Intermunicipal cooperation is the growing reform – more common than privatization and more stable. Research in New York State and across the country finds cooperation is used to improve service quality. Cost savings are secondary.
Aldag, Austin M. and Warner M.E. 2018. “Cooperation, Not Cost Savings: Explaining Duration of Shared Service Agreements,” Local Government Studies, 44(3): 350-370. DOI:10.1080/03003930.2017.1411810
Aldag, Austin, Mildred E. Warner and Germa Bel. 2020. “It Depends on What You Share: The elusive cost savings from service sharing.” Journal of Public Administration, Research and Theory, 30(2):275-289. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muz023
Warner, Mildred E. Austin Aldag and Yunji Kim. 2021. “Privatization and Intermunicipal Cooperation in US Local Government Services: Balancing Fiscal Stress, Need and Political Interests,” Public Management Review. 23(9): 1359-1376 https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2020.1751255
Aldag, A.M. and M.E. Warner. 2023. “Intermunicipal Cooperation and Agreement Formalization.” Journal of Economic Policy Reform, forthcoming. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17487870.2023.2244628.
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