Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2022.2097105
Structure of the population or economic conditions? Determinants of spending on social protection in the European Union
Agata Szymańska
Abstract
The paper examines the relationship between dependent variables
(spending on social protection and spending on social protection
benefits) and variables that capture the economic
structure of the population and economic activity on the example
of panel data of 26 European Union (EU) countries (except for
Bulgaria and Croatia) over the years 2000-2017. In particular, the
economic structure of the population is analysed by the age
dependency ratio, while economic activity is expressed by the
real GDP per capita growth rate and the unemployment rate.
Regardless of the estimation technique for specifications with variables
transformed to first differences, the results of the study
indicate a statistically significant association between the dependent
variables and the macroeconomic conditions of the EU countries.
By contrast, the relationships between the dependency
ratios and the dependent variables are positive but generally statistically
insignificant, although EU countries are undergoing
advanced processes of population ageing.
Keywords
Population ageing; economic activity; European Union; heterogeneity; spending on social protection; elections; age dependency ratio; socioeconomic determinants of social spending
Hrčak ID:
304227
URI
Publication date:
31.3.2023.
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