Changes in political boundaries aimed at devolving power to local governments are common in many countries. We examine the economic consequences of redistricting through the creation of smaller government units. Exploiting reforms that led to sharp variations in the number of government units in...

Spain has a population distribution dispersed in small population centres where 60% of municipalities have less than 1,000 inhabitants. This situation generates a financial and functional incapacity to guarantee the successful and efficient provision of local public services. In order to fulfil...

This paper aims firstly to outline the characteristics of social economy in Greece, focusing in particular on NGOs, and secondly to bring out their role in local development. Social economy and local development have recently emerged as a forum of dialogue and policy formulation at European and...

Limited access to credit has been identified as a major constraint to sustainable municipal development, but empirical evidence on the effectiveness of credit operations remains inconclusive. This paper evaluates the impact of federal government guaranteed loans on public expenditures. Using...

Cambodia is in the need of urgent development and cooperation in order to push its status out of poverty and the issues that stem from it. To take action, the government has welcomed and supported cooperation internationally with many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) ever since the genocidal...

Empirical analysis shows that formal and informal institutions are key factors in explaining why some countries, as well as territories within countries, are more prosperous than others are. After almost 160 years from their formal unification, Italian territories are still quite heterogeneous...

Extractive industries face two main challenges in terms of CSR and poverty reduction: 1) recognize that societal activity is part of their core business; 2) take part in socio-economic projects that contribute to their stakeholders' empowerment and not only to their living conditions. Based on...