Social Protection Expenditure Research Articles

Assessing social protection influence on health status in the European Union.

Health status and access to healthcare services are crucial factors that directly impact the well-being of individuals and societies. In the European Union (EU), social protection measures are significant in supporting citizens' health and providing access to healthcare resources. This study investigates the relationship between social protection and health status in EU countries. We collected data from Eurostat on the EU member states' health status, healthcare expenditure, and social protection expenditure. The paper used structural equation modeling (SEM) and cluster analysis to analyze the complex interplay among these variables. Findings revealed a strong positive correlation between EU countries' social protection expenditure and healthcare status. Higher social protection spending was associated with improved access to healthcare services and facilities. Moreover, the analysis showed that countries with higher social protection expenditure tended to exhibit better overall health status indicators among their populations. The results suggest that adequate social protection expenditure positively influences health status in the European Union. By investing in robust social protection programs, governments can enhance citizens' access to healthcare services and resources, ultimately leading to improved health outcomes. These findings underscore the importance of prioritizing social protection policies to address health disparities and promote public health in the EU.

<p>Do Sound Fiscal Imbalances Affect Social Protection Public Spending in the EU? European Citizens versus Budget Stability.</p>

This paper examines the influence of fiscal imbalances on social protection levels in 28 European countries from 2008 to 2021. The objective is to affirm fiscal policy's cyclical or countercyclical nature and its impact on these social indicators. The novelty of this study lies in placing the European citizen at the forefront of the analysis, considering the repercussions that fiscal policies implemented by various governments have on social living conditions. Robust evidence suggests that an increase in lagged public revenues correlates with expanding social coverage, while a double-lagged public expenditure and a nation's indebtedness contribute adversely. Finally, it is confirmed that social protection expenditure exhibits more pronounced fluctuations in countries adhering to stringent fiscal rules.

Impact Factors for Immigration to Spain

Background: Migration processes play an important role in the economic development of a country and form the human resources necessary for developing countries. Therefore, forming a favourable legislative framework for a certain category of migrants affects the attraction of the necessary human resources for the country. Motivation: Generally, the level of immigration has risen over the last 50 years, and around 3.6% of the total population in the world are immigrants. Identifying the influencing factors that motivate people to migrate is very important. This understanding informs well-designed immigration and effective solutions for foreign policy. Aim: To analyse and model the impact of the factors influencing the choice of the destination country, examining what attracts a person to a country or, on the contrary, why a country may not be chosen. Additionally, this paper seeks to forecast the dynamics of immigration in Spain for 2022-2024 under the impact of selected factors for analysis. Methods: To create a regression model using the R-Studio software based on a data set for the 2000-2021 years. The scientific hypothesis is that the following could have an influence on the level of immigration to Spain: inflation, level of employment and education, government spending on social protection, the share of the ICT sector in the GDP of the country, as well as the economic crisis in the USA for 2007, and legal factor such as the presence of open borders for the African population in 2019, a characteristic not shared by other European countries. The last two indicators, proven significant in attracting immigrants, were incorporated into the model as dummy variables. Results and Conclusions: The research proved a non-linear negative impact of a logarithm of spending on social protection expenditure and the third degree of inflation—conversely, a positive impact of the third degree of employment level. Additionally, the forecast of immigration in Spain under the impact of the above factors was discussed. The paper will be of interest to the government since migration is not only important in terms of the country's demographic structure but also has a direct impact on a country’s national economy. It can either strengthen or weaken the country’s economic development, making it significant to policymakers.

Social Protection Expenditure - Comparisons and Discussions for the EU Countries

Social Protection Expenditure - Comparisons and Discussions for the EU Countries

Political Dynasties and Local Spending in Indonesia

Does political dynasty affect local spending in Indonesia? Only a few articles have taken up the political economy issues in Indonesia This study provides empirical analysis that focuses on explaining the effect of the political competition through dynasty winning in the mayoral election to the local spending that focuses on functional-classified expenditure at the district level. Using the Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) estimation, this study examines whether the dynasty mayor has different trends in the way to spend local expenditure compared to the non-dynasty mayors. Due to the limited political competition, this study finds the magnitude effect of the dynasty mayor on local spending that used to drive the regional economy. Compared to the non-dynasty mayors on a separate sub-dataset, this study finds different effects of a dynasty between the incumbent and the non-incumbent dynasty mayor on local spending. The incumbent dynasty mayor negatively affects ‘visible’ expenditure’ e.g., grant and social assistance expenditure, social protection expenditure, housing and public amenities expenditure, education expenditure, dan current expenditure. This study also finds negative effects of the political dynasty on local spending from the dynasty mayor elected during the period of simultaneous mayoral election (2015-2018).

