Regional Indicators for the Preparation and Redefinition of the GRW Assisted Area from 2021 (Spatial Observation)

Department: in cooperation with GEFRA Gesellschaft für Finanz- und Regionalanalysen Münster

Content

In its current coalition agreement, the CDU/CSU and SPD agreed to redesign regional policies using a unified system of indicators for the whole of Germany. The model for this was supposed to be the joint task "Improvement of the Regional Economic Structure" (GRW). The GRW indicator for the demarcation of structurally weak, and therefore eligible, regions currently comprises of an income indicator (gross wage per employee), two labour market indicators (unemployment rate and medium-term forecast of employment development) and a summarised infrastructure indicator. The aim of the research project was to examine the suitability of these indicators to demarcate structurally weak regions and, if necessary, to propose alternative demarcation criteria.

The current GRW indicators show a number of conceptual weaknesses and should be revised as a result. After examining a large number of alternative indicators, the proposal was made to use gross domestic product per employed person as the income indicator and the more broadly defined underemployment rate as the labour market indicator. This could be supplemented by an indicator on demographic development (e.g. projection of population development up to 2035) and a modified infrastructure indicator. Even if such an indicator system is applied, eastern German regions in particular are classified as eligible for support, along with former industrial areas in western Germany.