Inter-Municipal Cooperation in the Czech Republic: A Public Finance Perspective

Abstract

Abstract Inter-municipal cooperation (IMC) in the Czech Republic is common and flexible and is generally viewed as a means to reduce problems related to the highly fragmented local government structure. The paper utilizes financial and accounting data of public entities to evaluate the character and magnitude of inter-municipal cooperation in the Czech Republic. It concludes that the extent of public services provided based on the service contracts or through institutionalized forms of IMC is quite limited and that the majority of the IMC is somewhat informal and soft , e.g. exchange of experience and ad-hoc projects.