Does voluntary cooperation in member state implementation require top-down steering? The case of regional policy in Switzerland

Wittwer, Stefan; Sager, Fritz; Huegli, Eveline (2022). Does voluntary cooperation in member state implementation require top-down steering? The case of regional policy in Switzerland. Governance - an international journal of policy and administration and institutions, 35(2), 457- 475. Wiley 10.1111/gove.12600

[img]
Preview
Text
Governance_-_2022_-_Wittwer_-_Does_voluntary_cooperation_in_member_state_implementation_require_top_down_steering__The_case.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial (CC-BY-NC).

Download (2MB) | Preview

This article studies the institutional conditions that facilitate voluntary member state cooperation in the implementation of regional development policy in Switzerland. Cooperation is crucial for the implementation of regional development policies given that functional perimeters do generally not coincide with institutional borders. Research on the governance of horizontal interorganizational cooperation often focuses on local entities and institutionalized networks, we examine the voluntary cooperation of higher-tier subnational entities. We apply the institutional collective action framework to the implementation of a regional policy in highly federalist Switzerland where subnational entities have considerable discretionary power. The empirical analysis of comprehensive data on implemented development projects and a survey of all responsible subnational actors show that cooperation between higher-tier subnational entities faces strong institutional constraints. We conclude that more top-down guidance is necessary when horizontal cooperation is a condition for policy success.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

11 Centers of Competence > KPM Center for Public Management

UniBE Contributor:

Sager, Fritz

Subjects:

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 350 Public administration & military science
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 320 Political science

ISSN:

0952-1895

Publisher:

Wiley

Language:

English

Submitter:

Leroy James Amyas Ramseier

Date Deposited:

18 May 2022 11:39

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 16:19

Publisher DOI:

10.1111/gove.12600

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/169866

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/169866

Actions (login required)

Edit item Edit item
Provide Feedback