Décentralisation et taille optimale des collectivités locales : pourquoi, comment coopérer et avec quels effets ?

In light of the recent pace of territorial and administrative reforms in decentralized countries, this article offers an analysis of intergovernmental fusion and cooperation mechanisms. Starting with a description of the existing institutional forms of fiscal consolidation, with a special focus on the French case, we then move on to the theoretical literature that underlies this phenomenon. Then, we summarize the empirical literature analyzing the effects and determinants of fiscal cooperation regarding economic variables such as growth, public spending and local taxation. Finally, we provide novel estimates of the effects of inter-municipal cooperation on households’ localization and income in France. Using an event study design and controlling for local income and population growth, we find that although cooperation significantly increased the median income of residents in cooperating municipalities (by €60 on average), it did not impact the number of households living in these municipalities.