Managing intergovernmental contracts: The Canada–Manitoba cooperation on regional economic development

This article uses organization theory to examine the strengths and challenges of contractual arrangements between the federal government's W estern E conomic D iversification C anada ( WD ) and the Manitoba government to jointly manage regional economic development policy over the past two decades. This experience illustrates how strategies for managing intergovernmental cooperation on policy delivery are increasingly dictated by complex environmental forces, and how the survival of these contractual arrangements seems to rest on adaptive capacity in the face of constant change.