also employed to identify the collective and selective benefits that motivate local actors to cooperate, as well as identify the potential transaction cost …


Explaining Horizontal And Vertical Cooperation On Public Services In Michigan: The Role Of Local Fiscal Capacity, Jered B. Carr, Elisabeth R. Gerber, Eric W. Lupher Aug 2007

Explaining Horizontal And Vertical Cooperation On Public Services In Michigan: The Role Of Local Fiscal Capacity, Jered B. Carr, Elisabeth R. Gerber, Eric W. Lupher

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

Michigan local governments engage in a wide range of cooperative activities. Little is known, however, about what factors motivate local governments to engage in intergovernmental cooperation and how local government officials choose among various forms of collaboration. We develop and test a theory of intergovernmental cooperation that explains differences in the factors that lead local governments to engage in horizontal cooperation with other local units versus vertical cooperation with county or state governments. Our primary focus is on fiscal capacity: we hypothesize that limited fiscal capacity leads many local governments, especially townships, to work collaboratively with state or county actors …


Interlocal Cooperation In The Supply Of Local Public Goods: A Transaction Cost And Social Exchange Explanation, Manoj Shrestha, Richard Feiock Apr 2007

Interlocal Cooperation In The Supply Of Local Public Goods: A Transaction Cost And Social Exchange Explanation, Manoj Shrestha, Richard Feiock

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

Although a multiplicity of local governments is often regarded as promoting efficiency in the supply of public services, political fragmentation can generate economies of scale and externality problems. Several exogenous solutions, including the creation of overlapping districts governments, consolidation of existing units and establishment of a metropolitan government, or direct state or federal intervention, have been offered. We argue that cooperative governance offers a potential endogenous solution to this dilemma. By combining transaction cost and social exchange theories within the institutional collective action framework, we investigate how local governments themselves address inefficiencies from externalities and economies of scale. An empirical …