21 results on '"*AMALGAMATION"'
Search Results
2. The temporal dependence of public policy evaluation: the case of local government amalgamation.
- Author
-
McQuestin, Dana, Drew, Joseph, and Iiboshi, Hirokuni
- Subjects
LOCAL government ,GOVERNMENT policy ,SUBNATIONAL governments ,GOVERNMENT standards ,POLITICAL science - Abstract
Amalgamation has been a cornerstone of many local government reform programmes internationally. However, there has been a lack of consensus in the academic literature surrounding the outcomes associated with amalgamation. One potential explanation for this is the difference in the length of time over which the evaluation takes place. In order to determine if the impacts of boundary reform are indeed temporally dependent on nature, we collected and analysed a 17-year panel of empirical data from a large-scale amalgamation programme in 2008. Our results indicate that the outcomes arising from the program do indeed display variation over time, with initial savings being negated by increased costs in the medium-term and ultimately an insignificant impact over the long term. The public policy implications and recommendations suggested by our analysis have important implications for the design and evaluation of future local government boundary reform programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. Why such a different choice of tools? Analysing recent local government reforms in Denmark and Norway.
- Author
-
Vabo, Signy Irene, Fimreite, Anne Lise, and Houlberg, Kurt
- Subjects
LOCAL government ,ADMINISTRATIVE reform ,AMALGAMATION ,QUALITATIVE research - Abstract
Local government amalgamation reforms are politically demanding ventures because potential benefits are often diffuse and long term, while costs are concentrated and immediate. We investigate the role of national political actors in forming alliances and choosing policy tools in such demanding reform contexts. Empirically, we compare the Danish amalgamation reform, characterised by the use of authoritative government tools and a nationally directed amalgamation process, and the Norwegian reform, which primarily used softer tools that involved substantial autonomy at the local level. Our analysis is built on a rich set of qualitative data. We show that differences in the pro-reform alliances established by the two national governments help explain the different choices of government tools for carrying out the local government reforms. A strong pro-reform alliance, as was the case in Denmark, lent legitimacy to the use of authoritative tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. Do boundary consolidations alter the relationship between politicians and voters? The case of municipal mergers in Japan.
- Author
-
Yamada, Kyohei and Arai, Kiichiro
- Subjects
POLITICIANS ,VOTERS ,LOCAL government ,POPULATION - Abstract
This paper examines whether boundary changes lead to changes in the relationship between voters and politicians. We focus on the wave of municipal mergers in Japan that took place in the 2000s in order to examine this question. Municipalities with small population size, once they merge with their larger neighbours, would have a small number of voters relative to the size of the electorate in the post-merger municipalities. Therefore, municipal politicians in the post-merger municipalities do not have strong electoral incentives to receive support from geographic areas corresponding with pre-merger municipalities of small population size. Using a survey of voters in 89 locations corresponding with pre-merger municipalities, we demonstrate that voters who live in small municipalities that experienced mergers interact with politicians less frequently and have less favourable impressions of politicians than before the mergers. These patterns are not observed in municipalities that did not experience mergers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
5. Municipality size, political efficacy and political participation: a systematic review.
- Author
-
McDonnell, Joshua
- Subjects
POLITICAL participation ,LOCAL government ,META-analysis ,DEMOCRACY ,CITIZENS ,URBAN growth - Abstract
It is an old adage that local government is a training ground for democracy. Its human scale means that political amateurs can contribute effectively and meaningfully to the politics of a state. But in a political climate seemingly driven to consolidate local government into ever larger units, can a not so local local government still elicit an efficacious and participatory citizenry? This paper explores the effect of municipality population size on two important aspects of democratic culture: political efficacy and political participation. Via a two-part systematic review, the paper examines how extant empirical literature bears on the relationship between size and both of these aspects, hypothesising that political efficacy plays a mediating role between size and participation. The findings are unequivocal: citizens of smaller municipalities feel a greater sense of political efficacy and participate to a greater degree in local politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
