Levels Of Social Expenditure Research Articles

ДЕТЕРМІНАНТИ ЕКОНОМІЧНОЇ ДОПОМОГИ КРАЇН ‒ ЧЛЕНІВ ЄС УКРАЇНІ В УМОВАХ РОСІЙСЬКО-УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ВІЙНИ

The article examines the issue of economic assistance from EU member states to Ukraine to overcome the negative consequences of the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine. In the economic literature, the issue of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine is focused mainly on the analysis of sanctions and other measures aimed at increasing pressure on the Russian economy and reducing its potential for military aggression. Less attention in the literature has been paid to the supportive measures for countries that have suffered from external military aggression. Therefore, the analysis of systematic data on the economic aid of the EU countries to Ukraine will provide an opportunity to identify factors of the economic aid from the Western countries, namely the EU and its sectoral distribution. The article proves that the issue of maintaining macroeconomic stability becomes fundamentally important for Ukraine on the back of an increase of its military expenditures, a substantial decrease in budget revenues, the need to maintain a certain level of social expenditures, a significant decrease in export potential and a partial Russian infrastructure blockade. That is why the EU’s financial support for Ukraine looks more important than ever. The article proposes economic-mathematical models based on the regression-correlation method for determining the determinants of EU economic aid to Ukraine. The results of the analysis show that total aid to Ukraine is significantly correlated with the donor country’s trade relations with Ukraine, the presence of a common border with the Russian Federation, and is inversely proportional to the size of the donor country’s economy. Countries with a larger share of migrants from Ukraine are the largest providers of financial aid to Ukraine. Humanitarian aid significantly correlates only with imports to Ukraine. Military aid depends on the size of the donor’s economy and the presence of a common border with the Russian Federation. No evidence was found of the influence of the following indicators on aid to Ukraine: direct investment in Ukraine, distance from Ukraine, total development aid to the countries of the world. The research allows to conclude that among the EU member states the main donors during the Russian-Ukrainian war were Germany, Poland and France and in relative terms – the Baltic states and Poland. The future development of the Ukrainian economy and foreign trade in general and in particular with EU member states will largely depend on the restoration of the country’s destroyed export structure and access to the seas.

Efficiency of Social Expenditure Levels in Reducing Poverty Risk in the EU‐28

We evaluate the efficiency of social expenditure (SE) to reduce poverty in the European Union (EU) between 2007 and 2015. The data are programs provided by the EU‐SILC and the ESSPROS. Incorporating efficiency analysis improves the results of the analysis of that complex relationship. We found that the correlation between SE and the levels of poverty (and the correlation between SE and the capacity to reduce poverty) is not strong. In addition, the correlation between SE and the levels of poverty before SE (and the correlation between SE and the levels of inequality before SE) is not significant. Our analysis of the efficiency identifies four groups of countries. The first group has a correspondence with the Continental and Nordic Welfare models (Esping‐Andersen, 1990). They have a great level of SE, and their efficiency is above the EU‐28 average. The second group presents the highest efficiency values. The third group is formed by the Mediterranean welfare states, which present a moderate level of expenditure but have low efficiency. A fourth group composed of non‐EU‐15 countries presents a low SE with under/on average efficiency. We also observe that SEs in family/children, housing, and sickness/healthcare are significantly and positively correlated with efficiency measures. Likewise, in the EU‐15, social exclusion expense exhibits a great positive relationship with the efficiency in poverty reduction.

The Efficiency of Public Spending in Basic Education in School Districts in Ecuador

This paper assesses the efficiency of spending in basic education among school districts in Ecuador using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The analysis presented here uses administrative data on educational inputs and per-pupil spending to quantify how much school districts in Ecuador can generate, with these inputs, education outputs; notably, student learning and progression rates. Results indicate that school districts in Ecuador are quite efficient at maintaining children in the education system, but not so much at ensuring their learning. Indeed, results indicate that school districts in Ecuador could improve their capacity to assure student learning (as proxied by results from their national learning assessment) by 10 to 15 percent without investing additional resources. These results are particularly relevant since fiscal savings in Ecuador started to deplete quickly since 2015, making it hard for the country to sustain its levels of social expenditure.

