An assessment of «de minimis» aid effects in a Sardinian municipality: preliminary aspects and feasibility

This paper describes the main results of an introductory investigation performed to assess the success of a large policy intervention to support local businesses and local development carried out in Sardinia. First of all, we describe how this policy has been designed and implemented, stressing its strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, we introduce the results of a preliminary analysis that verifies the feasibility of using a counterfactual approach in order to assess the effectiveness of this policy, the latter being a strong need felt by the local government that has promoted this research. The quantitative approach of impact evaluation methodologies certainly provides useful tools but, despite that, it is still not often implemented in Italy. Yet, the low rates of GDP growth that have long characterized the Italian economy, combined with the persistent gap of the Mezzogiorno economy, stress the urgent need for an unbiased analysis of the effectiveness of public policies as well as they should suggest the use of innovative tools.