The diploma thesis analyzes the issues of voluntary consolidation of municipal structures in the European countries. The period between the 1990 and 2013 was chosen as the time frame for the thesis because of the possibility to incorporate the countries of the former Soviet bloc to comparison. The text is divided into two main parts, where different perspectives are used. The first part is mainly theoretical using the top-down, state-focused perspective. The European countries are distributed into different categories according to the type and degree of voluntariness in the consolidation process. The cases of the countries are individually analyzed to illustrate the tools and factors that influenced success or failure of the municipal merger processes. The second part of the text, using the bottom-up perspective, is focused on the individual cases of the municipal amalgamation in the Czech Republic. It describes every case alone and analyzes assumptions and factors affecting decisions of small municipalities to merge. The combination of the two perspectives allows creating a basic set of strategies and instructions which, under certain circumstances, may convince small municipalities to merge.

Diploma thesis Municipal Secessions after 1989 in District of Česká Lípa deals with a wave of disintegration of municipalities which took place immediately after a restoration of democracy in the Czech Republic. The thesis discusses the following subjects: the development of municipal administration in the Czech lands, the current position and function of municipality, basic aspects of democratization on a local level, territorial fragmentation, local development, the concept of secession, and legislative conditions for the foundation of new municipalities in the Czech Republic and administrative development in the district of Česká Lípa on which is this paper focused. The work aims to answer the main research question: What are the political aspects of the process of municipal seccesions after 1989 in the district of Česká Lípa? The principal motives of this secession, the major players in the process, how public opinion was measured, the existence of cross- cutting cleavages in public opinion, the present-day situation assessment, a real change of the level of development and formal aspects of the process will be studied. The aim will be achieved through the use of content analysis of historical documents from the district Record Office, and direct interactions with the major players of the...

The thesis analyses the influence of ideological distance to the formation of executive coalitions at the municipal level. The thesis attempts to determine which factors are reflected in the formation of executive coalitions, how the decision-making processes are functioning at the municipal level and what kind of actors we can determine in this processes. There is also a question if there is a difference between ideological distance of political actors at national and municipal level. Another part of the thesis deals with the possible cleavages between the long- term political subjects in the municipal council and the subjects, which are new in the municipal council. In the empirical part of the thesis there is a comparative case study on the sample of five municipalities from the municipal district of Pilsen-South - five largest municipalities in the district with the population over 3500 were examined: Přeštice, Dobřany, Blovice, Nepomuk and Stod. The field of research was conducted in these municipalities through the semi-structured interviews with the mayors and some other local politicians. An analysis of the election results in these municipalities is also included. This thesis should determine if the research about ideological distance at the municipal level has the meaningful purpose and...

