The Inter-municipal Cooperation in Switzerland and the Trend towards Amalgamation

In Switzerland, the ongoing reforms of fiscal federalism put municipalities under increased fiscal stress. A majority of the municipalities had responded by increasing the cooperation with neighbouring municipalities over the last few years. Simultaneously, many discuss or are directly involved in a possible amalgamation project. Accordingly, the paper aimed at describing how cooperation has presently developed between Swiss municipalities, in order to illustrate the existing trend towards amalgamation. Current surveys helped us estimate the growing importance of inter-municipal arrangements together with the surge of amalgamations. A further goal was to investigate if cantonal financial incentives to municipal amalgamation essentially benefit the cantonal community, following the fiscal equivalence principle, or if they rather benefit amalgamating municipalities. In reality, equivalence does not exist. However, this may possibly be the condition to reduce inequality among amalgamating municipalities

Suppléments péréquatifs : problèmes et évaluation dans le contexte vaudois

On reproche souvent aux systèmes péréquatifs en vigueur de faire dépendre de beaucoup les transferts financiers - appelés communément subventions - du montant de la dépense engagée et de la situation financière de la collectivité récipiendaire. Les collectivités en situation financière difficile peuvent ainsi bénéficier d'un taux de subventionnement plus élevé. Cette part additionnelle de transferts constitue ce que l'on appelle un supplément péréquatif. Bien que ce type de dispositif soit considéré de manière positive, il peut amener un certain nombre de problèmes. L'objectif de cet article est de mettre en évidence ces problèmes, et de proposer une façon d'y remédier. Dans cette optique, le point est fait sur la terminologie et la manière dont sont organisés les transferts financiers. Une analyse théorique des effets des systèmes existants par rapport aux objectifs d'efficience, d'efficacité et d'équité est également menée. L'exemple des transferts financiers entre le canton de Vaud et ses communes permet ensuite d'appréhender concrètement cette dimension des suppléments péréquatifs. Finalement, une solution aux effets pervers provoqués par les systèmes en vigueur est proposée, et l'exemple vaudois permet de replacer la question des suppléments péréquatifs dans la perspective de l'ensemble du dispositif de péréquation financière

Ex-post survey on the consequences and perceptions about amalgamation : The case of two Swiss municipalities

In 2006, two municipalities located in the canton of Fribourg (Switzerland), La Tour-de-Trême and Bulle, amalgamated. In this study, we report on the evolution of citizen perceptions as well as try to better understand the reasons behind the respondents various positions concerning this new political and territorial entity. Five-hundred individuals were surveyed almost four years after the amalgamation came into effect. Our results show that if the amalgamation was voted again, it would be necessary to be particularly attentive to citizen access to municipal offices and to local service provisions, to citizen identification to their municipality as well as to the life of the local associations. Indeed, these are clearly important issues for small localities. Furthermore, citizens of the newly amalgamated municipality are mostly sensitive to access to municipal offices and to contact with local representatives. Improving the population's perceptions of these particular issues could lead to a 12 percentage point increase in support for the amalgamation

The Relevance of the Principal-Agent Model for the Analysis of Public Policies : Do the Objectives Conflict ?

This paper aims to provide empirical support for the use of the principal-agent framework in the analysis of public sector and public policies. After reviewing the different conditions to be met for a relevant analysis of the relationship between population and government using the principal-agent theory, our paper focuses on the assumption of conflicting goals between the principal and the agent. A principal-agent analysis assumes in effect that inefficiencies may arise because principal and agent pursue different goals. Using data collected during an amalgamation project of two Swiss municipalities, we show the existence of a gap between the goals of the population and those of the government. Consequently, inefficiencies as predicted by the principal-agent model may arise during the implementation of a public policy, i.e. an amalgamation project. In a context of direct democracy where policies are regularly subjected to referendum, the conflict of objectives may even lead to a total failure of the policy at the polls