Abstract

The European cohesion policy is the main investment instruments targeting cities and regions at the European Union level and it targets all regions and cities in order to support job creation and economic and sustainable growth. For most regions, that policy is of the main tools to promote research and innovation and to facilitate the transition towards a low-carbon economy. This paper uses data for the Southern Italian region of Apulia to perform an ex-ante evaluation of the macroeconomic effects of the cohesion policy funds used to subsidize research and innovation and to support low-carbon investments. Both an input-output analysis and one carried out with the dynamic general equilibrium model RHOMOLO suggest that the European funds under analysis can exert substantial positive effects on the economy of Apulia.