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In Lithuania, as in other countries of the world, economicand social development of the regions differs, therefore,the EU regional policy goal is to ensure equal regionaleconomic and social development, decrease of regionaldivergence and growth of regional market competitiveness.The article deals with the theories of regional economicconvergence and divergence, their reflections incurrent regional economic development policy; Structuralfunds as stimulating means of regional convergence;Structural fund impact on regional development in Lithuania;and relationship between regional economic and socialdevelopment level and Structural fund allocation level.Based on Structural fund allocation level in differentLithuanian regions, current status of Structural fund allocationamong the regions is analyzed and its key issues aredisclosed.

Economic disparities among the regions of the European Union are more pronounced than among countries. Structural Funds have played a crucial compensatory role, promoting the economic development and real convergence of lagging regions. The amount of resources destined to regional policy and the conflicts arising from its funding and distribution create the need for an adequate theoretical foundation or model to help politicians solve the distribution problem. In this paper we propose an empirical procedure to carry out and evaluate different distributions of funds for the periods 1989 – 93 and 1994 – 99. We begin with the estimation of an augmented production function to permit the calculation of the expected GDP per capita. We then propose a nonlinear programming method to simulate alternative distributions of Structural Funds among Objective 1 regions, based upon two different approaches: equal development, and equal opportunities. For these two approaches we calculate different possibilities, ranging from highly efficient to highly equitable, with the result that we are able to show the 'frontier' of optimal distributions. Finally, we evaluate these results and compare them with the real distribution.

Latvia is a small country and small open economy and its main and the most competitive recourses are highly educated society and well developed science based on the research, innovation and modern technologies. To create a well functioning innovation system as a part of knowledge-based economy several conditions has to be met to insure that all parts of national innovation system do effectively work together.Latvia is considered to be a country in transition between efficiency driven and innovation driven economy after Global Competitiveness report 2009-2010. This means that the development of the country soon would not be possible by improving productivity adopting existing technologies or making incremental improvements in other areas. Bigger and bigger role of country's competitiveness will be in its ability to innovate. This means sufficient investment in research and development, the presence of high-quality research institutions, extensive collaboration in research between universities and research institutes as well as technology transfer to the industry, and the protection of intellectual property. As one of the main obstacles that prohibit the scientific activities development in Latvia after restricted amount of funding is the lack of young scientists. The most significant reasons of ageing of scientific personnel are the insufficient number of doctoral students, brain drain of young scientists, the low percentage of research and development personnel (just 0.54% of the labour force in 2008 (Eurostat)). The aim of this article is to analyse if the problems that accrue in higher education and science because of lack of young human recourse inflow can be solved by interaction of state using the European Union (EU) structural funds assistance. During the programming period 2004-2006 the five main universities in Latvia implemented projects under the activity 'Improvement of quality and implementation of doctoral studies and post-doctoral research'. The aim of these projects was to improve the quality and ...

It is a key aim of the EU2020 strategy and of the Luxembourg government to promote research and innovation ("smart growth"). The 2014-2020 programming period of the Structural Funds offers an opportunity to support projects in this field at national, cross-border and transnational levels. This leaflet synthesises the results of a consultation process organised by the ESPON Contact Point of Luxembourg in summer and autumn 2013 in the framework of the USESPON project. First, it aimed at analysing the relevance of ESPON results in the field of research, development and innovation (RDI) in Luxembourg. Second, this process reflected on possible priorities for the future operational programmes of the structural funds. This process involved either experts in the field of RDI or those responsible for drafting operational programmes. The consultation process has been framed by a Delphi technique. First, participants received "support material" presenting the situation of Luxembourg according to the ESPON results. Second, they participated in a workshop on 11th July 2013. Third, a synthesis based on the results of the workshop was provided together with a questionnaire giving the experts the opportunity to deepen and concretise their contribution. By summarising this consultation process, this leaflet aims at 1) working out a profile of Luxembourg on the basis of ESPON results in the field of RDI and 2) developing recommendations of how future-oriented innovation strategies can be implemented in the context of European Territorial Cooperation. The final version of this document was published on the ECP Luxembourg website in autumn 2013.

