• Energy Research
• Sustainability close

Corruption has found very fertile ground in the health sector. Many studies demonstrate the negative relationship between sustainability and corruption. However, relatively little is known at this time about how to prevent corruption in healthcare organizations (HCOs), and thus to recover the important sustainability of the entire healthcare system. After noticing this gap in the literature, the authors’ aim in undertaking this study was twofold: first, to analyze the current state of knowledge about how Italian HCOs adopt corruption prevention plans in compliance with the National Plan issued by the National Anti-Corruption Authority; second, to identify some clusters of HCOs which represent different adoption patterns of corruption prevention interventions and to classify these HCOs. For these purposes, the authors studied 68 HCOs along 13 dimensions that characterized the corruption prevention plans. The empirical results showed that the HCOs were not fully compliant with the anti-corruption legislation. At the same time, the authors identified three clusters of HCOs with different patterns of anti-corruption prevention interventions. The clusters that adopted some specific interventions seemed to be more sustainable than others.

Recent advances in the literature regarding local government and governance are demonstrating that models of intermunicipal cooperation are becoming widespread and having an impact on both the organizational dimension and the policy making/service planning side. The success of these arrangements can vary according to several variables such as the regional context, and the services on which is focused the cooperation and the presence/absence of normative constrains that promote these models of cooperation. The aim of this article is to develop a better understanding of a new regional policy focused on area social plans which requires a change in the governance of interorganizational collaborations. This article addresses the gap in the literature on local governance of interorganizational collaborations and area social plans. An empirical study was conducted of four emblematic case studies in one of the most important Italian regions. The results confirm that the new governance of interorganizational collaborations must be characterized by positive interaction between structures, processes, and actors. The results also showed that the presence of certain circumstances such as close ties, many pre-existing relations among the municipalities, and a high level of trust among political parts and administrative offices, appears to smooth the path to success of intermunicipal coordination.