Intergovernmental cooperation and public consortia: an analysis of the signing of agreements

Abstract

The article aims to investigate how intermunicipal public consortia establish agreements with central government agencies - Union and states. For this, we use the theory approach that deals with the inter-federative relations in Brazil and analyze data obtained in the Union and some government´s transparency portals. Among the results, we identified a very heterogeneous pattern of signing agreements between states and regions of the country, which is related to the differential role that state governments and the Union play as financiers of public consortium activities in Brazil. Given the unprecedented character of the study, we concluded that more localized approaches are needed to identify how the bargaining and negotiation relationships between consortia and other levels of government take place.

Keywords: Cooperation, federalism, public consortia, voluntary transfers.