6. Why voluntary municipal merger projects fail: evidence from popular votes in Switzerland.
- Author
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Strebel, Michael Andrea
- Subjects
ELECTIONS ,VOTING ,AUTONOMY (Psychology) ,POLITICAL reform ,SWISS politics & government - Abstract
What determines the failure of local government amalgamation referenda? Existing research suggests that functional pressures act as a push factor towards local territorial reform, whereas considerations of political self-determination exert a pull effect. However, we know little about the respective importance of these countervailing forces. In this paper, I analyze popular vote decisions on mergers of 541 municipalities involved in 166 different merger projects in three Swiss cantons since the new millennium. The results show that both functional pressures and concerns for self-determination are linked to popular vote outcomes: small municipalities are less likely to reject a merger. Concerns for self-determination matter, but only when the pressures of smallness are not overwhelming: a higher vote share of right-wing parties and a preponderance of other municipalities in the merger coalition increase the probability that voters reject a merger project. This has implications for policy-makers' strategies when drafting and promoting voluntary local amalgamation reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
7. Voter turnout and municipal amalgamations—evidence from Denmark.
- Author
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Bhatti, Yosef and Hansen, Kasper M.
- Subjects
VOTER turnout ,POLITICAL reform ,DEMOCRACY ,CITIES & towns - Abstract
The study utilizes evidence from the Danish 2007 municipal reform to inquire into the relationship between municipal amalgamations and voter turnout, that is, the classical discussion on size and democracy. The Danish municipal reform is particularly suited for investigating the relationship as a large number of units were merged due to reasons thought to be unrelated with the democratic performance while others were left unchanged. This allows us to investigate the relationship in a quasi-experimental setup. The study finds some evidence of a short-term positive effect on turnout and only limited evidence of a medium- to long-term negative effect when comparing amalgamated and non-amalgamated municipalities. However, stronger indications of negative effects on turnout are found when considering the intensity of the amalgamations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
8. Rhetoric in municipal amalgamations: a comparative analysis.
- Author
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Drew, Joseph, Razin, Eran, and Andrews, Rhys
- Subjects
CITIES & towns ,COMPARATIVE studies ,MUNICIPAL government ,RHETORICAL analysis ,RHETORIC - Abstract
There is a large literature that seeks to evaluate municipal amalgamations ex post, but a relative dearth of scholarly inquiry into the practical political task of persuading the public to accept amalgamations ex ante. We address this important gap in the literature by conducting a rhetorical analysis to ascertain what types of arguments are believed to be efficacious for persuasion on amalgamation. We find evidence to suggest belief in the efficacy of persuading the public through recourse to various projected dreadful consequences, particularly amongst opponents of amalgamation. We conclude by considering some of the reasons behind the observed rhetorics and briefly outline one possible solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
9. Population size or population density? An empirical examination of scale economies in South Australian local government, 2015/16.
- Author
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Tran, Carolyn, Kortt, Michael, and Dollery, Brian
- Subjects
POPULATION density ,EMPIRICAL research ,ECONOMIES of scale ,LOCAL government - Abstract
Advocates of amalgamation typically claim that substantial scale economies flow from municipal mergers, which generate larger local government entities by population size. We examined whether economies of scale exist in council outlays by analysing the expenditure of 68 South Australian local government areas using data from the 2015/16 financial year. However, given the correlation between population size and population density it is important to determine whether the influence of population size on expenditure is due to variations in population density. We find that when local government areas are stratified into subgroups on the basis of population density, the evidence of economies of scale largely evaporates. From a policy perspective, this suggests that in place of municipal mergers, policymakers should instead explore avenues for shared service arrangements in those functions which exhibit scale economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
10. Auckland, New Zealand – fair game for central party politics.
- Author
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Webster, Karen, Asquith, Andy, Rohan, Maheswaren, Cardow, Andrew, and Majavu, Mandisi
- Subjects
POLITICAL parties ,ACCREDITATION ,POLITICAL affiliation ,NEW Zealand politics & government - Abstract
This paper explores the influence of central party politics in Auckland local government, in New Zealand's largest city, following the 2010 amalgamation. Political parties have been an accepted and dominant presence in European representative democratic local government, throughout the 20
th century. Not so, however, in New Zealand and Australia, where citizens have 'flocked to the banner "Keep Politics out of Local Government". Our analysis of the self-declared party accreditation status of candidates and elected members demonstrates that political affiliation, at least in the main centre Auckland, is on the rise, counter to assumptions that New Zealand local government is largely removed from central politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
