Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview WG1: Local Government Author(s) Aistė Lazauskienė Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas Lithuania Bucaite Vilke Jurga, Title Motives for Inter-municipal Cooperation: Evidence from Lithuania File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Aistė Lazauskienė Abstract The cooperation as a coordination mechanism is not a new approach in the countries with fragmented administrative territorial units and tendencies for amalgamations. In small countries with a single-tier local government system, the number of factors is essential which limits municipal cooperation, including institutional framework, legal constraints and organizational culture. The scope, motivations, and side-effects of inter-municipal cooperation have hardly been a subject in small-size countries like Lithuania where the research is underdeveloped. Lithuania could be ascribed to the group of countries with a limited practice of inter-municipal cooperation. The paper aims to discuss what are the main motives and drivers for inter-municipal cooperation from the point of view of multiple governance actors and other stakeholders. The empirical evidence comes from online survey on inter-municipal cooperation initiatives and motives in Lithuania (implemented between January–May 2018).The survey was a part of broader "Inter-municipal cooperation and implementation of public services: options for network governance and public interest dilemma in Lithuania” research project, No.S-MIP-17-3, financed by Lithuania Council of Research. The empirical results demonstrate the vague and fragmented bottom-up initiatives for cooperation in the political field to receive decision-making benefits from collective actions. Among the most significant items, the quality of municipal services delivery, a decrease of municipal services costs and development of services infrastructure are considered as strong motivators.