The impact of structural funds of the European Union (EU) on regional economic growth is a matter of both political and economic importance. The large and regular payments made across the EU to countries and regions within them were and are meant to promote various aspects of growth and development and to encourage structural changes that foster investments and economic reforms. But how much of these aims have they been achieved? In this paper we provide considerable empirical evidence that Greek regions have, for the most part, benefited by the various disbursements of EU structural funds. We shed partial light on where this funding went to and to how it potentially contributed to Greek growth but we also raise a number of questions about the viability of the current productive structure of the Greek economy and its over-reliance on tourism. Our results provide support on the efficacy of the payments but leave open the problem of where these payments should be allocated, the monitoring of their absorption and the end impact in the economic cycle within a country.

This article proposes a methodology to assess the efficiency of the European Union Structural Funds (SF) operations using two alternative approaches: first, by a unit cost analysis of the programme's output indicators; second, by the comparative study of the tendering, contract-awarding and implementation costs of a sample of projects. This methodology has been applied to the mid-term evaluation of the 2000—2006 Integrated Operational Programme of Andalusia, employing the information provided by the programme's monitoring system and using primary data obtained from the interventions' direct managers. This process of accessing data sources itself provides useful insights into programme assessment given that — by requesting data regarding programmed and effective unit costs for each indicator from the direct managers — their capacity to programme can be verified as well as the reliability of the data provided to the monitoring system, promoting a culture of evaluation and accountability.

The paper attempts to recover empirical evidence related to the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) to promote growth for the management of the Recovery & Resilience Facility (RRF). We analyse the impact of the EU Cohesion Policy on regional development over the period 1986-2018, using dynamic panel data models. In doing so, we use a neoclassical Solow growth model, extending the current literature in at least three ways. First, we make use of a new dataset, which contains highly detailed data on regional commitments and payments of Structural Funds; secondly, we address the endogeneity via a difference GMM estimator; finally, we control for the spatial interdependence among regions via a Spatial Durbin model. We find that the Cohesion Policy fosters regional growth both in the short and long run, regardless of the Objective considered. The role of the business cycle in the speed of regional convergence is quantified. The funds' effectiveness is hindered during the crisis, especially in the least developed regions, partly due to lower absorptive rates. Furthermore, human capital and quality of government are crucial growth determinants necessary for improving the performance of the Structural Funds. Finally, we discuss if the combination of ESIF & RRF funds will be appropriate for accelerating the post-pandemic recovery versus the financial recession recovery.

This article examines subnational actors' engagement with the European Union's structural funds, and whether these actors are significant in this policy sector. It examines this question by comparing one French regional council (Rhone-Alpes) with one set of Scottish local authorities (Highlands and Islands). It concludes that there are considerable similarities between the subnational actors studied, in spite of differences in their location and the constitutional structure within which they are located. The subnational actors have unilaterally developed a capacity for engaging in the policy sector. In both cases, however, this engagement is not evidence of a "by-passing" of the central government. Instead, the subnational authorities have worked alongside central government departments to achieve their goals. (Original abstract)

A discussion of Poland's position in the budget & finance area of accession negotiations for EU membership focuses on Poland's stance that it should "achieve the position of a net beneficiary from the first year of membership." The feasibility of this arrangement that would necessitate payments to the EU budget that are smaller than transfers, is considered by examining the possible size of transfers, problems of their utilization, & the probable size of contributions. Key elements of the contributions EU members are required to make to the budget used to finance common policies are described. It is concluded that Poland's request to phase in its budget contribution is justified but, in order to avoid becoming a net contributor to the EU budget & not a net beneficiary, Poland must arrange to make the most efficient use of EU financial transfers in addition to negotiating a phasing in of budget contributions. Also, the terms of payments to the EU common budget should be determined only after talks in other areas are completed. J. Lindroth

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The European Union structural funds financing is apportioned unevenly among the regions, including counties and cities. When allocating the received structural funds financing, the level of social and economic development of an area is not taken into account. Besides the problems of poor municipalities co–funding in the uptake of the European Union structural funds are not considered. The existing problems do not allow to the regions of Latvia to develop and to compete equally, all in all impeding development and growth of the country. According to the author's opinion, in order to solve the social and economic problems Latvia makes inefficient use of the allocated European Union structural funds financing.