The impact of municipal territorial reforms on the economic performance of local governments. A systematic review of quasi-experimental studies. Issue 1 (2nd January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gendźwiłł, Adam; Kurniewicz, Anna; Swianiewicz, Paweł
• Is Part Of: Space & polity. Volume 25:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 37
• Page End: 56
• Publication Date: 2021-01-02
• Subjects: Local government -- territorial reforms -- municipal amalgamation -- quasi-experimental methods; Political geography -- Periodicals; Regionalism -- Periodicals; Decentralization in government -- Periodicals; Nationalism -- Periodicals; 320.1205
• DOI: 10.1080/13562576.2020.1747420
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1356-2576

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Recent years have brought increasing number of publications empirically assessing outcomes of territorial reforms. This paper provides a systematic review of 31 studies from 14 countries, using quasi-experimental research designs to test the causal relationship between changes in jurisdiction size and economic outcomes. The clearly confirmed finding relates to savings in administrative spending, while other sectors do not demonstrate economies of scale. The existing studies provide strong evidence for the common pool effect in theperiod before amalgamation. In the other fields, results do not display a clear pattern. The article concludes with a discussion of gaps in the literature.