Looking for a Star: A Comprehensive Evaluation of the EU Cohesion Policy

In this paper, we present new evidence on the EU cohesion policy’s last concluded programming period (2007-2013). We depart from the broadly used GDP-growth approach and evaluate the multidimensional impact of EU Structural Funds (SFs) on a large battery of regional indicators including economic, educational, health, social and environmental outcomes. This comprehensive analysis shows an overall almost null effect of the policy. Furthermore, we dig deeper into the heterogeneity of the effect due to the quality of local institutions, human capital and urbanization onthe policy’s effectiveness. Results suggest that these characteristics may affect the relationship between SFs and several economic, social and accessibility outcomes, while the nil impact on environmental outcomes is far more general.