How Homogeneity Favours Financial Vitality of Inter-municipal Cooperation: Evidence from Italy

Inter-municipal cooperation (IMC) in Europe is a decade-long issue but in the last years it has (re)gained political and scholarly attention in several European countries. Indeed IMC proliferation often depends on, among other factors, financial incentives. This may sometimes lead to a facade role of IMC forms: they are created to receive incentives, thus they formally exist but are substantially inactive. Under the austerity and the relevant domestic budget-constraining conditions this possibility is even more problematic. Taking into account Italian Municipal Unions (MUs) as a case study, the paper analyses the reasons that can determine their faltering activity. By taking financial vitality of the MUs as an indicator for their activity and by employing an original database created by the authors, the Paper investigates if and how a higher homogeneity between the involved municipalities can determine a greater activity of the relevant MUs. Four types of homogeneity will be considered (spatial, temporal, historic, and functional) in order to assess their impact on financial vitality and thus on the overall activity and functioning of the MUs. The Paper aims at contributing to the current international debate about how IMCs should be governed, as well as about their political and economic capacity.