Strategies of regional development in European regions: are they efficient?

A wealth of literature has focused on the effectiveness of cohesion policy for regional development. However, most studies have neglected the heterogeneous nature of such interventions. In this article, we study such heterogeneity by identifying different development strategies put in place by regional governments. In particular, by using expenditure allocation by region and by item over the period 2000–2006, we identify regions with similar development strategies. Moreover, we find that policy performance is not correlated to the strategy chosen, rather it depends on the country to which the region belongs.