Policy impact assessment and evaluation

Analyses of measures, strategies and options for action by political and administrative actors that pursue the goal of promoting regional economic development are an integral part of policy impact assessment and evaluation. Here, we take into account specific rural development constraints and potentials, the institutional conditions of implementation and enforcement of measures, and region-specific characteristics. At the same time, the theoretical-conceptual foundations of measures are analyzed and elaborated. From an overarching perspective, we address the question of how policy measures for the development of rural areas can be evaluated in a theory-based and empirically sound manner. This is an important prerequisite for evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of regional and location policy measures. One of our goals is to build a flexible and empirically as well as theoretically well-founded model infrastructure.

• Modeling of spatial economic developments and model-based policy assessment