11. If territorial fragmentation is a problem, is amalgamation a solution? – Ten years later.
- Author
-
Swianiewicz, Pawel
- Subjects
LOCAL government ,DEMOCRACY ,POLITICAL stability ,REFORMS ,MERGERS & acquisitions - Abstract
Over the last decade, municipal territorial amalgamation has occurred in 15 European countries. The same period has seen spectacular progress in research on the relationship between municipal size and the functioning of local governments, as well as the impacts of territorial reforms on economic performance and local democracy. Quasi-experimental designs treating territorial reforms as specific “research laboratories” have constituted an important part of that trend. However, there are still important gaps in the knowledge and the study results are often inconclusive. These observations call for a research agenda for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
12. Intermunicipal cooperation, municipal amalgamation and the price of credit.
- Author
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Allers, Maarten A. and van Ommeren, Bernard
- Subjects
LOCAL government ,INTEREST rates ,GOVERNMENT lending ,PUBLIC spending ,MUNICIPAL government - Abstract
In many countries, local government size is increasingly thought to be insufficient to operate efficiently. Two possible solutions to this problem are amalgamation and intermunicipal cooperation. This paper applies a novel methodology to shed light on the efficiency implications of this choice. Using a unique and rich micro-level dataset, we find that intermunicipal organisations (IOs) in the Netherlands consistently pay higher interest rates than municipalities, while there is no economic reason to do so. We interpret this as a form of inefficiency. Municipal amalgamation, on the other hand, does not result in higher interest rates. Our analysis eliminates one possible explanation, dispersed ownership of IOs, as the number of partners cooperating in an IO does not affect interest rates (no 'law of 1/n'). This leaves the introduction of extra hierarchical layers as a result of cooperation, and the ensuing reduction in monitoring, as the most probable explanation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
13. Political Representation and Geographical Bias in Amalgamated Local Governments.
- Author
-
Jakobsen, Morten and Kjaer, Ulrik
- Subjects
LOCAL government ,REPRESENTATIVE government ,JURISDICTION ,LEGISLATIVE bodies ,POLITICIANS - Abstract
There is a strong tendency across the world to amalgamate political jurisdictions, especially local governments. Merger of jurisdictions entails integration of local interests, and former jurisdictions have to struggle to secure political representation and specific area interests in the new amalgamated jurisdiction. We argue that this struggle is affected by the strength of the centre–periphery dimension of the new amalgamated jurisdiction. When a large city is merged with less populated jurisdictions, a strong centre–periphery dimension is created, and this leads to a numerical over-representation of the periphery in the legislature of the amalgamated jurisdiction. We test the argument empirically using a recent large-scale amalgamation reform that allows us to compare 66 amalgamations with different centre–periphery dimensions. Our argument is supported when we examine representation by seats in jurisdiction councils (descriptive representation) and politicians’ advancement of local interests (substantive representation). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
14. Municipal Mergers in New Zealand: An Empirical Analysis of the Proposed Amalgamation of Hawke’s Bay Councils.
- Author
-
Kortt, Michael A., Dollery, Brian, and Drew, Joseph
- Subjects
LOCAL government ,MUNICIPAL government ,NEW Zealand politics & government, 1972- ,POLICY sciences ,REFORMS - Abstract
Local government policymakers across the developed world have frequently employed municipal amalgamation to improve the operation of local councils, and New Zealand is no exception. This paper empirically examines claims made in Potential Costs and Savings of Local Government Reform in Hawke’s Bay that the merger of the five local authorities in the Hawke’s Bay Region of New Zealand would generate significant cost-savings. We empirically test for the existence of scale economies in a single merged Hawke’s Bay council and find that no cost-savings can be expected. This removes a key argument for a forced Hawke’s Bay amalgamation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
