Evidence from France and Italy: Do governments use EU funds to help buy votes in elections?

Since their creation in 1975, European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) have been increasingly invested in local development projects in the EU. Drawing on figures from France and Italy, Lisa Dellmuth and Dominik Schraff illustrate that at least part of the ESIF is used to help buy political support, but that this appears to be more common in countries that use majority voting systems rather than proportional representation. They argue that we need to better understand what motivates domestic politicians to spend these funds, as only needs-based spending will solve local social and economic problems.