Social Protection Expenditure and Growth in the Agricultural Sector in Asia

Social Protection Expenditure and Growth in the Agricultural Sector in Asia

Welfare-state selectivity, universality, and social trust in Europe, 2002–2019: Bringing deservingness back in

Social trust is a moral resource with a normatively highly desirable pay-off. Previous research argues that universal welfare state programmes ‘make’ social trust whereas means-testing programmes ‘break’ it. Despite its important implications for welfare-state design, comparative longitudinal evidence for this hypothesis is scarce. To test whether within-country changes in social trust are associated with within-country changes in total, means-tested, and non-means tested social protection expenditure, I thus merge country-year specific ESSPROS welfare spending data with cross-country survey data from 30 countries that participated in the 2002–2019 European Social Survey. Results from multilevel regression models show that neither within-country changes in total nor means-tested or non-means tested social protection expenditure predict social trust. Based on insights from the welfare deservingness literature, the second part of my analysis concentrates on welfare spending directed at two different life-course risks, with sickness representing a risk that the public widely considers to be ‘deserving’ of welfare support, and unemployment acting as an ‘undeserving’ risk. I find that, within countries over time, means-tested healthcare expenditures predict decreases in social trust, whereas non-means tested healthcare expenditure is associated with increasing social trust. My results thus lend support for the hypothesis that welfare-state selectivity and universality can contribute to the making and breaking of social trust, but only when interventions target life-course risks that the public considers ‘deserving’ of welfare state support.

PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL PROTECTION EXPENDITURES IN TURKEY and EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES

The study compared Turkey's education and social protection aid with European Union countries' aid based on EUROSTAT data. The study aims to analyze the adequacy and effectiveness of education expenditures and educational aid provided within the scope of social assistance compared to EU countries. As a method in the study, within the framework of the general screening research model, education aid data within the scope of education expenditures and social protection expenditures in Turkey were analyzed, and these data were assessed comparatively with social protection expenditures in the European Union countries. Considering that the majority of social protection aid in Turkey is generally allocated to general health insurance premiums, pensions for the elderly and disabled, and home care services, the payments made to families with disadvantaged children remain low in terms of both the number of beneficiaries and the total allowance. Compared to EU countries, it seems that the share allocated to families and children remains low in social protection expenditures, and there needs to be increased social aid expenditures in favor of families and children, as in the EU, and to increase the general amount of social aid.

Government Expenditure and Poverty in East Java Province

This study aimed to examine the effect of government spending on poverty in East Java Province. Government spending was examined in terms of spending on education, health, and social protection. The method used was a quantitative approach. Multiple regression analysis was used to test three hypotheses in the study. The population of this study is the Expenditure Realization Report by Function in the APBD of 38 districts/cities in East Java Province in 2017-2021. This study used a saturated sample so that the entire population was used as a sample, amounting to 190 data. The results showed that education expenditure affects poverty with a positive and significant direction of influence. Health expenditure affects poverty, although with a negative direction of influence. Social protection expenditure affects poverty, although with a negative direction of influence. This study is expected to contribute to the government in allocating government spending so that it is following priorities and is right on target for people who are more in need.

Fear of victimization among illicit immigrants in South Africa

The widespread fear of crime and its detrimental consequences have propelled various research studies on the correlates of fear of crime. An impressive body of knowledge has accumulated, which informs both scholars and policymakers of the correlates of fear of crime. However, very little is known about the fear of crime among immigrant populations. Fear of crime associated with immigrants remains a global phenomenon, which drives political rhetoric, media discourse, policymaking, criminal justice, and immigration control and enforcement. The perceived association between immigrants and criminality is a phenomenon with deep historical roots that transcends any particular culture. It is linked to ethnocentrism and othering, wherein dominant groups react to their exposure to alien cultural practices by criminalizing those practices and dehumanizing the immigrants who practice them. The study aims to explore the level of fear of crime among illicit immigrants. Literature analysis was adopted as a methodology to explore the factors impacting the level of fear and the places where illicit immigrants are likely to be victimised are further discussed. The study contributes significantly to the finding that higher crime levels in countries increase the fear of crime; however, they do not affect feelings of unsafety. Social protection expenditure proves to be an important determinant of both fears of crime and feelings of unsafety. Moreover, distrust in the police, generalized social distrust, and perceived ethnic threat induce fear of crime as well as feelings of unsafety. When considered in the context of social harm, immigrants’ relationship to crime and criminality becomes more complex. The study recommends that protective factors, such as neighborhood informal social control, social networks, cultural norms, and expectations about migration and life overall, may contribute to the lower rates of crime and violence among illicit immigrant groups.

