In this study we evaluate a special form of business support - support to cover costs associated with business counselling. The policy question is whether firms that receive this support within the Regional Business Development programme have a positive outcome compared with firms that do not...

This paper contributes to the literature on the effectiveness of R&D incentives by evaluating a unique investment subsidy program implemented in northern Italy. Firms were invited to submit proposals for new projects and only those that scored above a certain threshold received the subsidy. We...

The issue of the possible adverse effects of a reduction in pollution on the economy is a very real one for China, given its public commitment to substantial cuts in CO2 emissions by 2020. An important part of this issue is the regional dimension - the pollution reduction is likely to have...

This paper provides new empirical evidence on the long-run efficiency of locally targeted tax incentives in revitalizing distressed areas. We focus on the first generation of the French "Enterprise Zone" (EZ) initiative, implemented in 1997 in continental France. This program provides tax...

We aim to understand the impact of nation-wide structural policies such as product market regulation and employment protection legislation and that of macroeconomic factors such as trade exposure, inflation and the level of government debt on the economic growth of regions in the OECD. In...

We investigate the impacts of a significant area-based policy intervention (LEGI) that aimed to increase employment and productivity in 30 disadvantaged areas across England. In order to identify the causal effects of the programme, we use panel data at a fine spatial scale covering years before...

In a large number of countries (including the Czech Republic), implementation of large projects of transport infrastructure is justified by a general reference to its broad economic benefits, which are, however, seldom further specified. One of important reasons for such an approach is the...

This paper analyses the economic impact of the foreseeable withdrawal of a large amount of the European Structural funds in the Andalusian economy, for the 2014-2020 Community Support Framework. We develop a Dynamic General Equilibrium Model that will assess, under different simulation...

The study region named San-En-Nanshin region (includes Aichi, part of Nagano and Shizuoka prefecture) is considered as a model of integrated dispersed regions and taken into the National Comprehensive Development Plan of Japanese government under Regional Revitalization Project. A large scale...

In the US and Europe many clusters initiatives have recently been launched. National and regional governments have been defining and implementing clusters policies and programmes with the aim to identifying, launching and finally consolidating international competitive clusters in their...