How Efficient Is the Cohesion Policy in Supporting Small and Mid-Sized Enterprises in the Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy?

Abstract

Funds from the European Union that are devoted to fostering a low-carbon economy are aimed at assisting Member States and regions in implementing the required investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and smart distribution electricity grids, and for research and innovation in these areas. In this context, we assessed the implementation of these funds in small and medium-sized enterprises across different beneficiary countries and regions of the European Union. Therefore, this study uses a non-radial slack-based data envelopment analysis model coupled with cluster analysis that covers multiple aspects of evaluation, including two inputs and two outputs, to assess 102 programs from 22 countries. Overall, we were able to ascertain that there are 25 efficient operational programs that remain robustly efficient, whereas 51 remain robustly inefficient for data perturbations of 5 and 10%. Under the current output level, there was almost no input surplus. Therefore, to promote a low-carbon economy, operational program managers should concentrate on solving the problems behind the poor results achieved, both in terms of greenhouse gas emissions reduction and the pace of the programs’ implementation.

How Efficient Is the Implementation of Structural Funds Committed to Enhancing ICT Adoption in SMEs?

“…Additionally, [62] applied the value-based DEA technique to appraise the execution of ESIF devoted to fostering the competitiveness of SMEs across different OPs (national and regional). In addition, [63] considered the output-oriented version of the slack-based model (SBM) combined with cluster analysis for assessing 102 OPs from 22 EU countries committed to fostering a low-carbon economy in SMEs. Finally, [64] employed the non-oriented version of the network SBM model coupled with cluster analysis to appraise 53 OPs from 19 countries dedicated to promoting research and innovation in SMEs.…”

“…An efficient policy implementation implies an efficient financial execution of OPs, with a particular focus on the pace of execution of the OPs ( [62][63][64]73]). In this context, costs must be certified by an approved authority, which is the entity in charge of certifying that the co-funded equipment/services were supplied, that the corresponding payments were made, and that the payments conformed with the EU and national rules.…”

Are ERDF Efficient in Strengthening the Switch to a Low-Carbon Economy? Some Insights with Value-Based Data Envelopment Analysis

“…The criteria used in this study were suggested by Henriques et al (2022a) at the OP level. The numbers evaluated are total figures at the MS level spanning various years reported on November 19, 2021 (corresponding to the programming period of 2014-2020), because they are the most up-to-date statistics for the accomplishment criteria.…”

“…Simply explained, an LCE is an economy whose organization is sustained by activities that emit minimal quantities of CO 2 into the environment (Levy, 2010). The cohesion policy has been supporting the shift to an LCE, but in the 2014-2020 period this support has expanded dramatically, owing in part to the granting of specific funding for this purpose (Henriques et al, 2022a). As a result, assessment plays an important role in cohesion policy-making since it supports policy planning and development while also delivering solid data about the outcomes and effects of the projects undertaken.…”

“…As a result, assessment plays an important role in cohesion policy-making since it supports policy planning and development while also delivering solid data about the outcomes and effects of the projects undertaken. In this framework, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method has been particularly useful in the assessment of the OPs devoted to the "competitiveness of Small and Medium Sized-Enterprises (SMEs)" (Gouveia et al, 2021) to an LCE in SMEs (Henriques et al, 2022a) and to research and in Innovation in SMEs (Henriques et al, 2022b). When conducting an efficiency assessment through the DEA approach, management authorities (MA) will be able to pinpoint the OPs viewed as a reference of best practices and the required changes that have to take place for the set of indicators, which will allow transforming inefficient OPs into efficient ones across the programmatic horizon.…”