Jan-Philipp Kramer, András Kaszap

European Structural and Investment Funds Journal, Volume 5 (2017), Issue 2, Page 120 - 133

Direct financial support to large enterprises in the 2007-2013 EU programming period is estimated at € 6 billion on the EU-28 level. Debates on the effectiveness of this sum often fuel controversies, containing varied points of view in favour of, or against using public money to subsidise large enterprises. The justification of subsidies often involves the argument of influencing the large firms’ location choice or realising additional indirect and wider benefits for SMEs and the regions in which they operate. The extent to which the EU support can influence the large firms’ behaviour is, however, difficult to measure, largely due to the complexity of the companies’ organisational structures and decision making mechanisms. This paper presents the methodology, the main findings and conclusions of Work Package 4 (Support to large enterprises) of the ex post evaluation of Cohesion Policy programmes 2007–2013. The evaluation used a theory-based approach, Contribution Analysis in particular, to open the ‘black box’ of large firm support and unravel the causal relationship between the distributed funds and the observed outcomes. The paper sheds light on the effectiveness of the interventions and identifies the conditions under which large firm support can result in added value at EU level.

Xavier Le Den, Miguel Riviere, Franziska Lessmann, Martin Nesbit, Kamila Paquel, Andrea Illes

European Structural and Investment Funds Journal, Volume 5 (2017), Issue 2, Page 134 - 146

This paper presents the findings of the ex-post evaluation of EU Cohesion Policy support to energy efficiency investment in public and residential buildings financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund during the 2007-2013 programming period. The programming period was largely a learning experience for both managing authorities and the European Commission when it came to energy efficiency interventions in public and residential buildings. The evaluation revealed that the quality of the interventions varied substantially across programmes, with a significant number of managing authorities providing an unclear rationale for the intervention and a weak link to the type of intervention supported, financing instruments used and indicators chosen. Accordingly, target setting and actual achievements of the interventions also varied substantially across programmes. Traceability and comparability of achievements across programmes was therefore limited. Nevertheless, the evaluators were able to derive a number of interesting findings and policy implications for the 2014-2020 funding period. Among them were the need to improve the quality of the monitoring systems, improve intervention design (clearer formulation of the rationale for support, clearer link from rationale to instruments and selection criteria), diversify the type of interventions supported and instruments used (i.e. to not only make use of grants for investments in building renovations), make more extensive use of energy efficiency audits (in order to better be able to measure progress) and ensure good inter-agency communication and peer-learning.

Massimo Florio, Elena Vallino, Silvia Vignetti

European Structural and Investment Funds Journal, Volume 5 (2017), Issue 2, Page 99 - 110

This paper presents and discusses some of the results of the ex-post evaluation of the contribution of the European Regional Development Fund 2007-2013 programmes to SMEs growth and innovation. Implemented during a harsh economic crisis, the ERDF provided € 47.5 billion of SMEs support, representing 16 % of the total ERDF allocation during the 2007-2013 period. Programme strategies aimed more to cope with the contingent economic pressures and fall in employment levels than to address long-term objectives addressing structural barriers affecting target SMEs. The majority of policy instruments which were conceived, or further adjusted during the reprogramming phase, for generic SMEs support generated a diffuse stabilizing and anticyclical mechanism. Findings however show that the most effective strategies were represented by those more ambitious instruments that had a well specified logic intervention, focused objectives and selective targeting strategies.

Fiona Wishlade, Rona Michie, Giovanni Familiari, Peter Schneidewind, Andreas Resch

European Structural and Investment Funds Journal, Volume 5 (2017), Issue 2, Page 111 - 119

The 2007-13 planning period saw a new and significant emphasis on the use of so-called ‘financial instruments’ as measures to implement Cohesion policy. This was justified by the Commission on the basis that such instruments are more sustainable than grants, that they can generate better quality projects and that they are a more efficient use of public funds. However, for many Member States financial instruments were a new approach to delivering Cohesion policy in 2007-13, and their increased use created significant challenges. In considering this experience, this article draws on the findings of the ex post evaluation of financial instruments for enterprise support under the ERDF and Cohesion Fund. It assesses the scale of support provided through co-financed financial instruments in 2007-13, considers the rationales of managing authorities opting to use financial instruments, outlines how financial instruments were implemented in practice and provides some initial indications of their effectiveness.

Rhys Davies, Jennifer Alstrom, Kathryn Helliwell, Tom Smithson

European Structural and Investment Funds Journal, Volume 5 (2017), Issue 2, Page 155 - 160

This article explores the use of a large scale telephone survey to evaluate the ESF Programmes in Wales. It firstly describes the structure of the ESF Programmes in Wales. It then describes the survey (known as the ‘ESF Leavers Survey’) and the Counterfactual Impact Evaluation (CIE) undertaken using data from it. Finally, the article discusses the CIE findings and links these to wider research and evaluation evidence on the effectiveness of interventions aimed at assisting people to find employment. The article suggests that, in the short-term, Employability Support and Engagement Signposting can be very effective types of support. It also suggests that support for those recently made redundant can result in high deadweight in terms of entry to employment but can help such people find better paid work than they would otherwise have done. The article suggests that the impact of Basic Skills Training may take a while to materialise but that it is worth persevering with this kind of support given other evidence on its longer-term effectiveness. The article concludes by discussing some of the weaknesses in the analysis and the steps being taken to improve this work in the future.

Christine Hamza

European Structural and Investment Funds Journal, Volume 5 (2017), Issue 2, Page 147 - 154

This ex-post evaluation analyses the nature of the interventions that have been financed and what has been achieved with ERDF support in the 2007-2013 period related to urban development and social infrastructure. It is the first study to undertake this effort. The analysis is based on monitoring data, document screening, interviews with managing authorities and a survey of project implementation bodies. The results of the evaluation reveal that integrated urban development strategies are defined and take effect outside the Operational Programmes at local level, while social infrastructure interventions follow a more sectoral path mostly at national or regional level. Integrated urban development challenges, objectives and outcomes tend to be vague. Achievements are seen in making a locality or city more attractive for residents, businesses and visitors. In some Member States, investment in social infrastructures contributes to a more or less fundamental reform of the respective system. This is particularly relevant for health and education infrastructure. Generally, there is a tendency for EU-13 Member States to invest more in infrastructure and for EU-15 to focus more on integrated strategies.