Abstract
Structural funds are the most intensively used policy instrument by the European
Union to promote economic growth in its member states and to speed up the
process of convergence. This paper empirically explores the effectiveness of
European Structural Funds by means of a panel data analysis for 13 countries in the
European Union. We show that – on average – Structural Funds are ineffective. For
countries with high-quality institutions, however, Structural Funds are effective. This
result is obtained for several proxies for institutional quality and is robust for
different estimation techniques (OLS, period- and country-specific fixed effects and
dynamic panel data models).
Union to promote economic growth in its member states and to speed up the
process of convergence. This paper empirically explores the effectiveness of
European Structural Funds by means of a panel data analysis for 13 countries in the
European Union. We show that – on average – Structural Funds are ineffective. For
countries with high-quality institutions, however, Structural Funds are effective. This
result is obtained for several proxies for institutional quality and is robust for
different estimation techniques (OLS, period- and country-specific fixed effects and
dynamic panel data models).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | Utrecht |
| Publisher | UU USE Tjalling C. Koopmans Research Institute |
| Number of pages | 25 |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2003 |
Publication series
| Name | Discussion Paper Series / Tjalling C. Koopmans Research Institute |
|---|---|
| No. | 14 |
| Volume | 03 |
| ISSN (Electronic) | 2666-8238 |
Keywords
- European Cohesion Policy
- policy effectiveness
- economic growth
- European Union