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One or Many Cohesion Policies of the European Union? On the Diverging Impacts of Cohesion Policy across Member States

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  • Riccardo Crescenzi
  • Mara Giua

Abstract

Do regions in all Member States (MSs) of the European Union (EU) benefit from Cohesion Policy? Are regional impacts persistently diversified across countries? In order to answer these questions this paper explores how the impact of the EU Cohesion Policy on growth and employment varies across countries. A spatial Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) makes it possible estimate distinct but fully comparable impacts for each individual MS both before the Great Recession and during recovery. The results show that Cohesion Policy has exerted a positive and significant EU-wide impact on both regional economic growth and employment. However, regional impacts are not evenly distributed across MSs. Large part of the regional growth bonus generated by Cohesion Policy is concentrated in Germany. Conversely, impacts on regional employment are confined to the United Kingdom. The picture for beneficiary regions in Southern European Member States is less rosy with positive impacts on employment in Italy until the Great Recession and on economic growth in the recovery period in Spain.

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  • Riccardo Crescenzi & Mara Giua, 2018. "One or Many Cohesion Policies of the European Union? On the Diverging Impacts of Cohesion Policy across Member States," SERC Discussion Papers 0230, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:sercdp:0230
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    Cited by:

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    2. Michalek, Jerzy, 2022. "Environmental and farm impacts of the EU RDP agri-environmental measures: Evidence from Slovak regions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    3. Marco Di Cataldo & Vassilis Monastiriotis, 2020. "Regional needs, regional targeting and regional growth: an assessment of EU Cohesion Policy in UK regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(1), pages 35-47, January.
    4. Kuc‑Czarnecka, Marta & Saltelli, Andrea & Olczyk, Magdalena & Reinert, Erik, 2021. "The opening of Central and Eastern European countries to free trade: A critical assessment," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 23-34.
    5. Ignatov Augustin, 2018. "Regional Development Discrepancies in the Eastern European Union Analysed through the Prism of Growth Determinants," Global Economy Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 18(4), pages 1-18, December.
    6. Yulia A. Belous & Andrew S. Tarasov, 2020. "Factors Of Centrifugal Political Tendencies In Spain: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis," HSE Working papers WP BRP 36/IR/2020, National Research University Higher School of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cohesion policy; European Union; regions; growth; employment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • 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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