The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which inter-municipal collaboration affects the level of service to citizens. This is done by examining collaboration among all Swedish municipalities within municipal environmental activities. A supplementary sub-study is conducted among small municipalities to determine if there is a different pattern of cooperation among them. The study serves as a complement to previous qualitative research and is based on the hypothesis that cooperation between municipalities leads to a higher level of service for those municipalities that cooperate, compared with those who choose not to cooperate.
The study uses different variables representing various dimensions of environmental activity. Statistical analysis does not indicate anything that reinforces the notion of collaboration as an important mechanism for increasing the service level to citizens within the environmental area. The same conclusion is reached when a supplementary sub-study is conducted on collaboration among small municipalities. Collaboration within municipal environmental activities slightly affects the level of service to citizens in the environmental area, and the results are not statistically significant.
2024-05-30