CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2022
| Author | Dombrovszky, Borbala |
|---|---|
| Title | COHESION POLICY AND POVERTY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION Analysis of the impact of European Structural and Investment Funds on the risk of poverty or social exclusion in the 2007-2018 period |
| Summary | In 2010 the European Commission published the ambitious goal of decreasing the risk of poverty or social exclusion by 25%, “lifting” 20 million people out of poverty by 2020. The European Union allocates significant financial resources through the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) into policy goals, one of them being social cohesion within its residents, regions, and Member States, while the ratio of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion generally decreased up until the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the change in poverty rates varies across Member States and regions, and still more than one fifth of the population, more than 90 million people experiences one or more aspects of poverty. The present research aims to answer the following questions. (1) Did the European Union lifted 20 million people out of poverty? (2) Did the European Structural and Investment Funds affect poverty in the EU? (3) Did the European Structural and Investment Funds have a different impact in the post-socialist Member States and regions? To answer these questions, the research uses publicly available data on ESIF expenditure and the risk of poverty or social exclusion indicator to determine the impact of EU spending between 2007-2018 with panel data regression models. Based on the quantitative findings and the available EU social policy literature, the research concludes that (1) the EU did not “lift” 20 million people out of poverty, (2) the effect of ESIF expenditure on poverty is close to zero and statistically insignificant, (3) while there is indication that ESIF spending had a slightly stronger impact, it cannot be stated conclusively based on the present research. These disappointing answers can be attributed to the fact that social considerations have always came second compared to economic objectives, the limits of the open method of coordination, and compliance issues, but the limitations of the present research may also be unable to detect the nuances of otherwise weak effects. |
| Supervisor | Fazekas, Mihály |
| Department | Public Policy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2022/dombrovszky_borbala.pdf |
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