Laura Polverari
Biographic Data
| ID | 4380672 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Laura Polverari |
| GIVEN NAMES | Laura |
| FAMILY NAME | Polverari |
| SIGNATURE | POLVERARI L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Padua |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2242-6320 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 82 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Challenging Conventional Wisdom on Administrative Capacity With Open Data: Could ‘Administrative Throughput’ Be the Missing Link Between Administrative Inputs and Outputs
Despite the popularity of the concept, the measurement and the conceptualization of administrative capacity remain ambiguous, based on proxies, and overlook the local level. Conceptualization is weakened by the conflation of exogenous variables. Quantitative and qualitative perspectives are rarely reconciled, leading to fragmentation and to an overestimation of the effect of administrative capacity on policy performance. We tackle these shortcomi…
The Meloni government: Consolidation and a Return to Politics
Reconceptualising the EU-member states relationship in the age of permanent emergency
Since 2008, the European Union (EU) has been engulfed in several crises. While distinct, these crises are feeding into each other and are testing the capacity and resilience of EU and member states, bringing forward common policy questions and new forms of cooperation. The permanent character of this state of crisis has made analysts talk about our times as the age of permacrisis. As a result, a trend towards a new mode of ‘coordinative Europeani…
Coordinative Europeanization as a response to crisis: What lessons from the RRF for future EU cohesion policy
A considerable amount of literature has been devoted to analysing the genesis, rationale and modus operandi of the NGEU and RRF. However, not much attention has been paid to the practical implications of the RRF, and potential lesson-drawing, for established EU policies. EU cohesion policy is particularly salient in this respect, given the RRF’s general objective of contributing to economic, social and territorial cohesion and the current discuss…
Administrative traditions and the role of conditionality for governance reforms: Evidence from the EU regional innovation policy
This study examines how governments from different administrative traditions reformed their innovation policy governance following the adoption of the Smart Specialisation approach of EU cohesion policy for the 2014–2020 funding period. Based on four case studies, it argues that different administrative settings played a role in the uptake of intended governance reforms and that thematic ex ante conditionalities were not sufficient to guarantee s…
Administrative capacity and EU Cohesion Policy: Implementation performance and effectiveness
The past two decades have seen increasing interest in the quality of government as an explanatory factor for the performance of European Union (EU) Cohesion Policy. An under-researched strand of these studies is administrative capacity in Cohesion Policy. Against this background, this mini-special issue provides new perspectives on the theme of administrative capacity, providing new insights into the operation and effectiveness of administrative …
Empowerment via delegation? The administrative capacity-building potential of Cohesion Policy urban development strategies
The study examines the implementation of urban development strategies in Scotland, UK, and the Veneto Region of Italy and fills an important gap in the knowledge about the capacity-building potential of such strategies. Following a principal-agent approach, the investigation shows that narrow delegation models incentivize compliance, are less conducive to capacity-building and reinforce an administrative capacity paradox. By contributing an origi…
Policy integration, policy design and administrative capacities. Evidence from EU cohesion policy
Although policy integration research has been burgeoning over the past decade, numerous blank spots exist in our understanding of the rationale, the policy-making implications and implementation challenges of integrated policy designs. This study aims at improving our knowledge in this field by reflecting on the relevance of administrative capacities for the development and implementation of integrated policies. Based on an in-depth analysis of t…
Introduction: Policy integration and institutional capacity: theoretical, conceptual and empirical challenges
The issue of institutional capacity has received increased attention in the research on policy integration, bringing about the proliferation of conceptions aimed at capturing the linkage between cross-sectoral aspects of policy designs and the specific attributes that governmental institutions and processes should possess in order to effectively formulate and implement integrated policies. This article contributes to reducing conceptual and analy…
Introduction: Drawing lessons from international policy-transfer initiatives in regional and urban development and spatial planning
The collection of papers in this issue brings new insights to the processes of international policy transfer and learning in the fields of regional and urban development policy, regional innovation and transit-oriented development. It explores, through the perspective of different disciplines, the motivations of actors, tangible and non-tangible outputs, the role of factors affecting the process, and the spillover effects of such process. The con…
EU–China and EU–Brazil policy transfer in regional policy
The paper investigates the European Union (EU)–Brazil and EU–China regional policy dialogues, viewed as vectors of cross-national policy transfer. Regional policy is considered as having limited transfer potential due to its inward orientation, context specificity and complexity. Yet, knowledge exchange and voluntary policy transfer have taken place between the EU and Brazil and between the EU and China since the mid-2000s. The study investigates…
