IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i4p1503-d1336818.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of LEADER Funding in Romania

Author

Listed:
  • Monica Elena Crunțeanu

    (Faculty of Management and Rural Development, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, 59 Mărăști Blvd, District 1, 011464 Bucharest, Romania)

  • Mircea Comșa

    (Department of Sociology, Babeș-Bolyai University, 400347 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Gina Fîntîneru

    (Faculty of Management and Rural Development, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, 59 Mărăști Blvd, District 1, 011464 Bucharest, Romania)

Abstract

Established in 1991 as a European initiative to enhance innovation in rural areas, the LEADER programme became an important tool for the spread of sustainable local development actions in almost all regions of the EU. In Romania, although the programme has generated the implementation of many successful local projects since 2007, quantitative evaluations of its socio-economic impact are extremely limited. The aim of this paper is to evaluate whether LEADER funding has had any effect on the eligible territory of Romania, using multiple linear regression analysis with the evolution of demographic and socio-economic indicators for the 2017–2023 period. The results show that, over a certain amount of euros/capita absorbed from LEADER at the administrative level (UAT), the positive dynamics of the statistical indicators is confirmed. This analysis represents quantitative proof of the LEADER programme’s added value, maintaining or increasing its European role in the future as a sustainable policy directed towards communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Monica Elena Crunțeanu & Mircea Comșa & Gina Fîntîneru, 2024. "The Impact of LEADER Funding in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-23, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:4:p:1503-:d:1336818
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/4/1503/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/4/1503/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ron Martin & Peter Tyler, 2006. "Evaluating the impact of the structural funds on objective 1 regions: An exploratory discussion," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(2), pages 201-210.
    2. Alexandru Olar & Mugurel I. Jitea, 2021. "Enabling Factors for Better Multiplier Effects of the LEADER Programme: Lessons from Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-14, May.
    3. Giuseppe Gargano, 2021. "The Bottom-Up Development Model as a Governance Instrument for the Rural Areas. The Cases of Four Local Action Groups (LAGs) in the United Kingdom and in Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-47, August.
    4. Anne Margarian, 2013. "A Constructive Critique of the Endogenous Development Approach in the European Support of Rural Areas," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 1-29, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Riccardo regstdcenzi, 2009. "Undermining the Principle of Concentration? European Union Regional Policy and the Socio-economic Disadvantage of European Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 111-133.
    2. Tiberiu Iancu & Ionuț Laurențiu Petre & Valentina Constanta Tudor & Marius Mihai Micu & Ana Ursu & Florina-Ruxandra Teodorescu & Eduard Alexandru Dumitru, 2022. "A Difficult Pattern to Change in Romania, the Perspective of Socio-Economic Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-29, February.
    3. 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).
    4. Francisco Martínez Arroyo & Hugo Sacristán López & Juan Sebastián Castillo-Valero & María Carmen García-Cortijo, 2022. "Rural development programmes: Lessons learnt, and knowledge advancement. A case study in Castilla-La Mancha (Spain)," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 68(10), pages 393-402.
    5. Torrisi, Gianpiero & Pike, Andy & Tomaney, John & Tselios, Vassilis, 2011. "(Re-)exploring the link between devolution and regional disparities in Italy," MPRA Paper 32212, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Chang Woon Nam & Georg Wamser, 2010. "Application of Regionally Varying Additionality Degrees in the Practice of EU Cohesion Policy," CESifo Working Paper Series 2971, CESifo.
    7. Nick Robinson, 2009. "The European Investment Bank: The EU's Neglected Institution," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 651-673, June.
    8. Riccardo Crescenzi & Mara Giua, 2016. "The EU Cohesion Policy in context: Does a bottom-up approach work in all regions?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(11), pages 2340-2357, November.
    9. Jana Kolaøíková & Ondøej Dvouletý & Petr Kolaøík, 2018. "Economic performance of the NUTS III Regions in the Czech Republic in the context of entrepreneurship subsidies from the EU Structural Funds," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 36(1), pages 129-153.
    10. Luca Simone Rizzo & Raffaela Gabriella Rizzo & Antonella Trabuio, 2024. "Tourist Itineraries, Food, and Rural Development: A Critical Understanding of Rural Policy Performance in Northeast Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-27, March.
    11. Ronald Jiménez Aliaga & Ignacio De los Ríos-Carmenado & Felipe San Martín Howard & Sonia Calle Espinoza & Amparo Huamán Cristóbal, 2022. "Integration of the Principles of Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems CFS-RAI from the Local Action Groups: Towards a Model of Sustainable Rural Development in Jauja, Peru," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-26, August.
    12. Frantisek TURNOVEC, 2009. "Council, Commission and European Parliament Influence in European Union Decision Making," EcoMod2009 21500089, EcoMod.
    13. Riccardo Crescenzi & Fabrizio De Filippis & Fabio Pierangeli, 2015. "In Tandem for Cohesion? Synergies and Conflicts between Regional and Agricultural Policies of the European Union," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(4), pages 681-704, April.
    14. Matthew Sabbi, 2023. "‘We Did Many Projects Together’: Boundary-Spanning Strategies of Councillors in Rural Ghana," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 23(2), pages 183-202, April.
    15. Zahid Sobaci, 2009. "Regional Development Agencies in Turkey: Are They Examples of Obligated Policy Transfer?," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 51-65, March.
    16. Ana-Maria Opria & Lucian Roșu & Corneliu Iațu, 2021. "LEADER Program—An Inclusive or Selective Instrument for the Development of Rural Space in Romania?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-21, November.
    17. Dagmar Škodová Parmová & Jana Novotná, 2022. "Implementation of quality improvements and innovations in agricultural enterprises," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 68(6), pages 207-218.
    18. András Donát Kovács & Péter Gulyás & Jenő Zsolt Farkas, 2021. "Tourism Perspectives in National Parks—A Hungarian Case Study from the Aspects of Rural Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-18, October.
    19. Wenhua Yuan & Jianchun Li & Chengqing Liu & Ran Shang, 2022. "How to Realize the Integration of Urbanization and Rural Village Renewal Strategies in Rural Areas: The Case Study of Laizhou, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-21, November.
    20. Nadiia Davydenko & Natalia Wasilewska & Svitlana Boiko & Mirosław Wasilewski, 2022. "Development of Rural Areas in Ukraine in the Context of Decentralization: An Empirical Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-26, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:4:p:1503-:d:1336818. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.