Understanding Regional Development : Absorption, Institutions and Socio-economic Growth in the Regions of the European Union- A Case Study on Italy

Lorraine Frisina

ISBN 10: 3631575491 / ISBN 13: 9783631575499

Published by Peter Lang, 2008

About this Item

Druck auf Anfrage Neuware - Printed after ordering - This book explores the efficacy of costly redistributive measures taken by the European Union in the form of structural funding within the context of Italian regional development. It addresses divergent outcomes in socio-economic growth observed between the Center-North and Mezzogiorno regions in light of Structural Fund allocations assigned during the last two distribution periods (years 1994-2000 and 2000-2006). In doing so, the study establishes that performance outcomes fail to correspond with patterns in funding, as the Mezzogiorno, despite receiving up to three times the amount of structural funding than its Center-Northern counterpart, has yet to realize the same degree of growth (whether in absolute terms or trends in performance), thereby indicating the role of non-financial factors in influencing development. The author develops a novel model of regional absorption that weds assumptions derived from absorption literature concerning the role of administrative capacity and rent seeking, with the economic institutionalism of Douglass C. North (1990), particularly his transaction cost theory of exchange. The application of this model to two representative case studies, Tuscany and Sardinia, affirms the necessity in bolstering administrative capacity while curbing rent seeking within regional institutions as a means of lowering transaction costs and thereby increasing the productive absorption of Structural Funds. The book bridges political and economic approaches to understanding the issue of regional development.; Dissertationsschrift.

Seller Inventory # 9783631575499

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Understanding Regional Development : Absorption, Institutions and Socio-economic Growth in the Regions of the European Union- A Case Study on Italy
• Publisher: Peter Lang
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3631575491
• ISBN 13: 9783631575499
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 210W x 148H x 12D millimeters 210 millimeters width by 148 millimeters height by 12 millimeters depth
• Weight: 300 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This book explores the efficacy of costly redistributive measures taken by the European Union in the form of structural funding within the context of Italian regional development. It addresses divergent outcomes in socio-economic growth observed between the Center-North and Mezzogiorno regions in light of Structural Fund allocations assigned during the last two distribution periods (years 1994-2000 and 2000-2006). In doing so, the study establishes that performance outcomes fail to correspond with patterns in funding, as the Mezzogiorno, despite receiving up to three times the amount of structural funding than its Center-Northern counterpart, has yet to realize the same degree of growth (whether in absolute terms or trends in performance), thereby indicating the role of non-financial factors in influencing development. The author develops a novel model of regional absorption that weds assumptions derived from absorption literature concerning the role of administrative capacity and rent seeking, with the economic institutionalism of Douglass C. North (1990), particularly his transaction cost theory of exchange. The application of this model to two representative case studies, Tuscany and Sardinia, affirms the necessity in bolstering administrative capacity while curbing rent seeking within regional institutions as a means of lowering transaction costs and thereby increasing the productive absorption of Structural Funds. The book bridges political and economic approaches to understanding the issue of regional development.

About the Author

The Author: Lorraine Frisina is a political scientist from Brooklyn, NY, currently working as a Research Associate and Lecturer at the Collaborative Research Center 597 – ‘Transformations of the State’ – at the University of Bremen. Her main areas of interest concern EU politics and regional development, comparative healthcare policy, and US domestic and foreign affairs.