Abstract

The effectiveness of cohesion policies implemented through the European Structural and Investment Funds (SFs) is essential for the construction of a more resilient Europe. In this paper we analyse the impact of various types of SFs on the economies of 262 European NUTS2 regions during three programming cycles (2000-2006, 2007- 2013, and 2014-2020). We estimate the SFs’ average partial effects through an inverse probability weighting approach incorporating the funds allocation rules. Furthermore, we assess the role of institutional and structural factors in determining differences in SF effectiveness across region groups. Our evidence implies that SFs had a significant impact on regional GDP per capita, with the Cohesion Fund and the European Regional Development Fund taking a salient role. A higher quality of the regional environment is generally associated with a stronger impact of SFs, especially for the ERDF. Results for financial indicators of managerial capability are less consistent across region groups, highlighting a lack of foundation for one-size-fits-all policy prescriptions about the financial management of SFs.