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Sarah Fritz

Sarah Fritz
Aktuelle Position

seit 2/20

Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin im Zentrum für evidenzbasierte Politikberatung (IWH-CEP)

Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH)

Forschungsschwerpunkte
  • Regionalpolitik
  • räumliche Verteilung wirtschaftlicher Aktivitäten
  • politische Wirkungsanalyse

Seit Februar 2020 ist Sarah Fritz Doktorandin im Zentrum für evidenzbasierte Politikberatung des IWH (IWH-CEP). Sie untersucht die Auswirkungen politischer Maßnahmen, Regionalpolitik sowie die räumliche Verteilung wirtschaftlicher Aktivitäten.

Sarah Fritz studierte am Deutsch-Französischen Campus von Sciences Po in Nancy und der Università Bocconi.

Ihr Kontakt

Sarah Fritz
Sarah Fritz
- Abteilung Zentrum für evidenzbasierte Politikberatung
Nachricht senden +49 345 7753-741 Persönliche Seite LinkedIn Profil

Arbeitspapiere

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A Helping Hand, but not a Lift. EU Cohesion Policy and Regional Development

Eva Dettmann Sarah Fritz

in: IWH Discussion Papers, Nr. 18, 2025

Abstract

<p>This study provides new evidence on the impact of the EU Cohesion Policy on income growth in less developed regions. Our panel includes data from all European regions for the years 1989-2020. Using a fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design, we model treatment dynamics by applying a random effects estimator. Based on digitized historical data, we precisely replicate the policy rule and correctly classify the regions’ eligibility status. Results show that the policy has a moderate positive effect on GDP per capita growth in the targeted regions.</p>

Publikation lesen

Declining Free Lunch: State Capacity and Foregone Public Spending

Sarah Fritz Lorenzo Incoronato Catherine van der List

in: RFBerlin Discussion Paper, Nr. 67, 2025

Abstract

<p>This paper documents substantial fiscal waste in the context of one the world’s largest regional development programs – the EU Cohesion Policy. We study Italy, and find that 20% of funding commitments are never paid out and funneled into unfinished or never-started projects. In our setting, this happens for reasons unrelated to fiscal constraints – municipalities appear to simply leave money on the table. Foregone spending is more prevalent in Southern regions, but there is also stark variation across municipalities within regions. We show that such under-utilization of available funds is strongly associated with limited administrative capacity of local governments.</p>

Publikation lesen
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Reshaping the Economy? Local Reallocation Effects of Place-Based Policies

Sarah Fritz Catherine van der List

in: CESifo, Nr. 12031, July 2025

Abstract

<p>We study the effects of place-based policies on aggregate productivity using administrative data on projects co-financed by the EU in Italy linked to balance sheet data. We exploit quasi-experimental variation in funding for a large place-based policy stemming from measurement error in regional GDP estimates. Results show that the policy likely decreases productivity. Decompositions reveal that aggregate declines are driven by reallocation of labor to low-productivity firms. Mechanism analysis using firm-level event studies reveals that negative reallocation effects are caused by high-productivity firms taking up the funds and subsequently becoming more liquidity constrained, leading to slowdowns in employment growth.</p>

Publikation lesen
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