Dezentralisierung in den EU-Staaten und räumliche Verteilung wirtschaftlicher Aktivitäten

This article deals with the impact of fiscal decentralisation on the spatial distribution of economic activities in EU regions as well as with the effectiveness of the European Union's regional policy aiming at economic and social cohesion among its Member States. After a short discussion on concepts and measurement issues of fiscal decentralization two empirical analyses show that the level of sub-national autonomy, considering primarily decisions on local and regional tax income, tends to reduce the degree of regional production specialization in 200 NUTS2 regions while it enhances the effectiveness of the structural funds in 13 EU Member States. Copyright 2007 die Autoren Journal compilation 2007, Verein für Socialpolitik und Blackwell Publishing Ltd.