Public Opinion, Turnout and Social Policy: A Comparative Analysis of Policy Congruence in European Liberal Democracies

According to democratic theory, policy responsiveness is a key characteristic of democratic government: citizens’ preferences should affect policy outcomes. Empirically, however, the connection between public opinion and policy is not self-evident and is increasingly challenged. Using an originally constructed data set with information from 21 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries between 1980 and 2014, our research design allows for a comprehensive investigation of the linkages between ideological positions of citizens, parliaments and cabinets on one hand, and redistributive policies in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries on the other hand. We find that the role of the cabinet is more important than that of parliament. Although citizens’ left–right positions do not have an effect (directly or indirectly) on the level of social expenditure, there is a connection between mass preferences and the ideological position of parliament and government in high-turnout contexts.

Yet Another Grand Coalition

With a vote share of just 20.5 percent, the Social Democrats’ (SPD) 2017 Bundestag election result was a disaster. Despite initially deciding not to continue the Grand Coalition (GroKo), when negotiations on forming a Jamaica coalition failed, the Social Democrats found themselves back in coalition talks they never wanted. Although a strong minority of party members remained opposed, in the end the coalition agreement proved to be the best strategic alternative and is a Social Democratic success, especially concerning the level of social expenditures. In light of the election outcome, the success of the new GroKo is highly important for the coalition parties, as well as for Germany and its people.

Social security research in a context of welfare state priorities: foreign approaches

The issues of social security at the level of individual nation-states and the world community in general were highlighted especially in the beginning of XXI century under the influence of political, economic and military challenges and threats. The article deals with the problem of social security as a welfare state priority in a global world. Author of the article discussed different approaches of social security phenomenon in theoretical aspects. Author of the article try to understand differences between Copenhagen and Paris school approaches on social security problem with connection of indicators of social expenditures and Social Progress Index (SPI). The result of research is the found positive relationship between social expenditures and social progress in different countries. Social security system is more developed in countries with high level of social expenditures and stimulates social progress. The results of research can be useful in discourse of social security progress in a context of social policy and social progress on national and global levels.

Economic Hardship and Well-Being: Examining the Relative Role of Individual Resources and Welfare State Effort in Resilience Against Economic Hardship

With the aftermath of the economic crisis starting to fold out, the extent and the conditions under which the experience of economic hardship thwarts subjective well-being spark academic interest. In this paper, we examine the cushioning impact of three immaterial buffers embedded within civil society—namely social networks, religiosity, and confidence in politics—in combination with the cushioning role of the welfare state. Analyzing the 2010 wave of the European Social Survey, the results confirm that the experience of economic hardship is inversely related to happiness. All three proposed protective measures cushion the negative impact of economic strain on happiness, whereby the positive effect of social networks and confidence in politics is stronger in countries with lower levels of social expenditure. The latter finding provides some evidence for the crowding out-thesis but mainly suggests that a strong welfare state can take over the role of protective buffers in civil society, which is helpful as such buffers are less present among the most vulnerable social groups. The results of the analysis are discussed in relation to social science research and public policy.

Social Expenditures at Sub-National Level: An Experience from Indian State of Odisha

The composition and trends of social expenditures at sub-national level in India has been examined using the secondary data from 1987-88 to 2013-14 of the state of Odisha. The composition shows (1) the insignificant share of productive social expenditures, (2) significant share of education relegating the role of health care and (3) higher priority of transfer payments relative to the level of employment and health. The comparative analysis of the composition between pre and post-restructuring period indicates the shifting of priority from education and health towards transfer payments in the later than the former period. The level of social expenditures has been declined over the time period leading to excessive contraction of educational expenditures. The decline in the level of social expenditures is attributed to the use of implicit loopholes of the efficiency criteria used for the devolution of federal transfers. For the economic development of the state increased level of social expenditures, higher priority of education and health and reform in the efficiency criteria used for the devolution of transfers are of crucial need of the hour.

