.... Strategic planning Public value Qualitative comparative analysis Public networks Inter-municipal cooperation Local government Small local governments increasingly face complex service demands under limited administrative capacity, fiscal stress and rising societal expectations (Bryson et al...

... The model provides public managers with diagnostic tools for identifying gaps between local conditions and ideal-type enablers, informing evidence-based policy design. For low-capacity municipalities, operationalisation should proceed through inter-municipal cooperation and multi-level governance...

...Davide Giacomini; Alessandro Sancino; Anna Simonetto Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of mandatory inter-municipal cooperation (IMC) in small Italian municipalities. Data from 280 small Italian municipalities on the effects of IMC in terms of higher efficiency, better...