Ex post evaluation of Cohesion Policy programmes 2007-2013, focusing on the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund (CF) – Measuring the impact of structural and cohesion funds using the regression discontinuity design

Summary:

The aim of this Report is the ex-post evaluation of Cohesion policy impact on economic growth in the EU-15 regions, which have benefited – to various extents – from financial assistance through two programming periods (from 1994 to 2006). The analysis is focused on both the average impact of SF (Structural and Cohesion funds) and the heterogeneity of the treatment intensity: it explores how the average effect of SF is affected by per capita intensity of SF and could influence regional development. We use a new regional dataset, which is fully coherent with Structural Funds Regulations 1994–1999 and 2000–2006, and the spatial grid defined by the EU15 regions at level 2 of the 2006 NUTS classification. We propose a new method for estimating the effects of intensity on growth, extending the RDD framework to the case of continuous treatment. The main result is that the positive and statistically significant impact of CP on regional growth is confirmed by the analysis.