Effectiveness of Poverty Reduction in the EU: A Descriptive Analysis

The European Union coordinates and encourages Member State actions to combat poverty, and to reform their social protection systems on the basis of policy exchanges and mutual learning (‘best practices’). Some EU countries are more effective in poverty reduction than others. What can explain these variations in effectiveness‘ This paper analyses the effectiveness of welfare state policies and especially social transfers in EU-countries in alleviating poverty. To indicate whether European economic integration may have had any impact on poverty reduction, we also include several non-EU15 countries as a benchmark into our analysis. We analyze on a cross-country basis the relationship between poverty rates and social effort, as measured by social expenditure ratios. We also correct these expenditure ratios for the impact of the tax system and for private social arrangements, using OECD methodology. Next, we compare poverty rates at the levels of market and disposable incomes, that is before and after transfers, in order to analyze the effect of tax and transfer policies in reducing poverty, i.e. to determine the target efficiency of social transfers. We perform several tests with the most recent data (LIS, OECD SOCX, and Eurostat: ECHP/EU-SILC).Our results are less clear cut than earlier findings. We still find a quite strong negative relationship between the level of social expenditure and poverty among OECD countries. However, for EU-countries this relationship is weaker and there are substantial differences within the EU15. After correcting for the impact of taxes and for private social arrangements, the linkage between social effort and poverty levels becomes even weaker. Also, we do not find a strong relationship between levels of social spending and antipoverty effects of social transfers and taxes. At the program level, family programs and child support alleviate poverty to a large extent.

The Australian Welfare State and the Neoliberalism Thesis

This paper uses Australian Bureau of Statistics fiscal incidence figures to track trends in the Australian welfare state across the period 1984 to 2004. Its general aim is to assess the proposition that recent governments have been ‘grave-diggers’ of the welfare state in Australia. More specifically, it tracks the overall level of social expenditure at the household level and the degree of vertical redistribution between households. Since the period in question covers twelve years of Labor and eight years of Coalition government in Canberra, the authors also seek evidence of political effect in welfare state trends. Their general conclusion is that far from succumbing to neoliberalism, the Australian welfare state became if anything even larger over this period. Neither bipartisan economic liberalisation, nor competing party welfare policies, made much difference to the welfare state when viewed through a fiscal incidence lens.

Social income transfers and poverty: A cross‐country analysis for OECD countries

Caminada K, Goudswaard K, Koster F. Social income transfers and poverty: a cross‐country analysis for OECD countriesPoverty alleviation is an important policy objective in developed welfare states. This article reports on a study of the association between social transfer policies and poverty. It has been claimed in several studies that based on a simple bivariate approach, high social effort goes along with low poverty levels. Empirical studies have also found that factors such as demographic and economic conditions may also have an influence on poverty, affecting the relationship between social spending and poverty. In the present study, we empirically analysed the impact of social expenditure on poverty for the period 1985–2005, and in contrast to previous research, demographic and macroeconomic differences across countries were controlled for. Quite a strong negative relationship was still found between the level of social expenditure and poverty. Ageing and unemployment rates were found to have some explanatory power but without affecting the association between social transfers and poverty. Thus, the multivariate approach chosen in this study confirms the results of earlier research.

Effectiveness of Poverty Reduction in the EU: A Descriptive Analysis

AbstractThe European Union coordinates and encourages Member State actions to combat poverty, and to reform their social protection systems on the basis of policy exchanges and mutual learning (‘best practices’). This paper analyses the effectiveness of welfare state policies and especially social transfers in EU‐countries in alleviating poverty. To indicate whether European economic integration may have had any impact on poverty reduction, we also include several non‐EU15 countries as a benchmark into our analysis. We analyze on a cross‐country basis the relationship between poverty rates and social effort, as measured by social expenditure ratios. We also correct these expenditure ratios for the impact of the tax system and for private social arrangements, using OECD methodology. Next, we compare poverty rates at the levels of market and disposable incomes; that is, before and after transfers, in order to analyze the effect of tax and transfer policies in reducing poverty, i.e., to determine the target efficiency of social transfers. We perform several tests with the most recent data. Our results are less clear cut than earlier findings. We still find a quite strong negative relationship between the level of social expenditure and poverty among OECD countries. However, for EU‐countries this relationship is weaker and there are substantial differences within the EU15. After correcting for the impact of taxes and for private social arrangements, the linkage between social effort and poverty levels becomes even weaker. Also, we do not find a strong relationship between levels of social spending and antipoverty effects of social transfers and taxes. At the program level, family programs and child support alleviate poverty to a large extent.

Welfare Spending in an Era of Globalization: The North—South Divide

This paper examines the assertion that economic globalization has led to the decline of welfare spending in recent decades. Although it is often argued that the increasing intensity of globalization has led to such a decline in the industrialized states, the paper finds that there has been little, if any, downturn in either levels of state expenditure in general or in levels of welfare spending in particular. However, the experience of the developing states has been rather different. In their case, the last few decades indicate that stagnation or a decline in welfare spending has occurred, particularly during the period of structural adjustment implementation. It is argued that the OECD countries still manage to provide a high level of social welfare to their populations that closely resembles the compensatory state model. In contradistinction, many of the states in the South have struggled to maintain their levels of social expenditure and therefore most resemble Cerny's competitive state model. In order to explain these two divergent outcomes, the paper examines the way in which the behaviour of certain key international financial actors (investors, multinational companies, international financial institutions) differs with regard to these two sets of countries.