THE IMPACT OF ECONOMIC GROWTH AND SOCIAL EXPENDITURE ON POVERTY REDUCTION. PANEL VAR ANALYSIS FOR SOME LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES, 2000-2019

The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of economic growth and social public spending on poverty reduction through a panel of eight Latin America countries along the period of 2000 to 2019. In order to do this, a Panel Vector Autoregressive (PVAR) model is applied. The results show that economic growth has the strongest influence on poverty reduction, in both short and long run; and, while the impact of social protection expenditure does not seem to be significant on short forecast horizons, it seems to be in the long run. According to our forecast error variance decomposition, around 40% of poverty variation is due to a change in economic growth; while almost 16% due to a change in social protection expenditure.

Being poor and being NEET in Europe: Are these two sides of the same coin?

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10888-022-09561-7.

The causal mechanisms behind expansive basic universalism in Kosovo

The majority of Kosovo’s public social welfare provision is today spent on basic universal programmes, namely, old-age pensions, healthcare services and child benefits. These programmes are tax-financed, citizenship-based and unconditional with regard to other criteria. Such expansive basic universalism is unusual for the Western Balkans and the rest of post-socialist Southeastern Europe. The first two of these programmes emerged through a complex process of policy formation led by powerful international organisations (IOs). The third programme was more recently initiated by the first-ever left-wing majority that came to power after two decades of democratic elections, implementing a manifesto that endorses a progressive policy mix. This outcome is counterintuitive: the IOs would be naturally expected to lean towards means-tested, targeted programmes, and Kosovo to crystallise into a (neo)liberal welfare regime (path-dependency). The article examines the detailed causal mechanisms that intervened in producing the outcome. Basic universalism has already had a significant impact in Kosovo by contributing to poverty reduction, the size of overall social protection expenditure and citizenship-building, and by serving as a good policy standard.

The importance for tuberculosis of mitigating economic crises

The importance for tuberculosis of mitigating economic crises

Conceptualising a Social Protection Index Framework for a Megacity in China from the Evidence of Guangzhou

The concept of social protection and its analytical framework have gradually become important tools for analysing the development of social policies globally. However, few studies have examined social protection issues in Chinese megacities. This article uses the social protection index developed by the Asian Development Bank to analyse the development of social protection in Guangzhou, a megacity. Results have shown that between 2013 and 2015, Guangzhou's soaring social protection expenditures and the ongoing improvement of social protection have significantly improved people's standard of living. Despite the narrowing gap in gross domestic product per capita between Guangzhou and developed countries, there is still a huge gap in social protection. In addition, since social policy is heavily biased towards social insurance and social assistance in Chinese megacities, there are far fewer labour market programmes developed for poor people, compared to other developed countries. The authors recommend that Guangzhou increases its social expenditures and focuses on restructuring its social protection system.

The Matthew Effect in Local Welfare Policy in Croatia

The ESSPROS methodology was first used in Croatia in 2018 to collect data on social protection expenditure in local government, for the year 2017. The aim of this research is to use these data to reveal the level of social inequalities between regional government units (counties) in Croatia and to demonstrate the Matthew effect in the functioning of local welfare policies. Quantitative analysis has demonstrated a significant level of spatial and local disparities in the availability of institutional care for the elderly and children, as well as uneven social protection in terms of the provision of cash or in-kind benefits. The Matthew effect in the local social protection can be found in different forms in different social protection programmes which are provided at the local level, with the general rule that the more developed local units invest more in social services and provide greater cash benefits to their citizens. The underdevelopment of these services is particularly noticeable in the less developed, eastern part of Croatia (counties of Slavonia), while at the same time, highly developed social services are provided in the City of Zagreb. Over the last 20 years, uneven economic development and partial decentralisation have created a situation in Croatia in which one of the fundamental principles of social welfare and social policy, the principle of equality, has been seriously compromised. This has brought about the problem of double inequalities: economic ones, as a result of a lower level of development and continuous lagging behind in the development of local and regional self-government units, and social inequalities, as a result of the inability of less developed units to provide similar levels of social protection to their citizens.

