Can the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy goals be efficient? The challenge for achieving social equality in the European Union

Authors

  • Michaela Stanickova VSB-Technical University of Ostrava

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24136/eq.v12i3.20

Keywords:

DEA method, economic crisis, EU28, Europe 2020 Strategy, social inequality

Abstract

Research background: Economic crisis hit all the European Union Member States hard, with the impact of crisis varying considerably. The low growth performance in the EU has increased concerns regarding an increasing wage dispersion, income inequality at large, and social exclusion in line with poverty. Inequality should be seen as a cornerstone of both sustainable and inclusive growth under the Europe 2020 Strategy. Social inequality in the EU is a real problem, which hampers sustainable economic growth.

Purpose of the article: The purpose of this study is to introduce evaluation of social development convergence and divergence trends between the EU Member States in the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The study gives an outline of the issues of the labour market and income disparities and poverty. Policymakers must be clear about what social objectives they are aiming to achieve, therefore special attention is paid to headline national goals of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

Methods: The main task of this study is to assess social dimension and inequalities problems in the EU27 by applying Data Envelopment Analysis method, resp. time-series dynamic efficiency analysis in the form of output-oriented Malmquist Productivity Index. This study contains changes of key social equality indicators related to the Europe 2020 Strategy and compares objectives and general outlines of period 2010-2015, as well as the impact on national economics and living conditions.

Findings & value added: Results contain elements of typology premises of the EU28 and point to a large diversity in inequality patterns, as the Author observes both increases and decreases in inequality at the EU level. Recent changes in social inequality have been associated with the business cycle, particularly with the accessibility of the labour market and, of course, with income inequality. Additionally, the development challenges are discussed for improvement of the socioeconomic well-being of the EU and to avoid social disparities.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Aghion, P., & Howitt, P. (1998). Endogenous growth theory. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Allmendinger, J., & Driesch, E. (2014). Social inequalities in Europe: facing the challenge. Discussion Paper. Social Science Center. Berlin, P 2014-005.
Barro, R., & Sala-i-Martin, X. (1995). Economic growth. New-York: McGraw Hill.
Brandolini, A. (2007). Measurement of income distribution in supranational enti-ties: the case of the European Union. Temi di discussione. Bank of Italy, No. 623.
Caves, D. W., Christensen, L., & Diewert, E. W. (1982). The economic theory of index numbers and the measurement of input, output, and productivity. Econometrica, 50(6). doi: 10.2307/1913388.
Coelli, T. J., Rao, D. S. P., O?Donnell, C. J., & Battese, G. E. (2005). An introduction to efficiency and productivity analysis. New York: Springer.
Darvas, Z., & Wolff, G. B. (2016). An anatomy of inclusive growth in Europe. Brussels: Bruegel.
Eurostat (2017). European Commission ? Eurostat Europe 2020 Indicators ? Eu-rope 2020 strategy. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/europe-2020-indicators/europe-2020-strategy (15.03.2017).
Färe, R., Grosskopf, S., Norris, M. & Zhang, Z. (1994). Productivity growth, tech-nical progress and efficiency change in industrialized countries. American Eco-nomic Review, 84(1).
Farrell, M. J. (1957). The measurement of productivity efficiency. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 120(3). doi: 10.2307/2343100.
Franzini, M. (2009). Why Europe needs a policy on inequality. Intereconomics, 44(6). doi: 10.1007/s10272-009-0311-1.
Galbraith, J. K. (2009). Inequality, unemployment and growth: new measures for old controversies. Journal of Economic Inequality, 7(2). doi: 10.1007/s10888-008-9083-2.
Hanclova, J., & Melecký, L. (2016). Application of the nonparametric DEA meta-frontier approach with undesirable outputs in the case of EU regions. Business Systems Research Journal, 7(2). doi: 10.1515/bsrj-2016-0013.
Krugman, P. (2008). The return of depression economics and the crisis of 2008. London: Penguin.
Lavado, R., & Cabanda, E. (2009). The efficiency of health and education expenditures in the Philippines. Central European Journal of Operations Research, 17(3). doi: 10.1007/s10100-009-0095-1.
Martins, N. O., Costa, L., Leit?o, A., Marcelo, G., Oliveira, F. G., & Tavares, M. (2015). The implications of inequality for European economic policy. Retrieved from http://www.progressiveeconomy.eu/content/implications-inequality-european-economic-policy-0 (13.03.2017).
Melecký, L. (2013). Use of DEA approach to measuring efficiency trend in old EU member states. In A. Kocourek (Ed.). Proceedings of the 11th international conference on Liberec economic forum. Liberec: Technical University Liberec.
Quah, D. (1997). Empirics for growth and distribution stratification, polarization and convergence clubs. Journal of Economic Growth, 2(1). doi: 10.1023/A:1009781613339.
Rajan, R. (2010). Fault lines: how hidden fractures still threaten the world economy. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Romer, P. (1990). Endogenous technological change. Journal of Political Econo-my, 98(5).
Sala-i-Martin, X. (2006). The world distribution of income: Falling poverty and? convergence, period. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 121(2). doi: 10.1162/qjec.2006.121.2.351.
Štikarova, S. (2014). Economic growth, inequality and efficiency. Working Paper University of Economics Bratislava, 6.
Stiglitz, J. (2009). The global crisis, social protection and jobs. International La-bour Review, 148(1-2). doi: 10.1111/j.1564-913X.2013.00165.x.
Toloo, M., Barat, M., & Masoumzadeh, A. (2015). Selective measures in data envelopment analysis. Annals of Operations Research, 226(1). doi: 10.1007/s10479-014-1714-3.
Zhu, J. (2012). Manual DEA frontier ? DEA add-in for Microsoft Excel. Retrieved from http://www.deafrontier.net (20.03.2017).

Downloads

Published

30-09-2017

Issue

Section

Socio-economic consequences of (in)equality

How to Cite

Stanickova, M. (2017). Can the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy goals be efficient? The challenge for achieving social equality in the European Union. Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, 12(3), 383?398. https://doi.org/10.24136/eq.v12i3.20

Similar Articles

1-10 of 411

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.