The Impact of the Welfare State and Social Policy on the Working Population: The Recent British Experience

This paper focuses on financing the welfare state expenditures in the UK. It offers a comprehensive analysis of social expenditures and taxes paid by the working population families, and an estimation of the net benefits received by them. While the subsequent analysis of the welfare state and its development primarily concentrates on the British experience, it has a broader application to other OECD countries. The UK as the most egalitarian “liberal market economy,” offers an interesting case for the study of the interaction between the welfare state expansion and economic growth. In terms of her capitalist economic structure, (interaction between market and economy) she is relatively closer to the USA and other Angelo-Saxon (liberal market) economies. In terms of her level of social expenditures, she is much closer to the European “social market economies” than the USA and other more egalitarian “liberal market economies.”

Women's Political Representation and Welfare State Spending in 12 Capitalist Democracies

One of the sharpest criticisms of welfare state research is insufficient attention to factors relating to gender relations and inequalities. Recent scholarship has begun to address welfare state effects on gender-related outcomes, but the evaluation of theories of welfare development with respect to gender factors is somewhat less developed, leaving open a number of important questions regarding gender as a mechanism behind welfare state development. Using established theoretical perspectives as a baseline model, this study evaluates the effects of women's political power on welfare state effort within 12 capitalist democracies. Cross-sectional time-series analyses of OECD data provide evidence for the impact of women's political representation on levels of social expenditure. Further, women's political representation mediates a portion of the effects of women in the labor force. We discuss implications for extending welfare state theory and for refining the role of gender-related mechanisms in welfare state development.

The Welfare Expenditure Debate: ‘Economic Myths of the Left and the Right’ Revisited

AbstractJust over 20 years ago, Fred Gruen (1982) reviewed debates about the level of welfare expenditure in Australia, noting them as being motivated on the one hand by the view that ‘more is better’, and on the other hand by the view that ‘too much’ is dangerous. Despite Gruen's debunking of many assertions about the Australian welfare state, the debate continues, with arguments on the one hand, that Australian welfare state spending is ‘mean’ compared to other countries, and on the other hand, that Australia has a significant problem of welfare dependency and increasing welfare spending. This paper presents the results of recent OECD studies that provide the most-up-to-date comparative information on the relative performance of Australian welfare arrangements. The paper looks at: (i) the trends in the level of social expenditure in Australia compared to other OECD countries, and explanations for differences across countries; (ii) the level of benefit receipt among people of working age; (iii) the impact of social expenditure on income distribution; and (iv) the relative generosity of benefits and implications for incentives. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy conclusions that might be drawn from these comparisons.

The Puzzle of Egalitarianism. The Relationship between Employment, Wage Inequality, Social Expenditure and Poverty

In social policy debates, there are fundamentally different views of links between such key variables as employment, low pay, social transfers and poverty. This paper reviews basic empirical evidence on the validity of these views and the policy prescriptions that follow from them, drawing mainly on cross-country comparative studies. These reveal that clear and striking cross-country correlations prevail, but not, as is often so readily suggested, between low pay (wage compression) and employment performance, or between employment performance and poverty. Instead, results indicate a strong but negative cross-country correlation between the level of social spending and the incidence of poverty, as well as a strong and positive cross-country correlation between the incidence of low pay and the incidence of relative poverty. While the former correlation has become part of the received wisdom in social policy research, the latter is more surprising, as the correlation is not due to a strong link between low pay and poverty at the individual level. In addition, the incidence of low wage employment and social expenditure are also strongly and (negatively) related. We examine these correlations in more depth, particularly the link between the level of social spending and poverty. Since there is such a clear and strong negative link between the level of social expenditure and the level of poverty, it is tempting to think that more social spending offers an easy means of reducing poverty. However, a simple simulation exercise using Luxemburg Income Study data from the mid 90's suggests that putting more money into social transfer systems as they currently exist in the EU would not have a positive outcome on poverty rates in all countries. In the final section of the paper, we briefly summarise the results, and put forward a recommendation for further research.