New publication on the effects of EU cohesion policy on local economic activity using satellite data

Researchers from the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) in Vienna, the ifo Institute in Munich, the University of Regensburg, the Earth Observation Center (EOC) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen, and our Earth Observation Research Cluster of the University of Würzburg teamed up for a study on analyzing small-scale effects of the EU cohesion policy using satellite data. The paper titled “EU cohesion policy on the ground: Analyzing small-scale effects using

satellite data” was just published in the journal Regional Science and Urban Economics by Julia Bachtrögler-Unger, Mathias Dolls, Carla Krolage, Paul Schüle, Hannes Taubenböck and Matthias Weigand. This study has been funded by the Bertelsmann Foundation.

Here is the abstract: We present a novel approach to analyze the effects of EU cohesion policy on local economic activity. For all municipalities in the border area of the Czech Republic, Germany, and Poland, we collect project-level data on EU funding in the period between 2007 and 2013. Using night light emission data as a proxy for economic development, we show that receiving a higher amount of EU funding is associated with increased economic activity at the municipal level. Our paper demonstrates that remote sensing data can provide an effective way to model local economic development also in Europe, where comprehensive cross-border data are not available at such a spatially granular level.

Here is the link to the full paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166046223000893

This study is another building block in the long-standing cooperation between DLR and the ifo Institute – in an attempt to link spatial data and remote sensing with economic developments.

Here are links to previous studies in this domain:  

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0143622823001893

https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/6/2/55

https://medium.com/ecajournal/europe-seen-from-the-stars-evaluating-eu-cohesion-funding-using-satellite-data-4bae259595d1

www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/repair-prepare-en