Decision‐making traps behind low regional absorption of Cohesion Policy funds

Abstract

Within European Cohesion Policy, some regions manifest chronic problems with absorbing structural funds, probably due to inadequate administrative capacity. Despite the continuous assistance to improve capacity and the accumulation of learning and experience, poor performances still persist in some territories, rendering the initial explanation partial. By collecting (reports' analysis and field research), consolidating (grounded theory), and mapping (system dynamics) two Italian regions with contrasting absorption performance, this study investigates how regional authorities may be trapped in systemic decision-making structures that prioritize short-term outcomes perpetuating low absorption rates. Within a multilevel-governance context, we suggest that these decision-making traps stem from the discrepancy between European and local policy-makers' mental models; although European policies aim to promote timely absorption, sometimes they fail to acknowledge local authorities' actual agenda and may unintentionally prompt regions to overemphasize short term funds' expenditure instead of improving administrative capacity in the long term.

EU funds absorption for Romanian rural municipalities: a spatial distribution

“…6 Under the same level, ex ante assessments of the absorption capacity of Romania indicated a rather preliminary stage of preparations at the onset of the first programming period (Oprescu et al, 2006) and the need to integrate perspectives between the European and national levels of operation (Cace et al, 2009). At the regional level, several regional characteristics highlight the presence of 'pro-cohesion' policies in disadvantaged areas (Collins et al, 2017), together with the role of administrative capacity, which in turn is influenced by political interference, government stability and political accountability (Milio, 2007); the importance of studying regional absorption capacities within the context of multilevel governance (Cunico et al, 2022); the high relevance of the means by which regional absorption capacity is actually computed, alongside the means by which political accountability is shared between regions and the EU (Aivazidou et al, 2020); the significance of an integrated approach, including the motivations of public servants and the political salience of policies (Domorenok et al, 2021); and the context in which 'artificially created' NUTS 2 regions can absorb EU funds (Maier et al, 2021).…”

Complexities of policy design, institutional change, and multilevel governance

“…Complementando los estudios previos en entornos nacionales, los siguientes artículos amplían el alcance de las complejidades en la formulación de políticas a la gobernanza multinivel. Cunico et al (2022) se suman a la comprensión de estas complejidades con un análisis de los mecanismos de toma de decisiones en la política de cohesión de la Unión Europea (UE) y su relación con los problemas de implementación en las regiones italianas. Los autores aplican un enfoque de dinámica de sistemas (SD) para investigar las razones de las tasas de absorción regional repetidamente bajas de los fondos estructurales de la UE.…”

“…以下文章将决策中的复杂性范围扩展到多层治理，补充了国家背景下的以往研究。Cunico et al (2022) 通过分析欧盟（EU）凝聚力政策中的决策机制及其与意大利地区的决策实施问题的关系，进而促进了对这些复杂性的理解。作者应用系统动态（SD）方法，调查了地区对欧盟结构性基金的低吸收率一事反复出现的原因。为了制裁无法使用特定资源的当局，欧盟实施了一项减少未来财政捐助的政策。通过深度比较研究，Cunico及其同事表明，这种财务期限机制可能对卡拉布里亚等低绩效地区造成了意想不到的负面影响，因为这些地区不得不聚焦于解决后果（低吸收率）而不是潜在问题（行政能力低下）。文章最后提出了政策干预建议，用于重新考量欧盟凝聚力政策决策的陷阱。…”

“…Complementing the previous studies in national settings, the following articles extend the scope of complexities in policy-making to multilevel governance. Cunico et al (2022) add to the understanding of these complexities with an analysis of decision-making mechanisms in European Union (EU) cohesion policy and their relation to implementation problems in Italian regions. The authors apply a system dynamics approach to investigate reasons for repeatedly low regional absorption rates of EU structural funds.…”