Inclusive Europe: the impact of the EU Cohesion Policy on immigrants’ economic integration in Italy

By examining the impacts of the Cohesion Policy on immigrants’ economic integration, this study provides evidence on how the European Union promotes inclusion. Focusing on Italian municipalities, we estimate the causal effects of immigrant-related projects on the wage gap between natives and immigrants during the 2007–2018 period. We find a significant decrease in the average wage gap of approximately 7.6%. Specifically, Cohesion Policy played a positive role in immigrant economic inclusion through interventions targeted at supporting the employment and mobility of workers. For the inclusive dimension of the Next Generation EU program, this is key evidence to start with.