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Structural funds are the most intensively used policy instrument by the EuropeanUnion to promote economic growth in its member states and to speed up the process ofconvergence. This paper empirically explores the effectiveness of European Structural Fundsby means of a panel data analysis for 13 countries in the European Union. We show that onaverage Structural Funds are ineffective. For countries with the right institutions,however, Structural Funds are effective. The latter result is obtained for a wide range ofconditioning variables, such as openness, institutional quality, corruption and indicatorsfor good governance.

Structural funds are the most intensively used policy instrument by the EuropeanUnion to promote economic growth in its member states and to speed up the process ofconvergence. This paper empirically explores the effectiveness of European Structural Fundsby means of a panel data analysis for 13 countries in the European Union. We show that – onaverage – Structural Funds are ineffective. For countries with the 'right' institutions,however, Structural Funds are effective. The latter result is obtained for a wide range ofconditioning variables, such as openness, institutional quality, corruption and indicatorsfor good governance.

The ability to finance and absorb more efficiently Eropean Union Funds has an important role in the process of real convergence of Romania, reported to the European Union, and recovery of gaps to other Member States. The study reveals both the essential elements of the absorption capacity and cofinancing, as well as the challenges related to structural funds absortion. Finally, we try a case study on Romania, with regard to the degree of European Funds absorption, made on the basis of statistics, in development (2007-2011).

This paper provides a contribution to the debate on the role of EU cohesion policy in Italy. The focus is on the territorial effects of EU spending from 1996 to 2007. The empirical analysis considers a neoclassical growth model which is augmented by the structural funds spent by each region. Using panel data and a dynamic panel estimator we find that the structural funds, even having had a greater impact in the South compared to the Centre-North, have not contributed to reduce the economic divide in Italy.

The lack of convergence across Italian Regions has been widely cited as an incontrovertible proof of failure of Cohesion policy. This paper aims to provide a twofold contribution to the debate on the effectiveness of these policies in Italy. Firstly, we provide an up-to-date view of convergence across Italian regions by focussing on the period covered by regional development policies carried out by EU. Poorer regions in Italy have indeed caught up with the richer regions over the period 1994-2004 and much of this convergence process has occurred towards region-specific steady states. Secondly, we consider Structural Funds as a conditioning variable in the convergence equation by using recently available data on expenditure implemented during the Second and the Third Planning Period. Our panel estimates point to a positive and significant impact of the Structural Funds on regional convergence in Italy over the period 1994-2004. When the Structural Funds are considered individually we find that the expenditure allocated by ERDF has medium term positive and significant returns while support to agriculture has short-term positive effects on growth which wane quickly. Finally, our results cast some doubt both on the (i) distributive efficiency of resources allocated by ESF and (ii) on the effectiveness of the intervention policies in support to education, Human capital and employment.

The Structural Funds of the European Union have proved to be blunt policy instruments in serving their stated purpose of enhancing both economic & social cohesion. Cohesion policy is embedded in a context of intergovernmental bargaining on budgetary allocations that structures the core of the policy around the yardstick of GDP per capita. This complicates the targeting of the fund on real deprivation. Moreover, a pork barrel logic in policy implementation favors better organized & advantaged groups within regions. This situation, as well as the growing saliency of inequality issues at EU level, have raised concern with the question of "who benefits?" from cohesion policy. The European Commission, some member states, & local actors are responding by developing efforts to tackle deprivation as experienced by EU citizens locally. However, they face important constraints in doing so, which raises broader questions about political representation & access to decision making in the EU. 31 References. Adapted from the source document.

Following the accession to the European Union, Romania and the other former communist countries are facing multiple problems in their attempt to reduce the economic and social disparities between them and the older members of the EU. In order to support the efforts of the young members in alignment process with the Community norms and standards, the EU, through the Regional Development Policy, gives these countries structural and cohesion funds.In the present article we intend to analyze the impact that these structural funds have on the efficiency with which the human resource is used in the beneficiary companies. The analysis is performed at the level of the North-East Region of Romania on the financial statements of the companies benefiting from structural funds during the multi-annual exercise 2007-2013.In the analyzes made on the basis of the financial statements of the companies receiving non-reimbursable financial aid, we find that there are statistically representative changes regarding the increase in the average number of employees, but we could not identify any noticeable effect on the average labor productivity.