Evidence Based Cohesion Policy Focus on performance incentives Thomas Tandskov Dissing Senior Adviser Ministry of Economics and Business Affairs Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority Gdańsk, 7 July 2011

Setup for the Structural Funds in Denmark 6 regional growth forums:  Responsibility for regional growth and development.  Appraise projects for co-funding from the Structural Funds.  A partnership – 20 members - between the regions, the municipalities, social partners, enterprises and knowledge institutions (universities, regional business schools, etc.) DEACA:  Managing authority for the Structural Fund programmes  Administers Structural Fund projects  Advices growth forums about the Structual Funds Total community contribution m Euro

National strategic reference framework Danish starting point:  The whole country is covered by the objective of regional competitiveness and employment.  A political intention to:  focus the use of the structural funds on creating as much regional growth as possible: Focus on the drivers of growth as identified by OECD.  Coordinate the European, national and regional efforts to create growth.  The government’s globalization strategy.

National strategic reference framework

Danish Strategic Reference Framework ERDF & ESF ( ) Innovation and Knowledge (ERDF) More and Better Jobs (ESF) Innovation and Knowledge (ERDF) More and Better Jobs (ESF) Development of human resources Establishment and development of new enterprises Innovation, knowledge sharing and knowledge building Utilisation of new technology Areas facing structural difficulties, urban areas and rural areas Environmental policy Equal opportunity policy Employment policy

Template for goals and indicators ERDF & ESF ( ) Impact / global objectives Results / specific objectives Output / operational objectives Input Direct output of the individual projects Quantitative objectives set for the action Effect of the individual projects Quantitative objectives  outcome of resources for the period as a whole Objectives for overall effects in the longer term

Innovation, knowledge sharing and knowledge building ERDF Operational Programme ”Innovation and Knowledge” By 2013 at least half of Danish enterprises will be innovative (baseline : 40 % in CIS3, ) By 2013 Denmark will be among the 5 most innovative countries in the EU (baseline: # 10 in CIS3) By 2013 at least half of Danish enterprises will be innovative (baseline : 40 % in CIS3, ) By 2013 Denmark will be among the 5 most innovative countries in the EU (baseline: # 10 in CIS3) 1,000 enterprises / institutions / organisations will indicate, that they have become more innovative as a result of the ERDF action (baseline: 0) 70 % of the participating enterprises / institutions / organisations will have strengthened their innovative competences 500 new cooperations with the emphasis on innovation Impact / global objectives Results / specific objectives Output / operational objectives Indicator: Number of enterprises / institutions / organisations indicating they have strengthened their innovative competences Indicator: Number of enterprises / institutions / organisations in projects registered under regional innovation capacity framework condition Indicator: Number of cooperations on innovation in projects Indicator: Number of enterprises / institutions / organisations in projects registered under the interaction on innovation framework condition Objective 2 European Regional Development Fund Innovation and knowledge (priority) Objective 2 European Regional Development Fund Innovation and knowledge (priority) Innovation, knowledge sharing and knowledge building Innovation, knowledge sharing and knowledge building Regional innovation capacity Interaction in innovation

Focus on performance Theory of change at project level Project activities The main activities to be undertaken in the project Project activities The main activities to be undertaken in the project Project output The immediate results generated by the project’s activities Project output The immediate results generated by the project’s activities Project effect The short-term and/or long-term effects generated by the project Project effect The short-term and/or long-term effects generated by the project

Capacity building – strengthening of impact assesment in cooperation with regional growth forums  Aims to strengthen the evaluation and impact measurement for the initiatives, that the regional growth forums initiate to strengthen regional business development and growth  Objective: to enhance the knowledge about which initiatives work best and give most value for money – mainly quantitively  The project includes:  Development of methods for measuring effect/impact of different types of regional projects  Helping regional actors to develop a sound evaluation design for specific projects  Performing effect measurement of a number of initiatives, including register data from Statistics Denmark  Strengthening the exchange of experience on successfull regional initiatives – what works well and why  Helping projects to enhance effects through theory of change

Register-based monitoring and impact measurement  Collaborative project with Statistics Denmark on the development of statistical tools for data-based monitoring and impact measurement of Structural Fund interventions.  All projects report VAT-number (for participating companies) and social security number (for participating individuals)  Statistics Denmark connects the VAT and social security number with a number of socioeconomic indicators, and thereby we are able to:  Draw a factual picture of the companies and individuals that the interventions have an effect on  Create a basis for an impact measurement by using control groups and hence draw a picture of the real contribution of the intervention (disentangling the effects of the intervention from the contribution of other factors)  Expamples of socioeconomic indicators:  Companies: localization, industry, turnover, employment, export  Individuals: residence, age, gender, educational level, employment, salary  We are starting to draw the first socio-economic picture of 9,000 VAT numbers (firms) and 23,000 social security numbers (individuals).

 A prior (ex ante) determination of clear and measurable objectives and performance indicators. Indicators should be easy to interpret, statistically validated and directly linked to policy interventions.  Objectives should be:  Indicators should be:  Capturing effects on a quantitative basis (control groups) and on a qualititative basis (strong theories of change).  It is important that indicators create the right incentives for concrete action. The need to create the right incentives is particularly important in the implementation of performance reserves Lessons learned in this period Towards an enhanced performance orientation RelevantAcceptedCredibleEasyRobust SpecificMeasurableAttainableRealisticTimely - straightforward: what, why and how- establishment of concrete criteria for measuring progress- appropriate, achievable, ambitious, agreed- do-able and resourced - a time frame that is reasonable and makes sense for the indicator - by stakeholders- unambigous and easy to interpret- easy to monitor- closely linked to the objectives to be achieved - against manipulation