The ex-post macroeconomic evaluation of the 2014-2020 European Social Fund, Youth Employment Initiative and REACT-EU labour market interventions

Casas, Pablo and Christou, Tryfonas and García Rodríguez, Abián and Lazarou, Nicholas Joseph and Salotti, Simone (2025): The ex-post macroeconomic evaluation of the 2014-2020 European Social Fund, Youth Employment Initiative and REACT-EU labour market interventions.

Abstract

We provide a macroeconomic evaluation of the impact of the 2014-2020 European Social Fund, the Youth Employment Initiative and the labour market interventions of the REACT-EU programme, using data updated to the end of 2023. We use the spatial dynamic general equilibrium model RHOMOLO, modified to include endogenous labour force participation, to analyse the impact of nearly €110 billion in total, showing how GDP, employment, wages and various measures of inequality respond to the policies. The results suggest that the European labour market policy has a substantial positive impact on the regional economies of the Union and on the labour force, with long-lasting positive effects on GDP and employment, and a reduction in regional disparities and macroeconomic educational mismatches.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: European Social Fund, regional labour markets, general equilibrium modelling.
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C6 - Mathematical Methods ; Programming Models ; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling > C68 - Computable General Equilibrium Models; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J20 - General; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J3 - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs > J30 - General; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R13 - General Equilibrium and Welfare Economic Analysis of Regional Economies

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