LOCAL ACTION GROUP AS A TOOL OF INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION: CASE STUDY OF SLOVAKIA

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LOCAL ACTION GROUP AS A TOOL OF INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION: CASE STUDY OF SLOVAKIA

Journal Title: FOLIA GEOGRAPHICA - Year 2019, Vol 61, Issue 1

Abstract

The main role of municipalities and their self-governments is to provide adequate public services and support for the local development. A significant limiting factor in achieving their effectiveness and quality is the insufficient size of municipalities, which makes impossible to realize economies of scale, and the absence of sufficient level of the human and social capital. A large number of small municipalities and a fragmented settlement structure are typical for the territory of Slovakia. In this respect, the support for inter-municipal cooperation as an alternative to amalgamations of the local self-governments is a possible solution. One of the platforms of this cooperation is Local Action Group (LAG), which is now receiving increased attention. Support for inter-municipal cooperation in the form of LAGs has also appeared in the “Call for proposals 21/PRV/2017” under the Rural Development Programme of the Slovak Republic 2014 – 2020. The aim of the paper is to assess the spatial allocation of financial means from the above-mentioned call to individual LAGs across the self-governing regions of the Slovak Republic in relation to their socio-economic status. Financial allocations were monitored in the total volume as well as in respect to the number of inhabitants of LAGs and socio-economic status of the regions was defined by a set of 14 selected socio-economic indicators. The regression and correlation analysis was used to assess the spatial justice of the distribution of financial means to LAGs, with the Pearson correlation coefficient as a measure of the linear correlation between paired data. The obtained results show that funding volumes have developed a growing tendency towards the least developed regions in the south-east of Slovakia, however, considering the level of socio-economic status of the individual regions of the Slovak Republic, the allocation of financial means is not quite optimal.

Authors and Affiliations

Radoslav KLAMÁR, René MATLOVIČ, Monika IVANOVÁ, Robert IŠTOK, Ján KOZOŇ

Keywords

EP ID EP582919
DOI -
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