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It’s not about the money. EU funds, local opportunities, and Euroscepticism

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  • Crescenzi, Riccardo
  • Di Cataldo, Marco
  • Giua, Mara

Abstract

Growing Euroscepticism across the European Union (EU) leaves open questions as to what citizens expect to gain from EU Membership and what influences their dissent for EU integration. This paper looks at the EU Structural Funds, one of the largest and most visible expenditure items in the EU budget, to test their impact on electoral support for the EU. By leveraging the Referendum on Brexit held in the United Kingdom, a spatial RDD analysis offers causal evidence that EU money does not influence citizens’ support for the EU. Conversely, the analysis shows that EU funds mitigate Euroscepticism only where they are coupled with tangible improvements in local labour market conditions, the ultimate objective of this form of EU intervention. Money cannot buy love for the EU, but its capacity to generate new local opportunities certainly can.

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  • Crescenzi, Riccardo & Di Cataldo, Marco & Giua, Mara, 2020. "It’s not about the money. EU funds, local opportunities, and Euroscepticism," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:84:y:2020:i:c:s0166046219304296
    DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2020.103556
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    Cited by:

    1. Ivana Tomankova, 2022. "The EU Structural Funds and trust in politicians: another unwanted outcome?," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 439-460, May.
    2. Tiganasu, Ramona & Lupu, Dan, 2023. "Institutional quality and digitalization: Drivers in accessing European funds at regional level?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    3. Gold, Robert & Lehr, Jakob, 2024. "Paying off populism: EU regional policy decreases populist support," Kiel Policy Brief 172, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    4. Crescenzi, Riccardo & Giua, Mara & Sonzogno, Giulia Valeria, 2021. "Mind the Covid-19 crisis: An evidence-based implementation of Next Generation EU," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 278-297.
    5. Marco Di Cataldo & Elena Renzullo, 2024. "EU Money and Mayors: Does Cohesion Policy affect local electoral outcomes?," Working Papers 2024: 02, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    6. Mesquita, José & Pereira dos Santos, João & Tavares, José, 2023. "European Funds and Firm Performance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 16526, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Atella, Vincenzo & Braione, Manuela & Ferrara, Giancarlo & Resce, Giuliano, 2023. "Cohesion Policy Funds and local government autonomy: Evidence from Italian municipalities," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PB).
    8. Ferrara, Antonella Rita & Dijkstra, Lewis & McCann, Philip & Nisticó, Rosanna, 2022. "The response of regional well-being to place-based policy interventions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).

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