Is cooperation cost reducing? An analysis of public–public partnerships and inter-municipal cooperation in Brazilian local government

ABSTRACT

In local government systems worldwide, financial pressures have obliged local authorities to focus on cost-efficient methods for providing local services, including inter-municipal agreements and public–public partnerships. However, in comparison with municipal mergers, privatisation and other approaches to the problem, the cost impact of the cooperative provision has not yet been thoroughly examined empirically. Moreover, available empirical research has largely concentrated on waste disposal in developed countries. The present paper seeks to contribute to the empirical literature on inter-municipal agreements and public–public partnerships by comparing their impact on costs with ‘stand-alone’ provision in a range of non-waste local services. In contrast to the bulk of existing studies, our analysis takes place in a developing country context by examining Brazilian local government over the period 2013/15. We found that – on the whole – cooperative provision is less expensive than the ‘stand-alone’ provision for the services studied. Our results can be explained by the size and composition of the population, together with the politics for cooperation.

KEYWORDS:

• Brazil
• cost of services
• local government
• inter-municipal cooperation
• public-public partnerships

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

The supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

The authors are grateful for the financial support received from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico [426771/2018-4];

Notes on contributors

Hugo Consciência Silvestre

Hugo Consciência Silvestre is an assistant professor at the University for the International Integration of the Afro-Brazilian Lusophony, Brazil (UNILAB) and member of the Public Administration post graduate studies center at Federal University of Viçosa, Brasil. He is a researcher at the Center for Policy and Public Administration at UNILAB and at the Department of Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability at the Higher Technical Institute (IST) of the University of Lisbon, Portugal. His research focuses on public policy co-conception and the governance of policy implementation.

Rui Cunha Marques

Rui Cunha Marques is Professor of Scientific Systems and the Management of Infrastructure at the Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geo-Resources at the Higher Technical Institute (IST) at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. He is a also a researcher at the Public Utility Research Center (PURC) at the University of Florida and at the Center of Local Government (CLG) at the University of New England in Australia. His expertise covers regulation of public services, performance assessment, project management, procurement, public-private partnerships and infrastructure services.

Brian Dollery

Brian Dollery is Professor of Economics at the University of New England Business School, Australia. His research focuses on local government, the economics of public policy, public economics and microeconomics. He has published widely in the area of local government, especially on structural reform and shared services.

Aldenísio Moraes Correia

Aldenísio Moraes Correia is a post graduate student from Federal University of ABC at the the University for the International Integration of the Afro-Brazilian Lusophony (UNILAB), where he is a researcher at the Center for Public Policy and Administration from UNILAB. His research areas include public administration and public policy, especially participatory governance and co-production in public services.