Municipal shared service collaboration in the Alberta Capital Region: the case of recreation

This article examines the determinants of participation of Edmonton-area municipalities in shared services arrangements for recreational and cultural services. Potential determinants emerge from the literature on inter-municipal collaborative arrangements, but this analysis extends the empirical work on the determinants of participation to encompass small municipalities and to consider the appeal of potential partners. The major finding is that, in the Edmonton environment (and likely in many others), municipal population size is the critical determinant of participation, and participation is inversely related to population size. Le present article examine les facteurs determinants de la participation des municipalites de la region d'Edmonton dans les ententes relatives aux services partages en ce qui concerne les services recreatifs et culturels. Les determinants potentiels proviennent de la litterature sur les ententes de collaboration entre les municipalites. Cependant, l'analyse prolonge le travail empirique sur les facteurs determinants de la participation pour y inclure les petites municipalites et pour tenir compte de l'appel a des partenaires potentiels. Le principal resultat est que, dans la region d'Edmonton (et vraisemblablement dans de nombreuses autres regions), la taille de la population municipale est le determinant critique de la participation, et la participation est inversement proportionnelle a la taille de la population.
Why do municipalities engage in local governmental cooperation and, more specifically, in shared services arrangements (SSAs) to provide certain municipal services? (1) This question is becoming increasingly relevant. Despite a [...]