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Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Urban Studies and Planning

Outsourcing In U.S. Cities, Ambulances And Elderly Voters, Matthew J. Holian Oct 2007

Outsourcing In U.S. Cities, Ambulances And Elderly Voters, Matthew J. Holian

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

Many of the largest cities in the United States outsource emergency medical services. This paper develops a political economy model of city service provision. Empirical analysis of emergency ambulances in the 200 largest U.S. cities finds that a number of variables are significant determinants of amblu- ance outsourcing, including the fraction of a city's voters over the age of 65. This finding provides evidence that interest-group politics are important, and suggests a particular shape of the contracting cost curve.


Councils Of Government And Nonprofit Community Conferences, Kelly Leroux Sep 2007

Councils Of Government And Nonprofit Community Conferences, Kelly Leroux

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

No abstract provided.


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 …


Regional Governance Institutions And Interlocal Cooperation For Service Delivery, Sung-Wook Kwon Jul 2007

Regional Governance Institutions And Interlocal Cooperation For Service Delivery, Sung-Wook Kwon

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

Fragmentation of authority defines a first-order problem by creating economies of scale and positive and negative externalities in the provision of local public services. Resolving first-order problems leads to the second-order collective action problem of developing regional institutions that alter the first-order problem in a manner that improves joint outcomes. This paper investigates how regional councils of governments facilitate service cooperation by reducing transaction costs in interlocal service contracting. I focus on the role of the regional governance organizations, the characteristics of services, and political institutions while controlling for service markets and community characteristics. The results suggest that local governments …


Intergovernmental Cooperation: A Position Paper From The Michigan Government Finance Officers Association, Art Holdsworth Jun 2007

Intergovernmental Cooperation: A Position Paper From The Michigan Government Finance Officers Association, Art Holdsworth

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

No abstract provided.


Selling Stakeholders On Interlocal Cooperation, Art Holdsworth Jun 2007

Selling Stakeholders On Interlocal Cooperation, Art Holdsworth

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

No abstract provided.


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 …


Explaining Local Government Cooperation On Public Works: Evidence From Michigan, Kelly Leroux, Jered B. Carr Jan 2007

Explaining Local Government Cooperation On Public Works: Evidence From Michigan, Kelly Leroux, Jered B. Carr

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

In recent years, analysts have begun to study cooperation on public services among local governments. These studies have often concluded that services with scale economies are likely candidates for shared service delivery. This article contributes to the emerging literature on this topic by examining interlocal service arrangements for ten public works services in Michigan. Despite the fact that public works exhibit substantial scale economies, many local governments do not cooperate on these services. Empirical studies of local government contracting suggest four groups of factors that may help explain why local governments opt to collaborate on public services: local economic factors, …


Do Special Districts Act Alone?: Exploring The Relationship Between Flexible Boundaries And Intergovernmental Cooperation, Megan Mullin Jan 2007

Do Special Districts Act Alone?: Exploring The Relationship Between Flexible Boundaries And Intergovernmental Cooperation, Megan Mullin

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

Special districts have been seen as a formalized institution for promoting regional cooperation. They allow boundary design to the scale of public problems and may produce greater efficiency in the marketplace for local public goods. Many scholars also have highlighted the flexibility of special district boundaries once established, arguing that this flexibility allows for governance that is more adaptable to changing resource constraints and patterns of demand. While flexible boundaries might promote special districts’ ability to internalize spillovers while acting alone, it might impede more ad hoc forms of cooperation among localities. This paper presents evidence that boundary change is …