Visions of Europe: Emerging challenges for the European project in the aftermath of the 2014 European Parliament elections
The European Union (EU) is facing a profound political crisis of leadership, legitimacy, and purpose. This article provides an analysis of these key dimensions of crisis. It does so by examining the way in which they intersect and their impact on the EU’s institutional architecture, on the politicization of the European public sphere, on the wider dynamics of representation that underpin these processes, and on the political systems and polities …
Does Devolution Increase Accountability? Empirical Evidence from the Implementation of European Union Cohesion Policy
Does devolution increase accountability? Empirical evidence from the implementation of European Union Cohesion Policy, Regional Studies. The period from the late 1990s to the early 2000s witnessed trends of decentralization, deconcentration or devolution of competencies from the national to the sub-national levels in a variety of countries. Implicit or explicit in many of the discussions about devolution is the assumption that by bringing the des…
Policy Rhetoric versus Political Reality: Has the Italian State Given Up on the Mezzogiorno
The goal to develop the Mezzogiorno has been a long-standing feature of Italian public policy, reflecting the enduring, and so far unsolved, duality between the developed Centre–North and the lagging South. The policy response has changed over time: from the ‘Special Intervention’ to the more recent nuova programmazione. This article focuses on the evolution of the nuova programmazione during the last few years, from 2007 to 2011. It shows that n…
Financial Accountability and European Union Cohesion Policy
Davies S. and Polverari L. Financial accountability and European Union Cohesion policy, Regional Studies. Many changes in European Union Cohesion policy since the late 1990s have been driven by the need to ensure and demonstrate financial accountability. This paper examines how the increased emphasis on financial management, control and audit in relation to the European Union budget is reshaping the governance of Cohesion policy, as well as the i…
Introduction: Policy integration and institutional capacity: theoretical, conceptual and empirical challenges
The issue of institutional capacity has received increased attention in the research on policy integration, bringing about the proliferation of conceptions aimed at capturing the linkage between cross-sectoral aspects of policy designs and the specific attributes that governmental institutions and processes should possess in order to effectively formulate and implement integrated policies. This article contributes to reducing conceptual and analy…
Does Devolution Increase Accountability? Empirical Evidence from the Implementation of European Union Cohesion Policy
Does devolution increase accountability? Empirical evidence from the implementation of European Union Cohesion Policy, Regional Studies. The period from the late 1990s to the early 2000s witnessed trends of decentralization, deconcentration or devolution of competencies from the national to the sub-national levels in a variety of countries. Implicit or explicit in many of the discussions about devolution is the assumption that by bringing the des…
EU–China and EU–Brazil policy transfer in regional policy
The paper investigates the European Union (EU)–Brazil and EU–China regional policy dialogues, viewed as vectors of cross-national policy transfer. Regional policy is considered as having limited transfer potential due to its inward orientation, context specificity and complexity. Yet, knowledge exchange and voluntary policy transfer have taken place between the EU and Brazil and between the EU and China since the mid-2000s. The study investigates…
Empowerment via delegation? The administrative capacity-building potential of Cohesion Policy urban development strategies
The study examines the implementation of urban development strategies in Scotland, UK, and the Veneto Region of Italy and fills an important gap in the knowledge about the capacity-building potential of such strategies. Following a principal-agent approach, the investigation shows that narrow delegation models incentivize compliance, are less conducive to capacity-building and reinforce an administrative capacity paradox. By contributing an origi…
Reconceptualising the EU-member states relationship in the age of permanent emergency
Since 2008, the European Union (EU) has been engulfed in several crises. While distinct, these crises are feeding into each other and are testing the capacity and resilience of EU and member states, bringing forward common policy questions and new forms of cooperation. The permanent character of this state of crisis has made analysts talk about our times as the age of permacrisis. As a result, a trend towards a new mode of ‘coordinative Europeani…
The Meloni government: Consolidation and a Return to Politics
Administrative capacity and EU Cohesion Policy: Implementation performance and effectiveness
The past two decades have seen increasing interest in the quality of government as an explanatory factor for the performance of European Union (EU) Cohesion Policy. An under-researched strand of these studies is administrative capacity in Cohesion Policy. Against this background, this mini-special issue provides new perspectives on the theme of administrative capacity, providing new insights into the operation and effectiveness of administrative …
Introduction: Drawing lessons from international policy-transfer initiatives in regional and urban development and spatial planning
