Pathology

Business

Regional science

Archaeology

Regional policy

Government (linguistics)

Factor endowment

Economic growth

Economic policy

Epistemology

Endowment

Philosophy

Political science

Economics

Geography

Economic shortage

Lagging

Economic geography

Quality (philosophy)

Local government

European union

Linguistics

Development economics

Regional development

Central government

Medicine

Developing country

Regional Studies

This paper assesses whether both the levels and the degree of change in government quality influence regional economic performance in the European Union and, in particular, in its lagging regions. The results of the econometric analysis, covering 249 NUTS-2 regions for the period 1999–2013, suggest that (1) government quality matters for regional growth; (2) relative improvements in quality of government are a powerful driver of development; (3) one-size-fits-all policies for lagging regions are not the solution; (4) government quality improvements are essential for low-growth regions; and (5) in low-income regions basic endowment shortages are still the main barrier to development. In particular, low-growth regions in Southern Europe stand to benefit the most from improvements in government quality, while in low-income regions of Central and Eastern Europe, investments in the traditional drivers of growth remain the main factors behind successful economic trajectories.

Institutional change and the development of lagging regions in Europe