This is a review of issues concerning the role and effectiveness of the EU Structural and Cohesion Funds in different countries before and after the EU enlargement since 2004. Based on Ireland’s experience this analysis focuses on the impact of the cohesion policy on the small open economies...

After 15 years of EU cohesion policy, implemented through National Development Plans (NDPs) and Structural Funds (SFs), economists remain divided on interpretations of policy effectiveness. As new member states prepare for the next programme of EU cohesion aid, it is important to review this...

This book's thirteen contributions bring together the results of recent research on determinants of regional specialization, growth, and convergence in the context of European integration. They offer fresh theoretical and empirical evidence on patterns of regional production structures,...