Application of Regional Indicators to Prepare the Redefinition the GRW Assisted Area

In order to determine the funding regions of the joint task "Verbesserung der Regionalen Wirtschaftsstruktur" (GRW) from 2022 onwards, this study establishes rankings of labor market region. These rankings may serve as a basis for policy makers to determine the target regions of an "all-German funding policy". The overwhelming majority of the structurally weak regions are still to be found in Eastern Germany; some (mainly old industrial) regions in Western Germany are also considered structurally weak. So, the reform has only a  small impact on whether a region is classified as a regional development area.