IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ipf/psejou/v47y2023i1p111-142.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic growth or social expenditure: what is more effective in decreasing poverty and income inequality in the EU - a panel VAR approach

Author

Listed:
  • Ivana Velkovska

    (Ss. Cyril and Methodius University Skopje, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia)

  • Borce Trenovski

    (Ss. Cyril and Methodius University Skopje, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia)

Abstract

Are economic growth and social expenditure effective in decreasing poverty and income inequality in the European Union? We try to provide an answer to this question by using a Panel VAR model for the period from 2010 to 2019, using a sample of 28 European member states plus Norway and Iceland. We find that although both economic growth and social expenditure decrease poverty, economic growth is more effective at decreasing poverty than social expenditure. However, when it comes to income inequality, economic growth seems to increase it, while social expenditure seems to lower it.

Suggested Citation

  • Ivana Velkovska & Borce Trenovski, 2023. "Economic growth or social expenditure: what is more effective in decreasing poverty and income inequality in the EU - a panel VAR approach," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 47(1), pages 111-142.
    • Handle: RePEc:ipf:psejou:v:47:y:2023:i:1:p:111-142
    DOI: 10.3326/pse.47.1.5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://pse-journal.hr/upload/files/pse/2023/1/velkovska_trenovski.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3326/pse.47.1.5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Agustin Molina-Morales & Ignacio Amate-Fortes & Almudena Guarnido-Rueda, 2013. "Social Expenditure in the European Union: Does Inequality Matter?," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(3), pages 745-764.
    2. Canova, Fabio & Ciccarelli, Matteo, 2013. "Panel Vector Autoregressive Models: A Survey," CEPR Discussion Papers 9380, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Dées, Stéphane & Güntner, Jochen, 2014. "Analysing and forecasting price dynamics across euro area countries and sectors: a panel VAR approach," Working Paper Series 1724, European Central Bank.
    4. Jorge De Andrés-Sánchez & Ángel Belzunegui-Eraso & Francesc Valls-Fonayet, 2020. "Pattern recognition in social expenditure and social expenditure performance in EU 28 countries," Acta Oeconomica, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 70(1), pages 37-61, March.
    5. Michael R. M. Abrigo & Inessa Love, 2016. "Estimation of panel vector autoregression in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 16(3), pages 778-804, September.
    6. Ángeles Sánchez & Antonio L. Pérez-Corral, 2018. "Government Social Expenditure and Income Inequalities in the European Union," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 227(4), pages 133-156, December.
    7. Emile Cammeraat, 2020. "The relationship between different social expenditure schemes and poverty, inequality and economic growth," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 73(2), pages 101-123, April.
    8. Goran Petrevski & Borce Trenovski & Biljana Tashevska, 2019. "The effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policies in a small open economy – the case of Macedonia," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(6), pages 805-821, November.
    9. Andrews, Donald W. K. & Lu, Biao, 2001. "Consistent model and moment selection procedures for GMM estimation with application to dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 101(1), pages 123-164, March.
    10. Atkinson, Anthony B., 2015. "Inequality: what can be done?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101810, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Jitoreanu Doina & Chirilă Viorica, 2017. "The Statistical Analysis of the Relationship Between Poverty and Public Expenses in the European Union Countries," Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, Ovidius University of Constantza, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 0(2), pages 576-582, December.
    12. Marisa Hidalgo-Hidalgo & Iñigo Iturbe-Ormaetxe, 2018. "Long-run effects of public expenditure on poverty," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(1), pages 1-22, March.
    13. Nuno Baetas da Silva & João Sousa Andrade, 2016. "The relationship between social transfers and poverty reduction: A nonparametric approach for the EU-27," GEMF Working Papers 2016-09, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    14. Atkinson, A.B., 2000. "A European social agenda: poverty benchmarking and social transfers," EUROMOD Working Papers EM3/00, EUROMOD at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    15. Rafael E. De Hoyos & Vasilis Sarafidis, 2006. "Testing for cross-sectional dependence in panel-data models," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 6(4), pages 482-496, December.
    16. Michael R.M. Abrigo & Inessa Love, 2016. "Estimation of Panel Vector Autoregression in Stata: a Package of Programs," Working Papers 201602, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    17. Harris, Richard D. F. & Tzavalis, Elias, 1999. "Inference for unit roots in dynamic panels where the time dimension is fixed," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 201-226, August.