Background: The public sector in South Africa has long been concerned with poor performance in financial management in municipalities. The Auditor-General who has a constitutional mandate to audit government departments highlighted challenges in financial management facing the municipalities. The challenges include lack of compliance with the legislation of municipal financial management, weak audit outcomes, financially unqualified financial statements, mismatch in produced financial statements, missing reports regarding performance, incomplete disclosure in financial authorisation and unauthorised and waste expenditure. To overcome these challenges, the government introduced the Financial Management Information Systems (FMIS) to municipalities in South Africa to support budget preparation and implementation, accounting and reporting, performance monitoring and auditing and evaluation. However, FMIS have not reached widespread use and in the majority of municipalities required re-implementation. Employees are concerned that FMIS are not aligned with their work processes. Lack of sense of ownership towards FMIS is the contributing factor to end-users being reluctant to use FMIS. It was noted that end-users of FMIS were not given a chance to take control and contribute to the development of FMIS for their municipalities. Objective: Previous research posits that the degree of end-user's sense of ownership towards a system that they use in the workplace positively correlates to their level of involvement in the development process of the system. Employees in government departments such as municipalities are not usually involved or participate in the system development process. Sense of ownership towards the system is expected to arise when end-users participate in the system development process of the system. End-users may perceive that they have influence and control during the development of the system and thereby develop a sense of ownership about the system when it is ready for use. The study, therefore, investigated how end-user participation in system development engenders a sense of ownership among end-users of FMIS in municipalities. Method: The study was qualitative, deductive, followed the interpretive research epistemology and drew on a theory of psychological ownership as a theoretical lens, to analyse how end-user participation in FMIS development engenders a sense of ownership. A case study of the Western Cape Province focusing on two local and two district municipalities was considered as a representation of a South African context. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, observations of end-users during co-design sessions of FMIS development and document analysis. Thematic data analysis was appropriate for the study. Findings: Findings showed that end-users were excluded through the waterfall system development model used for FMIS development. The FMIS development was a top-down approach in which strategic decisions regarding the implementation of FMIS were made from the executive top management of the National and Provincial Treasury departments. The communication about the development was between National Treasury, Provincial Treasury and the system development team. Although end-users were provided training before using the system, they were concerned that the systems were not aligned with their work processes. It was evident that end-user participation in project initiation, system requirements specifications and system design specifications phases could enable end-users to gain a sense of ownership in the form of a sense of responsibility through problem-solving and decision-making, meaningfulness through collective learning during participation and locus of control through shared leadership. End-users revealed that the more they contribute to the development, they learn new skills, feel psychologically empowered and boost their confidence towards FMIS. End-users emphasised that shared leadership during end-user participation is likely to have an influence on how the system is developed to suit work processes. However, findings showed that end-user participation in organisations with complex structures such as municipalities could be hindered by a myriad of factors. Standardisation and lack of stakeholder collaboration, complex job-design and leadership-style approach across tiers of government have been stated by end-users as factors that may hinder the effectiveness of end-user participation in system development in municipalities. Originality/contribution: The theoretical contribution of the research emerges from the use of the theory of psychological ownership to investigate end-user participation to engender an end-user's sense of ownership towards FMIS. There is a lack of evidence-based studies in developing countries focusing on the end-user perspectives regarding factors affecting poor uptake of information systems in the public sector. To address this gap, this study made a descriptive contribution to the concept of a sense of ownership. There is a dearth of studies examining how end users of information systems in government departments in developing countries can be empowered through a sense of ownership to enhance the use and acceptance. In response to this research gap, this study focuses on the concept of end-user participation and contributes to the body of IS knowledge by examining the end-user participation approach as a systems development strategy to engender a sense of ownership to end-users of information systems in government departments.

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of a degree of Masters of Arts in Community Work in the Department of Social Work, at the University of Zululand, 2010. / South Africa has one of the most progressive legislative and policy frameworks for water and sanitation services in the world, which includes a constitutional right to water and a national free basic water policy. However, when it comes to the local government level (municipalities) who arestipulated with the duty to provide water and sanitation services not only in informal settlements, the reality is quite different.In many municipalities, water and sanitation services programs are still run according to long established routine and customs which have never been examined for their effectiveness or appropriateness to current conditions of the areas (informal settlements) where services are driven to. Nevertheless, the intention of this study was to evaluate municipality programs in addressing water and sanitation services in informal settlements. To produce data for thestudy, the questionnaires, interviews schedule and document review or analysiswas utilised.A sample of 10respondents was drawn from three Umhlathuze municipalities, namely: Richards Bay, Empangeni and Esikhawini municipalities. The findings from the study indicated that Umhlathuze municipality programs in addressing water and sanitation services in informal settlements is a failure, the municipality have a sour working relationship with the community, the criteria used to choose the strategy to the provision of the services does notencourage community participation, and finally, the municipalities are still using a bit of the past supply driven approach and the new approach; demand responsive approach simultaneously. The set objectives for the study were achieved, andmost importantly, it is recommended that fullcommunity participation at different levels and stages of water supply and sanitation service planning and implementation should be encouraged.

