Scientometrics analysis of ESF-projects in Finland : Funding period 2007-2013

Abstract

European Social Fund (ESF) is among the largest funding instruments in the EU. However, less is known how collaboration networks in ESF-programs are formed at the regional level. Therefore, this Finnish case study evaluates what kind of collaboration relationships are existing among ESF-project actors in Finland during the funding period 2007-2013. In all the dataset included 2.773 ESF-projects and 1.092 different business IDs in four regional and one nationwide programs in five thematic topics areas. In all only 2 percent of organisations have had funding to 40 or more projects, whereas about half of the organisations had participated only in one project and less than firth in two projects. As a result only handful of organisations are actively collaborating and taking part in Finnish ESF-programs. Nationwide funding program has most widespread collaboration, which outperform clearly all four regional programs, in which collaboration is characteristics by fewer but more intensive collaboration.