Synthesis Report - European Commission - Europa

Synthesis Report Ex-post Evaluation of the ERDF 2000-2006
Moreover, in most countries, as for Objective 1 regions, enterprise support accounted for a larger
share of funding in remote rural areas than in those close to a city, which added to the larger
share going to tourism in the former. Accordingly, there was much more direct support for
economic activity in remote rural areas than in less remote ones, again reflecting perhaps the
greater need for an internal source of income and jobs.
1.4 POLICY OBJECTIVES, ECONOMIC THEORY AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
As noted above, the division of funding between policy areas indicates the effort devoted to
tackling problems and/or improving the situation and, accordingly the relative focus of policy in
the different regions. The issue considered here is how far this focus was in line with both the
findings of theories of economic development and the policy recommendations in this regard of
international organisations and, accordingly, with the external advice available on the strategy to
pursue to further economic development.
Six different strands of theory can be identified from the literature which span the different
models of growth developed over the years and which underlie the recommendations of
international organisations. Each of these six strands puts emphasis on the need for policy to
focus on a particular set of drivers of economic development:
• a first strand emphasises the importance of economic integration, liberalisation of trade
and markets and financial stability for sustained regional development, a view endorsed
by international organisations;
• a second strand stresses the role of investment and a favourable business environment as
engines of growth; this is reflected in the wide array of measures recommended by
international organisations in this regard, such as support for SMEs, incentives to attract
FDI, the increased availability of venture capital and the provision of business support
services;
• a third strand focuses on human capital and policies for making fuller use of the potential
of the work force, such as increasing the participation of various social groups as well as
raising skills and competences through investing in education and training;
• a fourth strand lays stress on innovation and technology and, accordingly, on measures
for increasing both public and private investment in R&D as well as for strengthening
links between research centres and business and the capacity to make effective use of
new developments;
• a fifth strand emphasises the economic benefits of agglomeration from technological and
other externalities and a large market for skilled labour as well as for goods and services.
This provides support for both the removal of constraints on the continuing growth of
existing agglomerations and measures which encourage the development of new centres
of economic activity;
• a sixth strand stresses the importance of various aspects of the regional environment for
growth, including social, political and institutional dimensions as well as economic, the
emphasis being on the coherence of the system as a whole rather than on individual
elements. Policy recommendations include measures to encourage cooperation between
firms, a widening of participation in decision-making and the development of effective
administrative authorities.
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