CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2010
| Author | Hajdinjak, Sanja |
|---|---|
| Title | COHESION POLICY IMPLEMENTATION: A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITIES AND ABSORPTION PROBLEMS IN IRELAND AND ITALY |
| Summary | The objective of economic and social cohesion among EU member states is targeted through implementation of the structural and cohesion funds. In the light of the theoretical debate on whether convergence is being achieved while being targeted through The EU funds, this thesis analyzes the results of cohesion policy in Ireland, which is the “best pupil in the class” regarding EU utilization, and Italy, where South after two decades still lags behind the North. Although the scholars have, while researching the implementation of the policy in the new members, identified administrative capacities as one of the most important determinants, in the case of old members the importance of the administrative capacities is rather under-researched. In closing this gap, the hypothesis tested in the thesis is that Irish administrative capacities being on a consolidated level provide for a crucial factor enabling funds utilization. Moreover, the thesis identifies additional factors explaining for Irish success and the relative lack of convergence between BMW and S&E NUTS2 regions. The thesis furthermore analyzes the issues which have caused failure in funds absorption in Italy and finds multiple inappropriateness of administrative capacities, rent seeking and corruption, supremacy of quantitative over qualitative results and lack of the EU funds additionality as the most important. Finally, along with the lines of a debate on the effectiveness of cohesion policy, the analysis of two cases in this thesis shows that although the EU funds can bring economic growth and convergence, it is necessary to use them transparently and in the overall market and competition framework. |
| Supervisor | Csaba, Lászlό |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2010/hajdinjak_sanja.pdf |
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