EU Cohesion Policy

John Bachtler is Professor of European Policy Studies and a Director of the European Policies Research Centre at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, UK.Peter Berkowitz is Head of Unit for Policy Development, Strategic Management and Relations with the Council in the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy in the European Commission, Belgium.Sally Hardy is Chief Executive Officer at the Regional Studies Association, UK.Tatjana Muravska is Professor in Regional Economy at the University of Latvia and Director of the Centre for European and Transition Studies, Latvia.

• List of figures List of tables Notes on contributors Introduction: reassessing the performance and direction of EU Cohesion Policy in 2014–20 John Bachtler, Peter Berkowitz, Sally Hardy and Tatjana MuravskaPART IThe impact of Cohesion Policy 1 The long-term effectiveness of EU Cohesion Policy: assessing the achievements of the ERDF, 1989–2012 John Bachtler, Iain Begg, David Charles and Laura Polverari 2 Different approaches to the analysis of EU Cohesion Policy: leveraging complementarities for evidence-based policy learning Riccardo Crescenzi and Mara Giua 3 Cohesion Policy and regional development Grzegorz Gorzelak 4 Econometric assessments of Cohesion Policy growth effects: how to make them more relevant for policymakers? Jerzy Pieńkowski and Peter Berkowitz 5 Does Cohesion Policy affect regional growth? New evidence from a semi-parametric approach Nicola PontarolloPART IIThe contribution of Cohesion Policy to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth 6 An evaluation of the impact of the construction of motorways and expressways in Poland during the period 2004–13 on accessibility and cohesion Piotr Rosik, Marcin Stępniak and Tomasz Komornicki 7 Demographic implications of 2007–13 regional and Cohesion Policy actions in Latvia Aleksandrs Dahs 8 The policy challenge in smart specialisation: a common approach meets European diversity Henning Kroll 9 Resilience and involvement: the role of the EU’s Structural and Investment Funds in addressing youth unemployment Elizabeth Sanderson, Peter Wells and Ian Wilson10 Whatever happened to gender mainstreaming? Lessons for the EU’s 2014–20 Structural and Investment Funds Leaza Mcsorley and Jim Campbell11 The absorption of Structural and Investment Funds and youth unemployment: an empirical test Jale Tosun, Stefan Speckesser, Carsten Jensen and Jacqueline O’reillyPART IIIThe administration and delivery of Cohesion Policy 12 Administrative and political embeddedness: how to improve the institutional environments dealing with the management and implementation of EU Structural and Investment Funds? The experience of new member states Neculai-Cristian Surubaru13 Corruption in EU Funds? Europe-wide evidence of the corruption effect of EU-funded public contracting Mihály Fazekas and István János Tóth14 Efficient implementers and partners: what do we miss in our understanding of how Cohesion Policy administrators work? Andrey Demidov15 Funds for the wealthy and the politically loyal? How EU Funds may contribute to increasing regional disparities in East Central Europe Gergő Medve-Bálint16 The administrative capacity of the sub-national level in implementing Cohesion Policy in Romania: lessons learnt and future recommendations Septimiu-Rares SzaboPART IVInstitutions, territory and place-based policies 17 Territorial capital and EU Cohesion Policy Ugo Fratesi and Giovanni Perucca18 What institutional arrangements exist to ensure coherent EU Cohesion Policy planning and implementation? Liga Baltiņa and Tatjana Muravska19 Integrated territorial investment: a missed opportunity? Iván Tosics