Projects

The project involved research on the future of regional policy in an enlarged European Union to include countries from Central and Eastern Europe. Initially drafted as a briefing paper for an informal discussion sponsored by Scotland House in September 2000 in Brussels, the research paper was subsequently revised in the light of the discussion.

The project involved identification of good and distinctive evaluation practices with the potential to contribute to the development of the 2000-06 Scottish Executive Structural Funds evaluation framework. The project reviewed evaluation practices and methodological choices across the EU-15 to derive best practice recommendations relevant to the Scottish context

The project investigated policy transfer between the EU and the Member States in the field of regional policy, using the designation of assisted areas as a case study of the transfer process. The project focused on the 1999/2000 designation of regional aid areas within the framework of the March 1998 EC regional aid guidelines and the designation of Structural Fund areas under the 2000-06 Structural Funds Regulation

The project involved a comparison of cluster policies in Europe. It was designed to take advantage of the wide range of experience resulting from the surge in cluster policy initiatives in the 1990s and to identify elements of good practice in successful cluster development. Funded by seven European regional development organisations, the project aimed to identify and understand the key factors behind the successful design, delivery and evaluation of cluster development policies. It focused on the practical issues of cluster policy-making and highlighted examples of good practice in different aspects of cluster policy. Critical issues included: selecting and targeting clusters; the strategic interpretation of the cluster concept within wider regional development; planning and developing cluster policies; their operational management; monitoring and evaluating cluster policies; and the critical success factors shaping good practice. Conducted during 2000, research involved two stages: (i) an extensive review of cluster policies globally, their key features and the challenges facing policy-makers in trying to pursue cluster development. (ii) Intensive research on seven case studies of cluster policy initiatives across Europe, involving a survey of strategic documents and face-to-face interviews with the main participants in the cluster policy. Case study regions were: Nordrhein Westfalen (Germany), East Sweden, Tampere (Finland), Limburg (Netherlands), the Basque Country (Spain), Scotland, and the Arve Valley (France).

The project invovled research on the expected impact of the accession of six candidate countries - the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia - on SMEs within an enlarged Union. The study analysed the impact of enlargement at a macroeconomic, sectoral and regional level. It concluded that the general impact of enlargement on SMEs will be small. The study further concluded that SMEs were unlikely to experience impacts from enlargement that would be distinctive in their nature and scale from the effects of wider global changes in international market opportunities and increased competition from lower-cost producers (on the global market). In many sectors, the impact of enlargement would be restricted to regions close to the potential new EU Member States.

The project involved research on the experience of strategic RTD planning in four case study regions (Flanders, Bremen, North-East England and Northern Sweden). The four regions had in common the design and implementation of EU-funded Regional Innovation and Technology Transfer Strategies (RITTS). An assessment of the key factors relating to the process of regional level strategic planning and the relationship between national and regional level bodies in this policy area formed the basis of conclusions and recommendations for Austria.

The project involved case study research to review selected international experience with the outsourcing of programme management functions. It had four aims: (i) to summarise trends in institutional and operational arrangements for Structural Fund administration, identifying the degree to which outsourcing existed; (ii) to identify a typology to describe the forms of outsourcing used in different Member States; (iii) to examine the impact and implications of oursourcing on different stages and tasks of programming; and (iv) to provide an overall assessment of experience and lessons arising from different outsourcing options. Drawing on international experience, the study concluded by distilling the relative benefits and disadvantages of outsourcing in different contexts, and identified a series of best practice lessons for the design and implementation of such solutions.

The project involved research on the evidence for the impact of continuing economic and monetary integration in Europe on labour market development. Integration of labour markets was found to have been limited to date, principally because of the continuing strength of national regulatory and fiscal practices reinforcing their fragmentation. It was concluded that while harmonisation of labour market rules and practices might increase with EMU, physical migration was likely to remain limited.

The project involved research on the cluster approach to economic development activities in Fife, Scotland. The strategic objectives of the study were to: benchmark the competitiveness of the cluster agents in Fife; review the existing approaches to cluster development within the region; create a pool of executives within Fife Enterprise with sound knowledge and capability in cluster development; and develop an effective approach for the region, taking into account the characteristics of the local economy and capabilities of the main players in each cluster.

The project involved research tracing and analysing the evolution of Objective 1 eligibility and funding through the 1994-9 and 2000-6 programme periods, focussing on the negotiations on the draft Structural Funds Regulation in the first quarter of 1999. The study comprised: an overview of the 1993 reform of the Structural Funds, focusing on eligibility and financial allocations under Objective 1; an examination of the Commission proposals for Objective 1 for the period 2000-6; a consideration of the main alternative scenarios put forward during the course of the Council negotiations; and an overview and analysis of the outcome of those negotiations.