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Guide to the galaxy of EU regional funds recipients: evidence from new data

Author

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  • Julia Bachtrögler

    (Austrian Institute of Economic Research
    Vienna University of Economics and Business)

  • Christoph Hammer

    (Vienna University of Economics and Business)

  • Wolf Heinrich Reuter

    (German Council of Economic Experts)

  • Florian Schwendinger

    (Vienna University of Economics and Business)

Abstract

This study presents a new firm- and project-level dataset containing data on over two million projects co-funded by the EU structural and cohesion funds in 25 EU member states during the programming period 2007–2013. Information on individual beneficiary firms and institutions is linked with business data of Bureau van Dijk’s ORBIS database. Moreover, text mining techniques are applied to categorise the EU cohesion policy projects into fifteen thematic categories. Stylised facts reveal substantial regional heterogeneity in the distribution of funds to certain projects and beneficiaries (with respect to their size or industry). Furthermore, regional funds distribution differs across less developed and higher-income as well as urban and rural regions. In an econometric analysis, we control for project and firm characteristics that we expect to determine the single project’s value, which is confirmed by the results. Nevertheless, there remains unexplained variation in individual project volumes, which differs systematically across countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Julia Bachtrögler & Christoph Hammer & Wolf Heinrich Reuter & Florian Schwendinger, 2019. "Guide to the galaxy of EU regional funds recipients: evidence from new data," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 103-150, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:empiri:v:46:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10663-018-9427-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10663-018-9427-5
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Distribution of EU structural funds; Cohesion policy; Firm-level data; Cohesion; European Union;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

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