Social protection expenditure and redistribution in the Western Balkans

AbstractThis paper analyses social protection expenditure, its financing and its correlation with redistribution effects in the European Union (EU) candidate and potential candidate countries from the Western Balkans – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia. Although social expenditure in the Western Balkans varies between countries in terms of the extent and functions, in general, it is growing and concentrates on the elderly population. The expenditure is strongly redistributive towards old age, but is less efficient in reducing extensive child and working-age poverty. From an intergenerational perspective, despite various recent improvements, it remains significantly unbalanced compared to the EU. The expenditure reflects the design of social rights that have been shaped by the legacy of socialism and war, local politics, and international organisations perhaps more than by the impact of economic resources and aging.

The effect of institutional factors and people’s preferences on expenditure for social protection

AbstractThis article analyses whether and to what extent social protection expenditure varies with institutional quality and people’s preferences using cross‐section and cross‐country panel data. It uses data on expenditure taken from the International Labour Office database focusing on 52 low‐ and middle‐income countries and on 80 high‐, low‐ and middle‐income countries. The results show that both factors have an impact for the group of low‐ and middle‐income countries, but also for all the countries in the sample. The estimates are robust to different definitions of the dependent variables and different measures for the quality of institutions. Our results suggest that it is worthwhile to continue enhancing the capacity of institutions and public authorities as well as to channel people’s preferences on social protection interventions into the planning and budgeting process where the decisions on social protection programmes are taken and resources allocated.

The mental health crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic in older adults and the role of physical distancing interventions and social protection measures in 26 European countries

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic and associated policy responses, such as physical distancing interventions, pose risks to mental health that could be mitigated by social support systems. We examine associations between changes in mental health in the population aged 50 years and older in Europe and stringency of pandemic responses and social protection. MethodsWe analysed data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe: n = 50,278 individuals aged 50 years and older in 26 European countries between June and August 2020. Linear multivariable regression models were used to evaluate potential risk factors for deterioration in self-reported mental health and investigate whether social protection systems mitigate it. ResultsAcross the European Union, 28.1% (95% CI:27.1–29.2) of participants reported worsening mental health since the beginning of the pandemic, ranging from 16.1% in Slovakia to 54.8% in Portugal. Factors associated with increased risk of deterioration included: being female (12.7 percentage points (ppt), 95%CI:9.2–16.2); experiencing unmet healthcare needs during the pandemic (14.6 ppt, 95%CI:11.2–18.1); job loss during the pandemic (6.2 ppt, 95%CI:1.1–11.8); and financial hardship (5.1 ppt, 95%CI:2.9–7.2). Greater stringency of physical distancing measures in countries was associated with worsening mental health (0.2 ppt per each one point increase on a stringency index, 95% CI:0.09–0.4); however, country-level pre-pandemic expenditures on various social protection packages was associated with decreased probability of worsening mental health (−1.3 ppt, 95%CI: 0.3 to −2.3 per €1,000 increase in health care expenditures per capita and, among the unemployed, −3.8 ppt, 95%CI: 1.6 to −2.4 per €100 increase in unemployment expenditure per capita). ConclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with substantial mental health deterioration exhibiting social inequalities. Adverse mental health has been exacerbated by policy responses to the pandemic regulating physical distancing, but social protection expenditure might have helped mitigate the impact. Strengthening social protection systems might render the mental health of the population more resilient to the consequences of crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social protection expenditure on health in later life in 20 European countries: Spending more to reduce health inequalities

BackgroundThis study aims to examine whether higher social protection expenditure reduces the negative association of life-course socioeconomic disadvantages with subjective and objective health status and trajectories in later life. MethodsWe used SHARE data from participants living in 20 European countries aged 50 to 96. Seven waves allowed to examine the trajectories of health inequalities in later life. We used linear mixed-effects models stratified by sex to examine the association between life-course socioeconomic disadvantage and subjective (self-rated health, SRH, N = 55,443) and objective (grip strength, N = 54,718) health. Cross-level interactions between net social protection expenditure as percentage of gross domestic product and life-course socioeconomic disadvantage tested for the moderating effect of social expenditures on the association of disadvantage with SRH and grip strength in later life. FindingsHigher social protection expenditure reduced socioeconomic health inequalities in both men and women for grip strength, and in women but not men for SRH. For SRH, the health-inequality-reducing effect of social protection expenditure became weaker with increasing age. This was not observed in grip strength. Some separate expenditure functions (disability, family and children) were found to have inequality-widening effects in men's and women's SRH, which were either offset or overcompensated by the other functions. No inequality-widening effects were observed in grip strength. InterpretationHigher social spending reduces life-course socioeconomic inequalities in women's subjective health and in men's and women's objective health. However, some specific social protection policies may have the unintentional effect of increasing inequalities in people's evaluation of their own health.