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Evaluation of results and adaptation of EU Rural Development Programmes

Andersson, Anna LU ; Höjgård, Sören LU and Rabinowicz, Ewa LU (2017) In Land Use Policy 67. p.298-314
Abstract

The EU Commission highlights evaluations as important for improving common policies. But do evaluations actually contribute? This paper examines whether this has been the case for the EU Rural Development Programmes (RDPs). We investigate 1) to what extent evaluations have influenced the design of national programmes and 2) if they have affected the Rural Development Regulation on which national programmes are based. Our main finding is that evaluations do not seem to affect future policy to any discernible degree. This is the case for both national programmes and the Regulation itself, which seems to have evolved in response to external pressures. Partly, this may be because evaluations tend to give vague or too general... (More)

The EU Commission highlights evaluations as important for improving common policies. But do evaluations actually contribute? This paper examines whether this has been the case for the EU Rural Development Programmes (RDPs). We investigate 1) to what extent evaluations have influenced the design of national programmes and 2) if they have affected the Rural Development Regulation on which national programmes are based. Our main finding is that evaluations do not seem to affect future policy to any discernible degree. This is the case for both national programmes and the Regulation itself, which seems to have evolved in response to external pressures. Partly, this may be because evaluations tend to give vague or too general recommendations. Moreover, evaluations seldom apply counterfactual analysis, often because of a lack of data, implying that results may be methodologically questioned. Lastly, evaluations, and RDPs, are hard to locate and seldom translated from their native languages, impairing the possibilities of learning from the experiences of others.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
EU, Evaluation, Rural development programme
in
Land Use Policy
volume
67
pages
17 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000413280200026
  • scopus:85020942674
ISSN
0264-8377
DOI
10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.05.002
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
495f7307-8cb2-468d-b2a7-239d3eef1110
date added to LUP
2017-07-04 07:48:42
date last changed
2024-01-14 00:08:06
@article{495f7307-8cb2-468d-b2a7-239d3eef1110,
  abstract     = {{<p>The EU Commission highlights evaluations as important for improving common policies. But do evaluations actually contribute? This paper examines whether this has been the case for the EU Rural Development Programmes (RDPs). We investigate 1) to what extent evaluations have influenced the design of national programmes and 2) if they have affected the Rural Development Regulation on which national programmes are based. Our main finding is that evaluations do not seem to affect future policy to any discernible degree. This is the case for both national programmes and the Regulation itself, which seems to have evolved in response to external pressures. Partly, this may be because evaluations tend to give vague or too general recommendations. Moreover, evaluations seldom apply counterfactual analysis, often because of a lack of data, implying that results may be methodologically questioned. Lastly, evaluations, and RDPs, are hard to locate and seldom translated from their native languages, impairing the possibilities of learning from the experiences of others.</p>}},
  author       = {{Andersson, Anna and Höjgård, Sören and Rabinowicz, Ewa}},
  issn         = {{0264-8377}},
  keywords     = {{EU; Evaluation; Rural development programme}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  pages        = {{298--314}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Land Use Policy}},
  title        = {{Evaluation of results and adaptation of EU Rural Development Programmes}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.05.002}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.05.002}},
  volume       = {{67}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}