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Does voluntary cooperation in member state implementation require top‐down steering? The case of regional policy in Switzerland
Author(s) -
Wittwer Stefan,
Sager Fritz,
Huegli Eveline
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
governance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.46
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1468-0491
pISSN - 0952-1895
DOI - 10.1111/gove.12600
Subject(s) - federalist , corporate governance , state (computer science) , public administration , business , regional science , political science , economic system , economics , sociology , finance , algorithm , politics , computer science , law
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.