Economic impact of the European Funds in Extremadura during the period 2007-2013
Although the evaluation of European Union regional policy is necessary to improve the effectiveness of the operational programmes, it is not usual to find studies comparing the efficiency of two programming periods for the case of a particular region. This could be explained by the fact that, at regional level, the study of the efficiency of the European funds during two different programming periods faces many different problems; for example, it entails the consideration of both adequate and homogeneous data, and similar methodology. The goal of this paper is twofold. The first goal is to estimate the economic impact of the European Union structural and cohesion funds received by Extremadura, a Spanish convergence objective NUTS II region, during the programming period 2007-2013. To this end, it is provided a multipliers analysis based on a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) of Extremadura for the year 2000. Secondly, the paper will compare the returns obtained in terms of output and employment by the European funds received in Extremadura during the periods 2000-2006 and 2007-2013. Our results allow quantifying the effects of the EU regional policy, showing and comparing the efficiency for these two programming periods.
Smart Specialisation Strategies and Regional Convergence: Spanish Extremadura after a Period of Divergence
Smart specialization strategies are a new EU approach to cohesion policy, meant to deliver growth and development at EU national and regional level. Bearing in mind its focus on place-based development strategies, this paper intends to shed some light on its appropriateness to tackle uneven development and regional growth divergence. The paper showcases Spanish Extremadura growth trajectory. Extremadura is a poor region in the European context that between 2008 and 2014 diverged from the EU average, despite being eligible for EU funding as a convergence region by cohesion policy. In the 2014–2020 programming period, there was a positive dynamic at the beginning, but from 2017 onwards convergence stopped, which indicates that thematic and regional programmes have not delivered results or have not compensated for higher growth level of other Spanish regions. Moreover, research and innovation strategies for smart specialization (RIS3) seem to have limited impacts on place-based economic transformation in less developed regions. From this example, the suitability of the smart specialisation strategy as the core of cohesion policy in the programming period is discussed. It concludes that this strategy is interesting for intermediate development regions with some industrial base but does not seem appropriate as a convergence driver for poorer regions.
An Analysis of Spain's Integration in the EEC
Abstract Spain's recent entry into the European Economic Community (EEC) provides a good opportunity to study the impact of economic integration on a relatively small country. The EEC goal to become a single market by the end of 1992 requires, on the one hand, the elimination of all barriers to the movement of goods, services, labor, and capital within the community boundaries and, on the other, a certain harmonization of the legal setting in which economic activity takes place. The paper studies the impact on the Spanish economy of policies undertaken, or still under consideration, by the community in its attempt to complete the internal market. More specifically, we examine the effects of (1) the elimination of barriers to trade; (2) the liberalization of the financial sector and capital flows; and (3) the fiscal harmonization of indirect taxes.