This paper aims to study the correlation between the proportion of young people and climate policymaking on a local governmental level. This is measured by how the proportion of population under 18 in municipalities affectthe amount of carbon dioxide emission reducing actions and the budgeting towards institutions of environmental health, measured as a proportion to the yearly municipal budget, in respective municipality. To help unpack the results, two theoretical frameworks are used. First, Punctuated Equilibrium theory and second, the Advocacy coalition framework. The punctuation used for this paper is derived from Greta Thunberg’s school strikes for climate, and the paper uses people under 18 as a hypothesised weaker coalition trying to affect local decision makers to reach a climate policy equilibrium, in this paper, passively. The results show no such statistically significant correlation, just a couple of weak negative regression coefficients. This means that there is no support for the hypothesised relationship between the studied variables. However, this study found that the average level of formal education in the observed municipalities had a significant impact on the emission reduction actions in a positive way and budgeting in a negative way.

As a form of tax and expenditure limitations, property tax exemptions result in an utility gap between two groups of population residing in the same community: free-riders who are paying less than they receive and contributors who are paying more than they receive. This utility gap is problematic to municipalities because contributors may exit the city as this gap becomes wider. How do municipalities respond to the increasing amount of property tax exemptions? Using 41 Texas cities data from 2000 to 2016, this dissertation examines how property tax exemptions affect municipalities' fiscal behavior. The analysis indicates that property tax exemptions lead to higher property tax burden, change municipalities' revenue structure, and lead to less capital spending.

Thesis (M. Com. (Accountancy)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / This study investigated the effect of mayoral attributes on the financial performance of selected municipalities for improved service delivery in South Africa. The study adopted the quantitative research method to examine the relationship between mayoral attributes (age, administrative experience, and educational background) and financial performance. This study used data from 30 municipalities based in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The study used data collected from selected municipal annual reports available on their websites using purposive sampling and panel data analysis to analyse the data. The results showed a positive relationship between administrative experience and financial performance, a negative relationship between age and financial performance, and a negative relationship between educational background and financial performance. Therefore, the study recommends that to improve financial performance in municipalities for improved service delivery the appointment of a municipal mayor should be based on administrative experience. Furthermore, the study suggests that in consideration of the need to interpret constantly emerging new financial regulations to promote financial stability in municipalities, the educational qualifications of mayoral candidates should be prioritised. However, the study did not examine other mayoral attributes that can affect financial performance, such as independence, race, and allowance because they are challenging to estimate. Keywords: Financial performance; age; Administrative experience; Educational background; municipalities; mayoral attributes.

