IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jworld/v7y2026i3p35-d1874223.html

Assessing the Impact of EU Financial Support on Regional Convergence: A Systematic Literature Review

Author

Listed:
  • Greta Mockevičienė

    (Institute of Regional Development, Vilnius University Šiauliai Academy, LT-76352 Šiauliai, Lithuania)

  • Mindaugas Butkus

    (Institute of Regional Development, Vilnius University Šiauliai Academy, LT-76352 Šiauliai, Lithuania)

Abstract

The European Union (EU) seeks to reduce regional disparities and foster economic growth through substantial financial support to its member states. However, the effectiveness of this support on regional convergence remains ambiguous. This study employs a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of 33 articles (2012–2024) to evaluate the impact of EU funding on regional convergence and identify gaps in the literature. Findings indicate that convergence effects are often treated as spillovers or conflated with general economic growth. The review highlights the need for more nuanced analyses of specific instruments, such as the European Social Fund (ESF), particularly regarding their effects on unemployment, education, social inclusion, and public services. Research remains concentrated at the NUTS-2 level, neglecting smaller NUTS-3 regions. Future studies should disaggregate fund assessments, incorporate interaction terms between funds and target areas, and focus on specific regional outcomes to better understand the mechanisms driving convergence beyond aggregate spending effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Greta Mockevičienė & Mindaugas Butkus, 2026. "Assessing the Impact of EU Financial Support on Regional Convergence: A Systematic Literature Review," World, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-18, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jworld:v:7:y:2026:i:3:p:35-:d:1874223
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/7/3/35/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/7/3/35/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jworld:v:7:y:2026:i:3:p:35-:d:1874223. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.