IOM also conducts research projects to improve knowledge for developing new integration policies or programmes. In Portugal, for example, previous IOM-supported research projects have included a 2006 study of the different levels of socio-economic integration of immigrants across different geographical areas (regions, and major metropolitan areas). The study was part of a wider EU-financed initiative which included research projects in Italy, France, Spain and the UK. The aim of the project was to provide policy makers with a research-based tool to inform the decision making and governance of the complex phenomenon of integration, providing also a transnational base of comparison.