15. Did the Big Stick Work? An Empirical Assessment of Scale Economies and the Queensland Forced Amalgamation Program.
- Author
-
Drew, Joseph, Kortt, Michael A., and Dollery, Brian
- Subjects
GOVERNMENT agency mergers ,QUEENSLAND politics & government ,DISECONOMIES of scale ,LOCAL government ,COST effectiveness - Abstract
In 2007, the Queensland Government imposed forced amalgamation with the number of local authorities falling from 157 to just 73 councils. Amalgamation was based inter alia on the assumption that increased economies of scale would generate savings. This paper empirically examines pre- and post-amalgamation (2006/07 and 2009/10) for scale economies. For the 2006/07 data, evidence of economies of scale was found for councils with populations up to 98,000, and thereafter diseconomies of scale. Eight percent of councils in 2006/07 (ten councils) – representing 64% of the state’s population – exhibited diseconomies of scale. For the 2009/10 data, the average cost curve remained almost stationary at 99,000 residents per council, but almost 25% of all councils (thirteen councils) were now found to exhibit diseconomies of scale. The compulsory merger program thus increased the proportion of Queensland residents in councils operating with diseconomies of scale to 84%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
16. Welfare Loss with Municipal Amalgamations and the Willingness-to-Pay for the Municipality Name.
- Author
-
Soguel, Nils and Silberstein, Julie
- Subjects
LAND consolidation ,LOCAL government ,MUNICIPAL government ,CONTINGENT valuation ,WILLINGNESS to pay ,CITIES & towns - Abstract
Functional advantages and drawbacks are commonly mentioned to rationally justify or condemn municipality amalgamations. However, many consolidation projects are resisted by local governments or citizens on the grounds that amalgamation would dampen local identity. A municipality’s name change is probably the most visible sign of the loss of community bond experienced by citizens at amalgamation time. This article aims to put a value on this loss by measuring citizen willingness to pay for their city name. This methodological approach innovates upon the literature on municipal amalgamation and place branding by exploiting the versatility of the so-called contingent valuation method (CVM). CVM confronts respondents, in a survey setting, with a hypothetical market in which a characteristic of interest is exchanged. Here the characteristic is the possibility to retain one’s city name for an amalgamated jurisdiction. The article presents the estimates provided by a survey conducted in four Swiss cities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
17. The Economic and Political Impacts of Top-Down Territorial Reforms: The Case of Sub-City Governments.
- Author
-
Tavares, António F. and Rodrigues, Miguel
- Subjects
REGIONALISM ,LOCAL government ,LAND consolidation ,TERRITORIAL partition ,PORTUGUESE politics & government ,TWENTY-first century - Abstract
The main objective of this manuscript is to test two competing hypotheses from the regionalism/localism literature regarding local government size. The Leviathan hypothesis argues that fragmentation induces lower spending through more decentralised government structures which are smaller relative to the size of the local economy. This argument is in sharp opposition with the supporters of regionalism who argue that territorial centralisation can produce economies of scale and significant cost savings, reduce overlaps and promote a more efficient local government. These competing hypotheses derived from the literature are tested using data collected from all 278 local governments of continental Portugal. We measure local government size as both per capita total expenditures and per capita grant transfers to sub-city governments and territorial fragmentation as the number of sub-city governments per 1,000 individuals. Our findings indicate that higher levels of sub-city fragmentation lead to increased municipal government spending and transfers to sub-city governments, thus suggesting that the amalgamation of sub-city governments required by the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2011 by the Portuguese government, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank and mandated by national legislation has the potential to induce cost savings and to improve financial sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
