What Influences Collaborative Relationships between Central and Local Governments? Empirical Evidence from South Korea

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the factors that influence collaborative relationships between the central and local governments, drawing on the intergovernmental relations theory. Specifically, we examine the impacts of function allocation, personnel and financial relationships, administrative control, contact frequency, and collaborative attitude on intergovernmental collaboration using a comprehensive approach. To do so, this study utilizes a large volume of survey data on intergovernmental relationships collected by the Korean Institute of Public Administration. We found that collaborative attitude and level of satisfaction on fiscal relationships had positive impacts on intergovernmental collaboration across all levels of government, but the priority each level of government placed on other factors varied. Results and implications are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Intergovernmental relations
• intergovernmental collaboration
• central–local relations
• decentralization

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. In South Korea, the number of personnel exchanges between central and local governments increased from 170 in 2010 to 364 in 2019 (Ministry of Personnel Management, 2020).

2. The central government includes central departments. Korean local governments are divided into two levels: metropolitan local governments and basic local governments. The metropolitan level of local governments (Gwangyeok jachidanche) includes metropolitan cities (Gwangyeok-si), provinces (Do), and special metropolitan cities (Teukbyul-si). The basic levels of local governments include towns (si), districts (gun), and boroughs (gu).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea [NRF-2018S1A3A2075609].