The collection of papers in this issue brings new insights to the processes of international policy transfer and learning in the fields of regional and urban development policy, regional innovation and transit-oriented development. It explores, through the perspective of different disciplines, the motivations of actors, tangible and non-tangible outputs, the role of factors affecting the process, and the spillover effects of such process. The con…
Policy Rhetoric versus Political Reality: Has the Italian State Given Up on the Mezzogiorno
The goal to develop the Mezzogiorno has been a long-standing feature of Italian public policy, reflecting the enduring, and so far unsolved, duality between the developed Centre–North and the lagging South. The policy response has changed over time: from the ‘Special Intervention’ to the more recent nuova programmazione. This article focuses on the evolution of the nuova programmazione during the last few years, from 2007 to 2011. It shows that n…
Coordinative Europeanization as a response to crisis: What lessons from the RRF for future EU cohesion policy
A considerable amount of literature has been devoted to analysing the genesis, rationale and modus operandi of the NGEU and RRF. However, not much attention has been paid to the practical implications of the RRF, and potential lesson-drawing, for established EU policies. EU cohesion policy is particularly salient in this respect, given the RRF’s general objective of contributing to economic, social and territorial cohesion and the current discuss…
Financial Accountability and European Union Cohesion Policy
Davies S. and Polverari L. Financial accountability and European Union Cohesion policy, Regional Studies. Many changes in European Union Cohesion policy since the late 1990s have been driven by the need to ensure and demonstrate financial accountability. This paper examines how the increased emphasis on financial management, control and audit in relation to the European Union budget is reshaping the governance of Cohesion policy, as well as the i…
Policy integration, policy design and administrative capacities. Evidence from EU cohesion policy
Although policy integration research has been burgeoning over the past decade, numerous blank spots exist in our understanding of the rationale, the policy-making implications and implementation challenges of integrated policy designs. This study aims at improving our knowledge in this field by reflecting on the relevance of administrative capacities for the development and implementation of integrated policies. Based on an in-depth analysis of t…
Administrative traditions and the role of conditionality for governance reforms: Evidence from the EU regional innovation policy
This study examines how governments from different administrative traditions reformed their innovation policy governance following the adoption of the Smart Specialisation approach of EU cohesion policy for the 2014–2020 funding period. Based on four case studies, it argues that different administrative settings played a role in the uptake of intended governance reforms and that thematic ex ante conditionalities were not sufficient to guarantee s…
Visions of Europe: Emerging challenges for the European project in the aftermath of the 2014 European Parliament elections
The European Union (EU) is facing a profound political crisis of leadership, legitimacy, and purpose. This article provides an analysis of these key dimensions of crisis. It does so by examining the way in which they intersect and their impact on the EU’s institutional architecture, on the politicization of the European public sphere, on the wider dynamics of representation that underpin these processes, and on the political systems and polities …
Financial Accountability and European Union Cohesion Policy
Davies S. and Polverari L. Financial accountability and European Union Cohesion policy, Regional Studies. Many changes in European Union Cohesion policy since the late 1990s have been driven by the need to ensure and demonstrate financial accountability. This paper examines how the increased emphasis on financial management, control and audit in relation to the European Union budget is reshaping the governance of Cohesion policy, as well as the i…
Policy Rhetoric versus Political Reality: Has the Italian State Given Up on the Mezzogiorno
The goal to develop the Mezzogiorno has been a long-standing feature of Italian public policy, reflecting the enduring, and so far unsolved, duality between the developed Centre–North and the lagging South. The policy response has changed over time: from the ‘Special Intervention’ to the more recent nuova programmazione. This article focuses on the evolution of the nuova programmazione during the last few years, from 2007 to 2011. It shows that n…
Does Devolution Increase Accountability? Empirical Evidence from the Implementation of European Union Cohesion Policy
Does devolution increase accountability? Empirical evidence from the implementation of European Union Cohesion Policy, Regional Studies. The period from the late 1990s to the early 2000s witnessed trends of decentralization, deconcentration or devolution of competencies from the national to the sub-national levels in a variety of countries. Implicit or explicit in many of the discussions about devolution is the assumption that by bringing the des…
Visions of Europe: Emerging challenges for the European project in the aftermath of the 2014 European Parliament elections
The European Union (EU) is facing a profound political crisis of leadership, legitimacy, and purpose. This article provides an analysis of these key dimensions of crisis. It does so by examining the way in which they intersect and their impact on the EU’s institutional architecture, on the politicization of the European public sphere, on the wider dynamics of representation that underpin these processes, and on the political systems and polities …
