Rethinking Lagging Regions
As the World Bank’s 2012 Golden Growth report emphasized, the European Union, since its founding, has been a ‘convergence machine,’ generating wealth and a higher quality of life for the poorest in the 28 EU member states. More recently, the Growing United report highlighted that while the convergence machine still works, it is not working for everyone. And among the fault lines emerging in the convergence machine, regional inequality represents a potent threat to Europe’s economic well-being, and to its social and political cohesion. In this context, Rethinking Lagging Regions highlights the nature and implications of regional inequalities in Europe and recommends how cohesion policy can be leveraged to maximize its impact on lagging regions, and on the businesses and people in these regions. The report has several key messages: regional inequalities are high and likely to rise; Europe’s lagging regions are going in opposite directions, but face common challenges; cohesion policy can maximize its impact on lagging regions by explicitly targeting regional potential and equality of opportunity rather than convergence; cohesion policy priorities can be rebalanced to help deliver on regional potential; and delivery of regional policy needs to engage ever more deeply at the ground level. This report aims to contribute to the debate on the future of cohesion policy, with a specific focus on lagging regions. It calls for a further shift in the objectives of cohesion policy towards an increasingly ‘region-centered’ approach that aims to maximize potential in all regions, while seeking convergence of opportunities for individuals, no matter where they live.
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Report biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Subjects: | LAGGING REGIONS, INEQUALITY, DEMOGRAPHICS, TECHNOLOGY, DIGITAL DIVIDE, COHESION POLICY, INCLUSIVE GROWTH, SHARED PROSPERITY, POVERTY, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, DISTORTIONS, STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY, INNOVATION, SPECIALIZATION, |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/457071525400247519/Full-report https://hdl.handle.net/10986/29823 |
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| Summary: | As the World Bank’s 2012 Golden Growth
report emphasized, the European Union, since its founding,
has been a ‘convergence machine,’ generating wealth and a
higher quality of life for the poorest in the 28 EU member
states. More recently, the Growing United report highlighted
that while the convergence machine still works, it is not
working for everyone. And among the fault lines emerging in
the convergence machine, regional inequality represents a
potent threat to Europe’s economic well-being, and to its
social and political cohesion. In this context, Rethinking
Lagging Regions highlights the nature and implications of
regional inequalities in Europe and recommends how cohesion
policy can be leveraged to maximize its impact on lagging
regions, and on the businesses and people in these regions.
The report has several key messages: regional inequalities
are high and likely to rise; Europe’s lagging regions are
going in opposite directions, but face common challenges;
cohesion policy can maximize its impact on lagging regions
by explicitly targeting regional potential and equality of
opportunity rather than convergence; cohesion policy
priorities can be rebalanced to help deliver on regional
potential; and delivery of regional policy needs to engage
ever more deeply at the ground level. This report aims to
contribute to the debate on the future of cohesion policy,
with a specific focus on lagging regions. It calls for a
further shift in the objectives of cohesion policy towards
an increasingly ‘region-centered’ approach that aims to
maximize potential in all regions, while seeking convergence
of opportunities for individuals, no matter where they live. |
|---|