Planning Beyond Infrastructures: The Third Sector In Douro And Alto Trás-Os-Montes

This paper begins with a conceptual approach to the third sector, followed by a review of the relationship between investment and growth. The empirical component focuses on Portuguese NUT III Douro and Alto Trás-os-Montes regions, which are said to be less developed, and have been the recipients of a significant amount of investment incentives in the context of the European regional development policy. Its aim is to study the impact of these investments on development. Results reveal there is a higher impact of public investment particularly on infrastructures, compared to productive private investment, and highlight the importance of non-profit private investment on the third sector. Therefore the support to the third sector stands out as an important driver in development policies, since the impact of public investment did not bring about a dynamics of internationally tradable goods which might help the region become independent of public financial support. KEYWORDS: Low Density Regions, Regional European Policy, Subsidies and Investment.