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on support for rural areas “in decline ” with a view to stimulating development and especially economic development. The final evaluation of the objective 5b Programs in Burgundy has provided an opportunity to explore the Program's impact on the economic development of areas receiving aid. An array of demographic, economic, and social variables defined from locally available statistical and administrative databases allows us to examine the pattern of changes in population, jobs, household incomes, and local added value. The economic effects specifically induced by the Program are analysed by using and adapting micro-econometric evaluation tools (matching and double difference methods) often used for employment policy assessment (Heckman et al., 1999). The main concern is to correct “selection bias ” when evaluating the Program's effects by comparing changes in areas receiving aid and those not receiving aid. Apart from its methodological interest, this research shows the posit ive impact of the Program on attracting population and on agricultural added value, but also the less apparent impact of this Program on other economic sectors targeted by a large proportion o