Productivity Convergence for the Capable? Endogenous Capabilities, the Great Recession, and the Effectiveness of EU Cohesion Policy

Productivity Convergence for the Capable? Endogenous Capabilities, the Great Recession, and the Effectiveness of EU Cohesion Policy | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Productivity Convergence for the Capable? Endogenous Capabilities, the Great Recession, and the Effectiveness of EU Cohesion Policy Federico Colozza, Massimo Bagarani, Luigi Salvati This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7753073/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract One of the European Union’s main objectives is to reduce territorial disparities by promoting productivity growth in less-developed regions, dedicating one third of its budget to Cohesion Policy investments. This study assesses the effectiveness of these investments in fostering EU-wide convergence, using panel data about 264 NUTS-2 regions between 2000 and 2019. Our findings reveal that the Great Recession reshaped the effectiveness of EU Cohesion Policy, making it more effective in supporting convergence of regions with weaker capacities to self-sustain their productivity growth. However, the socio-institutional capacity to effectively leverage Structural Funds remains largely concentrated in more developed regions. J.E.L. codes: R11; O41; O47; O52. Economic Convergence Structural Funds Kaldor-Verdoorn EU regions Great Recession Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Appendix.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 23 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 08 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 26 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 22 Oct, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 21 Oct, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 21 Oct, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 04 Oct, 2025 First submitted to journal 30 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7753073","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":534105643,"identity":"3e0fe44b-996a-4e01-a32f-3073616bc36e","order_by":0,"name":"Federico 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