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Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In this paper we propose an analysis of policy strategies of operative programmes co-funded by Structural Funds in the current period in the regions eligible for the future Regional Competitiveness and Employment Objective, adopting a... more
In this paper we propose an analysis of policy strategies of operative programmes co-funded by Structural Funds in the current period in the regions eligible for the future Regional Competitiveness and Employment Objective, adopting a forward-looking perspective. We analyse interventions eligible for the period 2007-2013 and compare this range with the actual policy strategies. We discuss about potential changes in policy prioritisation in the future programming period: the most important challenge concerns potential re-addressing of interventions needed to meet the objectives of the new regional development framework, as in the three-pronged menu of priority themes from the Lisbon and Gothenburg agendas. This is particularly relevant in the framework of potential tensions between the rationales of new Structural Funds Regulations and the Lisbon strategies. A cross-cutting reading of policy priorities at the regional level reveals that in many regions certain typologies of investmen...
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Infrastructure development is a priority on policy agendas in the EU and worldwide, because of the very high investment needs in basic infrastructure, especially in lagging behind regions and countries. The paper provides a descriptive... more
Infrastructure development is a priority on policy agendas in the EU and worldwide, because of the very high investment needs in basic infrastructure, especially in lagging behind regions and countries. The paper provides a descriptive analysis of the infrastructural gaps in EU transition economies at national and, as far as possible, regional level for some infrastructure sectors: transport, telecommunication, environment and energy. The analysis suggests that, on average, internal divergences in the infrastructures’ endowment are present between the urbanised capital cities regions and the peripheral and rural areas, in all the Member States; yet, the density and quality of such endowment is significantly higher in the Western countries and limited in the Eastern ones.
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Throughout the world the furniture industry has given rise to local economic systems or industrial districts with similar characteristics, both in terms of efficiency in manufacturing processes and at the level of competitive capacity,... more
Throughout the world the furniture industry has given rise to local economic systems or industrial districts with similar characteristics, both in terms of efficiency in manufacturing processes and at the level of competitive capacity, especially on foreign markets. Born from a fusion between economic and manufacturing relationships and economic and social relationships in limited territorial areas, the furniture districts have launched processes of economic development, characterised by a close correspondence between company and manufacturing system. This report offers an overview of 44 among structured manufacturing clusters and less institutionalised manufacturing areas for the furniture sector worldwide, providing information about furniture firms and territory, institutional bodies and cluster promoting organisations, local financial systems and furniture fairs. An overview of the world furniture industry is also provided, with data on furniture production and consumption, furn...
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This paper draws and expands from a recent ex-post evaluation carried out for the European Commission aimed at assessing the long term effects produced by a sample of ten major infrastructures in the Transport and Environment sectors and... more
This paper draws and expands from a recent ex-post evaluation carried out for the European Commission aimed at assessing the long term effects produced by a sample of ten major infrastructures in the Transport and Environment sectors and interpreting the key determinants of the observed performance. This evaluation study offered a unique opportunity to draw conclusions on the value of performing ex-post evaluations and to test an innovative evaluation design combining cost-benefit analysis (CBA) with qualitative assessment and adopting a long-run perspective (30 years), which extends into both the past and the future, and requires a mix of retrospective and prospective analysis. This paper presents the potential of ex-post CBA to assess long term impacts of major infrastructure projects and discusses some methodological and institutional implications related to its use.
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Evaluation and monitoring approaches and methodologies are spreading within the national and regional administrations directly involved in the management of the programmes co-financed by Structural Funds as well as within other... more
Evaluation and monitoring approaches and methodologies are spreading within the national and regional administrations directly involved in the management of the programmes co-financed by Structural Funds as well as within other institutional contexts where public policies are planned and implemented. The purpose of the present paper is to illustrate some results from a still ongoing training and consultancy project, on
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The paper presents a simplified social cost-benefit analysis approach tested on around thirty projects of small infrastructure in Croatia, and deals with some of the specific issues encountered in this field work. In Zadar and Sibenik–... more
The paper presents a simplified social cost-benefit analysis approach tested on around thirty projects of small infrastructure in Croatia, and deals with some of the specific issues encountered in this field work. In Zadar and Sibenik– Knin counties, Croatia, a Sustainable Development Project funded by CARDS -Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation- was active from 2003 to 2006 for the war-affected areas. The project aimed to support the two administrations in managing local development programs through CARDS and to prepare for the pre-accession Funds. The assistance consisted in training in EU procedures, preparing grant scheme, updating the Regional Operational Program, implementing an infrastructure project pipeline. The paper focuses on the last activity, more precisely on the project appraisal for the preparation of the pipeline, and describes the experience developed in this context through a methodology commonly used for the management and evalu...
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We consider results of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in a large sample of ISPA (Structural Instrument for Pre-Accession countries) projects co-financed by the European Union to support investment in transport and environment. The research... more
We consider results of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in a large sample of ISPA (Structural Instrument for Pre-Accession countries) projects co-financed by the European Union to support investment in transport and environment. The research focus is on the empirical analysis of the variability of financial and economic rates of return and how to integrate this information in the EU co-financing mechanism.