    18. Egla Mansi & Eglantina Hysa & Mirela Panait & Marian Catalin Voica, 2020. "Poverty—A Challenge for Economic Development? Evidences from Western Balkan Countries and the European Union," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-24, September.
    19. Valeria De Bonis & Maria Alessandra Antonelli, 2018. "Welfare State and Social Spending: Assessing the Effectiveness and the Efficiency of European Social Policies in 22 EU countries," Public Finance Research Papers 32, Istituto di Economia e Finanza, DSGE, Sapienza University of Rome.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Joan Costa-Font & Cristina Vilaplana-Prieto, 2023. "‘Investing’ in care for old age? An examination of long-term care expenditure dynamics and its spillovers," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 64(1), pages 1-30, January.
    2. Marszk, Adam & Lechman, Ewa, 2019. "New technologies and diffusion of innovative financial products: Evidence on exchange-traded funds in selected emerging and developed economies," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    3. Stewart, Robert & Chowdhury, Murshed & Arjoon, Vaalmikki, 2021. "Interdependencies between regulatory capital, credit extension and economic growth," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    4. Mohamed Traoré, 2018. "Government spending and inclusive growth in sub-Saharan Africa: A panel VAR analysis," Working Papers hal-01940506, HAL.
    5. Amrita Saha & Tommaso Ciarli, 2018. "Innovation, Structural Change, and Inclusion. A Cross Country PVAR Analysis," SPRU Working Paper Series 2018-01, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    6. Blagrave, Patrick & Vesperoni, Esteban, 2018. "The implications of China’s slowdown for international trade," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 36-47.
    7. Muhammad Azeem Qureshi & Minhas Akbar & Ahsan Akbar & Petra Poulova, 2021. "Do ESG Endeavors Assist Firms in Achieving Superior Financial Performance? A Case of 100 Best Corporate Citizens," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, June.
    8. Sherif. M. Hassan & John M. Riveros Gavilanes, 2021. "First to React Is the Last to Forgive: Evidence from the Stock Market Impact of COVID 19," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-25, January.
    9. Chee-Hong Law & Siok Kun Sek, 2022. "Panel evidence of the dynamics between energy consumption and trade openness in ASEAN and East Asia," Energy & Environment, , vol. 33(3), pages 449-471, May.
    10. Zouaoui, Haykel & Zoghlami, Feten, 2020. "On the income diversification and bank market power nexus in the MENA countries: Evidence from a GMM panel-VAR approach," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    11. Abebe Hailemariam & Tutsirai Sakutukwa & Ratbek Dzhumashev, 2021. "Long-term determinants of income inequality: evidence from panel data over 1870–2016," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 1935-1958, October.
    12. Alexandre Henry, 2019. "Monetary Union, Competitiveness and Raw Commodity Dependence: Insights from Africa," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 61(2), pages 285-301, June.
    13. Mohamed Traoré, 2018. "Government spending and inclusive growth in sub-Saharan Africa: A panel VAR analysis," CERDI Working papers hal-01940506, HAL.
    14. Henryk Gurgul & Łukasz Lach, 2019. "Regional patterns in technological progress of Poland: the role of EU structural funds," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 27(4), pages 1195-1220, December.
    15. Duy-Tung Bui, 2018. "Fiscal policy and national saving in emerging Asia: challenge or opportunity?," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 8(2), pages 305-322, August.
    16. Minhas Akbar & Ammar Hussain & Ahsan Akbar & Irfan Ullah, 2021. "The dynamic association between healthcare spending, CO2 emissions, and human development index in OECD countries: evidence from panel VAR model," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 10470-10489, July.
    17. Ashima Goyal & Rajeswari Sengupta & Akhilesh Verma, 2019. "External debt financing and macroeconomic instability in emerging market economies," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2019-013, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    18. Ryan H. Murphy & Colin O’Reilly, 2019. "Applying panel vector autoregression to institutions, human capital, and output," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 57(5), pages 1633-1652, November.
    19. Trofimov, Ivan D., 2022. "Determinants of the profit rates in the OECD economies: A panel data analysis of the Kalecki's profit equation," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 380-397.
    20. Zharova, Alona & Härdle, Wolfgang Karl & Lessmann, Stefan, 2017. "Is scientific performance a function of funds?," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2017-028, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    panel VAR model; poverty; income inequality; economic growth; social expenditure; European Union;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • B55 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Social Economics
    • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ipf:psejou:v:47:y:2023:i:1:p:111-142. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Martina Fabris (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ijfffhr.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.