Fonds structurels, effets de débordement géographique et croissance régionale en Europe

Structural funds are one of the regional policy instruments that are most intensively used in the promotion of regional convergence in between the member states of the European Union. There remains, however, many empirical and theoretical divergences in the literature as to their effectiveness in the promotion of economic growth in the disadvantaged regions. This study proposes to investigate this further by taking into account new elements: first, we adopt a spatial econometrics approach that accounts for the presence of spatial spillovers; next we control for the additional funds provided by regional and national authorities; finally we correct for the endogenous nature of structural funds. The results obtained confirm that the funds allocated over the 1989-1999 period have not promoted regional convergence, which tends to justify the reforms of the structural funds that have occurred since. JEL classification: C14, O52, R11, R15. Structural funds are one of the regional policy instruments that are most intensively used in the promotion of regional convergence in between the member states of the European Union. There remains, however, many empirical and theoretical divergences in the literature as to their effectiveness in the promotion of economic growth in the disadvantaged regions. This study proposes to investigate this further by taking into account new elements: first, we adopt a spatial econometrics approach that accounts for the presence of spatial spillovers; next we control for the additional funds provided by regional and national authorities; finally we correct for the endogenous nature of structural funds. The results obtained confirm that the funds allocated over the 1989-1999 period have not promoted regional convergence, which tends to justify the reforms of the structural funds that have occurred since. JEL classification: C14, O52, R11, R15.