Place-based development interventions through sparsely populated municipalities in Sweden – governance setting and geographical conditions

The aim of this article is to understand how the agency of municipalities in local development work is conditioned through governance setting and geographical context. The article presents an empirical study about local development work through sparsely populated municipalities in Sweden, within the context of the implementation of a state programme. The conclusions prove, first, how the multi-level governance relations of the state programme impact legitimacy driving the implementation of local development work and, second, how internal collaboration in municipalities can be interpreted to be a compensating strategy for lack of partners within the geographical setting of 'thin' institutional environments.