Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/334984 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
ECB Working Paper No. 3099
Publisher: 
European Central Bank (ECB), Frankfurt a. M.
Abstract: 
This study evaluates the effectiveness of EU Cohesion Policy as an investment programme, employing a novel dataset that links firm-level data from Orbis with project-level information from the Kohesio database. It focuses on two key questions: (1) Which firms receive EU funding? (2) How does receiving EU funding affect firm performance? By applying a logit model and a local projection difference-in-differences approach, we provide new insights into the allocation mechanisms of EU Cohesion Policy funds and their firm-level impact. Our findings show that funding tends to be allocated to firms that already perform relatively well, and that firms receiving EU funding experience a persistent productivity increase of approximately 3% after 4 years, with smaller and more financially constrained firms experiencing relatively greater improvements. Moreover, funding targeting "SME investment" tends to enhance firm performance disproportionately more than other categories, whereas projects directed the "green transition" appear comparatively less beneficial.
Subjects: 
European Structural and Investment Funds
Productivity
Corporate Investment
Fiscal Policy
Place-based Policy
JEL: 
E22
D24
H54
O38
O52
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-899-7410-3
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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