Success With a Bitter Aftertaste: Success Factors in Inter-Municipal Cooperation

Authors

  • Dag Ingvar Jacobsen Department of Political Science and Management, Agder University
  • Charlotte Kiland Department of Public Health, Sport and Nutrition, Agder University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.v21i4.11491

Keywords:

Inter-municipal cooperation, Child welfare, Norway, Governance structure, Allocative efficiency

Abstract

Inter-municipal cooperation is gaining in popularity in many Western countries, making it a matter of pressing importance to better understand what factors might contribute to the success of such arrangements. This article focuses on three Norwegian inter-municipal cooperative arrangements in the field of child welfare that are deemed to be successful, and the aim is to identify common features across the three cases with a focus on the governance structures of the collaborations. The study combines document studies and qualitative interviews, and reveals three main factors that can explain success: a sense of urgency, political and administrative support combined with incremental processes. The study also indicates that these factors interact, and can thus not be viewed as explanations taken individually. Furthermore, the potential negative effects on allocative efficiency are highlighted. Since the success of inter-municipal cooperation seems at least partly to depend on whether the task in focus is “moved out” of the ordinary activity and embed- ded in a higher political and administrative level, it is argued that this may further frag- ment the municipalities’ ability to make priorities between sectors and services.

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Author Biographies

Dag Ingvar Jacobsen, Department of Political Science and Management, Agder University

Dag Ingvar Jacobsen is Professor in Political Science at Agder University in Kristiansand, Norway. He has published several books in Norwegian, as well as articles on organizational change, the relation- ship between politicians and administrators, and inter-organizational cooperation in journals such as Governance, Public Administration, Public Management Review and Scandinavian Political Studies.

Charlotte Kiland, Department of Public Health, Sport and Nutrition, Agder University

Charlotte Kiland is Associate Professor in Political Science at the Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences at Agder University, Norway. She has published several articles on organizational change, political organization and multi-level governance. In recent years her focus has been more specific on governance of public health and health services, and implementation of health policies.

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Published

2017-12-15

How to Cite

Jacobsen, D. I., & Kiland, C. (2017). Success With a Bitter Aftertaste: Success Factors in Inter-Municipal Cooperation. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, 21(4), 53–76. https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.v21i4.11491

Issue

Section

Original Articles

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