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collaborative activities in both vertical and horizontal
contexts, explore county and city managers’ rationales
behind each type of collaboration, and examine the
influences of selected drivers in the theoretical framework.
The findings show that for local governments, seeking
resources and training opportunities can explain a large
proportion of why they seek vertical collaboration.
However, in horizontal collaboration, local governments
go beyond resource- seeking to also providing assistance
to their governmental and non-governmental partners.
Horizontal collaboration is more common and more
popular than vertical collaboration. In sum, this study
helps us gain a theoretical and practical understanding of
local emergency management in the United States.
Key Words:
local emergency management, Florida
county and city, vertical and horizontal
collaborations, emergency manager