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Cohesion Policy and Income Inequality: Evidence from Italian Municipalities (2000–2022)

Anna Laura Baraldi et al.

The BE Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy2026https://doi.org/10.1515/bejeap-2025-0188article
AJG 2ABDC A
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

This paper investigates the effects of EU Cohesion Policy on income growth and inequality across municipalities in Italian Objective 1 regions. Using a difference-in-differences approach and detailed panel data from 2000 to 2022, we assess how staggered disbursement of EU funds affects per-capita income growth and income distribution. Although we find a significant and persistent positive effect of EU funds on income growth starting from 5 years after the first payment, the inequality – measured by Gini and Atkinson indices – tends to increase. This suggests that EU cohesion funds, even if effective in promoting income growth, do not necessarily contribute to greater equity.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1515/bejeap-2025-0188

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{anna2026,
  title        = {{Cohesion Policy and Income Inequality: Evidence from Italian Municipalities (2000–2022)}},
  author       = {Anna Laura Baraldi et al.},
  journal      = {The BE Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1515/bejeap-2025-0188},
}

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Cohesion Policy and Income Inequality: Evidence from Italian Municipalities (2000–2022)

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.