Intermunicipal cooperation in the National Environmental Policy: do state capacities matter?

Abstract

The institutional framework of the National Environmental System assigns complex responsibilities to municipalities, which are often unviable in financial, technical, and operational terms. Cooperation emerges as an alternative to face the lack of resources and the inability of some municipalities to execute the guidelines provided for by the National Environmental Policy in an isolated way. This research examines the relationship between intermunicipal cooperation and municipal state capacities in the implementation of the environmental policy in Brazil, aiming to identify if state capacity, in different dimensions, is a relevant characteristic for municipalities participating in environmental public consortiums. This research used secondary data to employ a quantitative approach through logistic regression analysis, investigating the occurrence of intermunicipal cooperative arrangements in 4.479 Brazilian municipalities. In general terms, the results demonstrate that high administrative capacity and greater fiscal performance tend to reduce the incentives for the municipality to cooperate with others while implementing the PNMA at the local level. Also, the findings indicate that the availability of technical, political-relational, and institutional capacity increases the probability of cooperation.