Beyond GDP: assessing the impact of the 2007–13 EU Cohesion Policy

In this paper, we present new evidence on the European Union's (EU) Cohesion Policy's last concluded programming period (2007-13). We depart from the broadly used gross domestic product (GDP) growth approach and evaluate the multidimensional impact of EU Structural Funds 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 urbanisation on the policy's effectiveness. The results suggest that these characteristics may influence the relationship between Structural Funds and various economic, social and accessibility outcomes. Conversely, the lack of impact on environmental outcomes is much more general and could be attributed to the unpreparedness of the policy design, which was specifically aligned with the new objectives only in the subsequent programming period.