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EVALUATION OF CONVERGENCE IN SOCIAL PROTECTION EXPENDITURE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Authors

Keywords
social protection expenditure, club convergence, beta-convergence, fixed effects models, panel data.

Summary
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the degree of convergence across the EU Member States in social protection expenditure for the period 2008-2016 by using statistical and econometric approaches for measuring convergence. This is achieved by accomplishing several tasks: presentation of theoretical concepts and statistical and econometric approaches for convergence evaluation; exploring the convergence process through the club convergence approach; exploring the convergence process through the beta-convergence approach across European Union Member States as a whole, and between countries in individual convergence clubs; analysis of the impact of structural variables on social protection expenditure and the cohesion process.

The thesis defended by the author is that by using the applied approaches for the study of the club convergence and beta-convergence, an adequate evaluation of the degree of convergence of the EU Member States is achieved. This makes it possible to establish the rate of convergence to the general equilibrium both within the European Union and within separate convergence clubs.

As a result of the study of club convergence, convergence clubs, clubs in a process of transitional divergence, as well as countries that are not involved in that process are identified. The study of beta-convergence shows a process of reducing disparities in convergence clubs and the European Union as a whole. The findings of the study indicate that the additional variables in the models of conditional beta-convergence have a significant impact on the increase in the social protection expenditure and the cohesion process. EU countries converge at a faster pace into the general equilibrium level of social protection expenditure when it is presented as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product.

JEL: C10, C50, I38.
Pages: 26
Price: 3 Points

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