Construction has major environmental, social and economic impacts. Improving sustainability both during and after the construction process is widely discussed among a slew of practitioners, governments and researchers. Construction clients, such as housing developers, are considered key actors for change and innovation because of their position to set requirements when procuring construction projects. The process of developing project requirements has therefore mainly been studied during the construction clients’ procurement process. At the same time, municipalities use their position as land owners to drive sustainable development. Land allocation agreements allow municipalities to set project-specific sustainability requirements for construction projects on municipal land. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how municipal sustainability requirements affect housing developers when planning and designing their projects. The research is based on a single empirical case study of an urban development programme comprising multiple parallel and sequential housing construction projects. In this study, the municipality’s and housing developers’ perspectives are explored. The results demonstrate that the housing developers perceive several barriers to implementing municipal sustainability requirements. The three main barriers that were identified are reduced flexibility coupled with uncertainty, conflicting interests coupled with reduced autonomy and interdependencies, and a lack of trust and transparency coupled with interdependencies. The municipal sustainability requirements are initially developed by the municipality for the land allocation agreement. They are then co-developed further by the municipality and the housing developers together through negotiations before being finalised in conjunction with the developers’ procurement process. The study is focused on the period following the housing developers’ signing of land allocation agreements with the municipality and before starting their procurement process. During this period, the housing developers attempt to negotiate municipal sustainability requirements that they anticipate will increase costs, risk and uncertainty and decrease the value of their final product. Negotiations between the housing developers and the municipality can be viewed as value co-creation processes stimulated by functional conflict. These findings build on three papers that are included in the thesis. Contributions are made to literature on the role of construction clients and their perceived barriers to implementing and developing sustainable construction solutions and practices and barriers to change in general. Theoretical contributions are also made to literature on value co-creation in construction by illustrating how clients engage in the co-creation of value with municipalities and other clients. Finally, the theoretical link between value co-creation and functional conflict is studied and developed. / Byggandethar stora miljömässiga, sociala och ekonomiska effekter. Hållbar utvecklingbåde under och efter byggprocessen diskuterasblandrepresentanter förindustrin, politikeroch forskare. Byggherrar,till exempel i rollensom bostadsutvecklare, anses vara viktiga aktörer för förändring och innovation på grund av deras positionatt ställa krav vid upphandling av byggprojekt. Processen föratt utveckla projektkrav har därför huvudsakligen studerats under byggherrensupphandlingsprocess. Samtidigt använder kommunersin position som markägare för att driva hållbar utveckling genom att utmana den privata sektorn. Markanvisningargör det möjligt för kommunerna att ställa projektspecifika hållbarhetskravför byggprojekt på kommunal mark. Syftet med denna studieär att undersöka hur kommunala hållbarhetskravpåverkar bostadsutvecklare när de planerar och utformar sina projekt.Resultatenär baseradepå en empirisk fallstudie av ett stadsutvecklingsprojekt innehållandeflera parallella och sekventiella bostadsprojekt. I denna studie undersöks undersöks bådekommunens och bostadsutvecklarnas perspektiv. Resultaten visar att bostadsutvecklarnauppfattar ett antal hinder för att genomföra kommunala hållbarhetskrav. De tre största hindrensom identifierats är minskad flexibilitet i kombination med osäkerhet, intressekonflikteri kombination med minskad autonomi och beroende av andra aktöreroch brist på förtroende och öppenhet i kombination med beroende av andra aktörer. De kommunala hållbarhetskraven utvecklasinitialtav kommunen för markanvisningsavtalen. De utvecklas sedan vidare av kommunen och bostadsutvecklarna tillsammans genom förhandlingar. Slutligen konkretiseras deisamband medbostadsutvecklarnas upphandlingsprocess. Studien fokuserar på perioden frånatt bostadsutvecklarna tecknatmarkanvisningsavtal med kommunen meninnan deras upphandlingav entreprenörer påbörjats. Under denna periodförsöker bostadsutvecklarna förhandla ner de kommunala hållbarhetskrav som de förutser kommer öka deras kostnader, risk och osäkerhetsamtminska värdet på deras slutprodukt. Förhandlingarna mellan bostadsutvecklarna och kommunen kan ses som värdesamskapande processer drivna av funktionella konflikter. Dessa resultat bygger på tre artiklar som ingår i avhandlingen.Bidrag görs till litteraturen ombyggherrensroll och dessupplevda hinder för att implementera ochutveckla hållbara lösningar och praxis och hinder för förändring. Teoretiska bidrag görs också till litteraturenom värdesamskapande inom bygggenom att illustrera hur byggherrarharvärdesamskapandeprocesser tillsammansmed kommuner och andra byggherrar. Slutligen studerasoch utvecklas den teoretiska kopplingen mellan värdesamskapande och funktionell konflikt. / <p>QC 20200507</p>

This study aims to explain how the Covid-19 pandemic impacted men’s and women’s incomes differently at a local municipality level in Sweden. Using panel data for Sweden’s municipalities from 2011-2021, a difference-in-difference design is used to examine how the pandemic has affected the average yearly income for the population aged 20-64 and how the effects are distributed across different age groups. Further, all data is collected from Statistics Sweden. The excess mortality rate is used to measure the pandemic's intensity. The main finding of this study suggests that women experienced a more significant decrease in incomes than men, with declines in incomes of 0.62% for women and 0.49% for men, which is statistically significant. Further, the difference-in-difference-coefficient for income differences is positive and statistically significant, indicating an increase in the income gap between men and women by 1.3% due to the pandemic. The effect of the pandemic on incomes varied across different age groups, and the results indicated a notable increase in income difference of 28.9% within the age group of 50-64 years.