Introduction: Drawing lessons from international policy-transfer initiatives in regional and urban development and spatial planning
The collection of papers in this issue brings new insights to the processes of international policy transfer and learning in the fields of regional and urban development policy, regional innovation and transit-oriented development. It explores, through the perspective of different disciplines, the motivations of actors, tangible and non-tangible outputs, the role of factors affecting the process, and the spillover effects of such process. The con…
EU–China and EU–Brazil policy transfer in regional policy
The paper investigates the European Union (EU)–Brazil and EU–China regional policy dialogues, viewed as vectors of cross-national policy transfer. Regional policy is considered as having limited transfer potential due to its inward orientation, context specificity and complexity. Yet, knowledge exchange and voluntary policy transfer have taken place between the EU and Brazil and between the EU and China since the mid-2000s. The study investigates…
Policy integration, policy design and administrative capacities. Evidence from EU cohesion policy
Although policy integration research has been burgeoning over the past decade, numerous blank spots exist in our understanding of the rationale, the policy-making implications and implementation challenges of integrated policy designs. This study aims at improving our knowledge in this field by reflecting on the relevance of administrative capacities for the development and implementation of integrated policies. Based on an in-depth analysis of t…
Introduction: Policy integration and institutional capacity: theoretical, conceptual and empirical challenges
The issue of institutional capacity has received increased attention in the research on policy integration, bringing about the proliferation of conceptions aimed at capturing the linkage between cross-sectoral aspects of policy designs and the specific attributes that governmental institutions and processes should possess in order to effectively formulate and implement integrated policies. This article contributes to reducing conceptual and analy…
Empowerment via delegation? The administrative capacity-building potential of Cohesion Policy urban development strategies
The study examines the implementation of urban development strategies in Scotland, UK, and the Veneto Region of Italy and fills an important gap in the knowledge about the capacity-building potential of such strategies. Following a principal-agent approach, the investigation shows that narrow delegation models incentivize compliance, are less conducive to capacity-building and reinforce an administrative capacity paradox. By contributing an origi…
Administrative capacity and EU Cohesion Policy: Implementation performance and effectiveness
The past two decades have seen increasing interest in the quality of government as an explanatory factor for the performance of European Union (EU) Cohesion Policy. An under-researched strand of these studies is administrative capacity in Cohesion Policy. Against this background, this mini-special issue provides new perspectives on the theme of administrative capacity, providing new insights into the operation and effectiveness of administrative …
Reconceptualising the EU-member states relationship in the age of permanent emergency
Since 2008, the European Union (EU) has been engulfed in several crises. While distinct, these crises are feeding into each other and are testing the capacity and resilience of EU and member states, bringing forward common policy questions and new forms of cooperation. The permanent character of this state of crisis has made analysts talk about our times as the age of permacrisis. As a result, a trend towards a new mode of ‘coordinative Europeani…
Coordinative Europeanization as a response to crisis: What lessons from the RRF for future EU cohesion policy
A considerable amount of literature has been devoted to analysing the genesis, rationale and modus operandi of the NGEU and RRF. However, not much attention has been paid to the practical implications of the RRF, and potential lesson-drawing, for established EU policies. EU cohesion policy is particularly salient in this respect, given the RRF’s general objective of contributing to economic, social and territorial cohesion and the current discuss…
Administrative traditions and the role of conditionality for governance reforms: Evidence from the EU regional innovation policy
This study examines how governments from different administrative traditions reformed their innovation policy governance following the adoption of the Smart Specialisation approach of EU cohesion policy for the 2014–2020 funding period. Based on four case studies, it argues that different administrative settings played a role in the uptake of intended governance reforms and that thematic ex ante conditionalities were not sufficient to guarantee s…
The Meloni government: Consolidation and a Return to Politics
Challenging Conventional Wisdom on Administrative Capacity With Open Data: Could ‘Administrative Throughput’ Be the Missing Link Between Administrative Inputs and Outputs
Despite the popularity of the concept, the measurement and the conceptualization of administrative capacity remain ambiguous, based on proxies, and overlook the local level. Conceptualization is weakened by the conflation of exogenous variables. Quantitative and qualitative perspectives are rarely reconciled, leading to fragmentation and to an overestimation of the effect of administrative capacity on policy performance. We tackle these shortcomi…
Economics (14 works) · Political science (14 works) · Public Administration (10 works) · Public Administration (10 works) · European union (9 works) · Politics (7 works) · Regional Development and Policy (7 works) · Cohesion (chemistry (6 works) · European Union Policy and Governance (6 works) · Law (6 works)