2018/02/01 by Bjørnulf Arntsen, Dag Olaf Torjesen, Tor-Ivar Karlsen +1
Business, Management and Accounting · Health Professions · #Business Strategy and Innovation #Global Healthcare and Medical Tourism #Healthcare Systems and Technology
paper · doi:10.1080/03003930.2018.1427071
crossref issued 2018/02/01 · crossref published 2018/02/01 · crossref published-online 2018/02/01 · openalex publication_date 2018/02/01 · crossref created 2018/02/01 · crossref published-print 2018/05/04 · crossref deposited 2023/08/31 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/18 · crossref indexed 2026/07/29
Inter-municipal cooperation in service delivery is widespread, as is the notion that this type of cooperation is primarily driven by economies of scale. However, the empirical results appear to be inconclusive, suggesting that additional explanatory factors are needed to explain why municipalities cooperate. This study aimed to identify the factors and conditions that influence the level of inter-municipal cooperation in health services by exploring a broad set of explanatory factors that go beyond simple economic concerns. In addition to confirming that a small population-size and fiscal stress constitute important drivers of inter-municipal cooperation, the results from this study also demonstrates the need to consider geographical location and heterogeneity relative to neighbouring municipalities as potential barriers to such cooperation.