18. What are the Local Political Costs of Centrally Determined Reforms of Local Government?
- Author
-
Kjaer, Ulrik and Klemmensen, Robert
- Subjects
POLITICAL reform ,LOCAL elections ,MAYORAL elections ,DANISH politics & government, 1972- ,VOTER attitudes - Abstract
Taking advantage of a quasi-experimental setting and drawing upon analysis of electoral results and a survey of voters, this article explores the political costs of reform through the example of the 2009 local elections in Denmark. The article finds that the local parties of mayors were punished at the polls for implementing municipal amalgamations decided by the central government. However, the effect on the mayoral parties’ electoral result is more indirect than direct. Analyses of the electoral results demonstrates that the political parties holding the mayoralty in times of amalgamations tend to nominate very tenured mayors as candidates, thereby missing the positive first-term incumbency effect, which a new mayor could have acquired. And analyses of a survey of voters demonstrates higher levels of dissatisfaction with the municipal service in amalgamated municipalities, leading to a higher cost of ruling for mayoral parties which have led the implementation of an amalgamation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
19. A Fresh Look at Municipal Consolidation in Australia.
- Author
-
Aulich, Chris, Sansom, Graham, and McKinlay, Peter
- Subjects
METROPOLITAN government ,LAND consolidation ,LOCAL government - Abstract
This article draws from a major research project examining the impact of various forms of municipal consolidation in Australia and New Zealand. Its wide-ranging research involved studies of 15 cases of different forms of consolidation, including amalgamation, together with a series of interviews with senior practitioners from the local government sector. Data revealed little evidence of consistent economies of scale from consolidation, however both case studies and interviews indicated that consolidation generated economies of scope and what may be termed ‘strategic capacity’. While it was not possible to disaggregate the data for particular sizes of local authority, enhancement of strategic capacity was more obvious through processes of consolidation in larger ones and less so in smaller, more remote ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
20. Intermunicipal cooperation, municipal amalgamation and the price of credit
- Author
-
Maarten Allers, Bernard van Ommeren, and Research programme EEF
- Subjects
Sociology and Political Science ,Public economics ,media_common.quotation_subject ,05 social sciences ,Development ,0506 political science ,Interest rate ,Local government ,0502 economics and business ,050602 political science & public administration ,Economics ,Intermunicipal cooperation ,municipal amalgamation ,efficiency ,law of 1/n ,local government borrowing ,050207 economics ,Inefficiency ,Industrial organization ,media_common - Abstract
In many countries, local government size is increasingly thought to be insufficientto operate efficiently. Two possible solutions to this problem are amalgamationand intermunicipal cooperation. This paper applies a novelmethodology to shed light on the efficiency implications of this choice.Using a unique and rich micro-level dataset, we find that intermunicipalorganisations (IOs) in the Netherlands consistently pay higher interest ratesthan municipalities, while there is no economic reason to do so. We interpretthis as a form of inefficiency. Municipal amalgamation, on the other hand,does not result in higher interest rates. Our analysis eliminates one possibleexplanation, dispersed ownership of IOs, as the number of partners cooperatingin an IO does not affect interest rates (no ‘law of 1/n’). This leaves theintroduction of extra hierarchical layers as a result of cooperation, and theensuing reduction in monitoring, as the most probable explanation.
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
21. Political Representation and Geographical Bias in Amalgamated Local Governments
- Author
-
Ulrik Kjær and Morten Jakobsen
- Subjects
Sociology and Political Science ,Jurisdiction ,Denmark ,05 social sciences ,0211 other engineering and technologies ,021107 urban & regional planning ,Legislature ,02 engineering and technology ,Development ,Public administration ,municipal amalgamation ,0506 political science ,Representation (politics) ,Politics ,Argument ,Political economy ,Councillors ,050602 political science & public administration ,Economics ,geographical representation ,Dimension (data warehouse) ,Large city - Abstract
There is a strong tendency across the world to amalgamate political jurisdictions, especially local governments. Merger of jurisdictions entails integration of local interests, and former jurisdictions have to struggle to secure political representation and specific area interests in the new amalgamated jurisdiction. We argue that this struggle is affected by the strength of the centre–periphery dimension of the new amalgamated jurisdiction. When a large city is merged with less populated jurisdictions, a strong centre–periphery dimension is created, and this leads to a numerical over-representation of the periphery in the legislature of the amalgamated jurisdiction. We test the argument empirically using a recent large-scale amalgamation reform that allows us to compare 66 amalgamations with different centre–periphery dimensions. Our argument is supported when we examine representation by seats in jurisdiction councils (descriptive representation) and politicians’ advancement of local interests (substantive representation).
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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