HAS THE LEADER PROGRAMME BEEN EFFECTIVE IN PROMOTING LOCAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT? AN EVALUATION ON TWO ROMANIAN REGIONS

摘要

The aim of the research was to evaluate the effects of projects developed by Local Action Groups (LAGs) on theeconomic development of rural areas in two development regions of Romania: North-West and North-East. UsingPropensity Score Matching (PSM) we have compared communes belonging and not belonging to a LAG having similarcharacteristics, observing their differences in terms of outcome variables (turnover, number and employees innon-agricultural firms). Results show that there is not a statistically significant difference in change (2011-2015) ofoutcome variables between the two groups, both in the whole sample and in each region. This points to a lack ofeffectiveness of LAGs projects in promoting non-agricultural rural development. Furthermore, according to regressionresults, the outcome indicators are significantly affected by the degree of socio-economic development at the beginning ofthe examined period.