The Swedish municipal federations are legal entities, whose tasks and obligations are formally agreed upon by their members. These inter-municipal co-operative organisations are usually run by boards, whose members are not directly elected but instead nominated by the member municipalities. Over the years, inter-municipal collaboration among Swedish municipalities has increased steadily: in 2005 there were 80 municipal federations and by 2011 the number of federations increased to 110 (Regeringskansliet, 2005[26]) (OECD, 2017[25]).