Financing of local self-governments - potential of functional microregions, APVV-22-0482

About the project

Financing of local self-governments - potential of functional microregions, APVV-22-0482

Principal Investigator: doc. Ing. Erika Neubauerová, PhD.

Research Department: 050504 - Business and financial law

Implementation: 2023 - 2026

After nearly 20 years since the decentralization of public administration, there is a growing call for its evaluation and systematic adjustment of some of its problematic aspects. The Ministry of Finance, the government, the Supreme Audit Office, as well as associations of local governments, signal the need to redefine the distribution of competencies among various levels of public administration, including a reevaluation of the transfer of specific state administration competencies to local self-government units. The municipalization of certain settlements, especially cities and adjacent municipalities, brings the potential for significant cost savings through economies of scale and an overall increase in the efficiency of services provided to residents. Furthermore, technological advancements have made the concept of proximity in service availability less relevant. Additionally, the era of the climate crisis and advanced globalization requires public administration to strengthen its strategic and planned approach to addressing issues that often transcend the administrative boundaries of municipalities. Therefore, the concept of functional urban regions is gaining traction in literature and practice worldwide, as the root causes of these problems largely lie in daily flows between settlements and the fragmentation of territorial management. The aforementioned fragmentation exacerbates the underdeveloped model of local self-government financing, which consistently leads to practical complications and political tensions. The present applied research project thus aims at proposing a sustainable model for financing of local government units, based on the concept of municipalisation as an emerging trend.