Building a dynamic theory of citizens’ awareness of European Cohesion Policy interventions

Giovanni Cunico, Eirini Aivazidou and Edoardo Mollona

European Journal of Operational Research, 2021, vol. 289, issue 2, 758-773

Abstract: Since more than thirty years, the European Cohesion Policy aims to reduce economic disparities and support regional development by funding local-orientated projects. However, the citizens’ awareness of Cohesion Policy follows an unexpected longitudinal pattern characterised by a notable decrease after an initial increase. Although researchers have been investigating the relationship between policy implementation and public awareness, a lack of systemic comprehension of the underlying mechanisms is evident. Using system dynamics, we develop a causal model to explain the roots of the declining awareness towards policy interventions. The findings highlight how citizens initially manifest a high collective attention to Cohesion Policy that tends to decay over time. These dynamics, combined with the citizens’ inherent tendency to lose information saved in their long-term individual memory, could elucidate the system's behaviour. This novel system dynamics application provides policy-makers with operational guidelines for developing efficient communication strategies to improve policy awareness.

Keywords: System dynamics; Theory building; European Cohesion Policy; Citizens’ awareness; OR in societal problem analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ejores:v:289:y:2021:i:2:p:758-773

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2020.07.017

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