New Publication: Is the European Social Progress Index robust? Implications for the design of European Union regional Cohesion Policy

Mercedes Beltrán-Esteve, Jesús Peiró-Palomino, Andrés J. Picazo-Tadeo & Vicente Rios have published their article “Is the European Social Progress Index robust? Implications for the design of European Union regional Cohesion Policy” in Regional Studies.

Abstract

The European Social Progress Index (EU-SPI) is a composite index launched by the European Commission in 2016 to assess social progress. It is constructed using non-economic indicators, and is intended to serve as a tool for European regional policies. This paper shows that the 2020 release of the index is robust to multiple alternative designs, and thus suitable for policymaking. The EU-SPI and gross domestic product per capita (GDPpc) are positively correlated, although they are in no way substitutes. These findings suggest that the EU-SPI could complement the GDPpc as an instrument to determine eligibility and achieve a more citizen-oriented allocation of European Cohesion Policy funds.