The Impact of Social, Economic and Gender Inequality on Prosperity in the European Union Countries
Abstract
Purpose: This paper aims to examine the link between the three types of inequality in society and reveal the factors that contribute most to enhancing the prosperity of European Union countries and regions.
Methodology/Approach: The first part of the analysis is using correlation matrices to reveal the links between the different forms of inequality. The following parts employ Ordinary least squares models to estimate the significant factors promoting prosperity in countries.
Findings: We find a strong positive correlation between European Union countries’ prosperity and gender and social equality. There is also a strong positive correlation between social and gender equality. In contrast, only a very weak negative relationship is shown between economic inequality characterised by the Gini coefficient and prosperity. It turned out, that prosperity has been shown to be strongly impacted by the population’s education. However, also women’s representation in top politics enhances prosperity.
Research Limitation/Implication: The scope of the analysis in terms of available data was limited, particularly when examining the determinants of prosperity at the regional level. Data for analysed variables were not available for all European Union regions.
Originality/Value of paper: The article not only focuses on a particular type of inequality but examines the relationship between economic, gender and social inequality. It offers insights into their interconnectedness, which allows a better understanding of the impact of inequality on society and a country’s prosperity.
Full text article
References
Badea, L. and Pociovălişteanu. D.M., 2011. Prosperity and education – An indissoluble connection? Annals Economic Science Series, [e-journal] 17, pp.1027-1034.
Barbieri, D., Cazorla, A.G., Thil, Dr.L., Mollard, B., Ochmann, J., Peciukonis, V., Reingardė, Dr.J. and Salanauskaitė, Dr.L., 2021. Gender Equality Index 2021: Health. [pdf] Vilnius: EIGE. DOI: 10.2839/834132.
Barro, R.J., 2000. Inequality and Growth in a Panel of Countries. Journal of economic growth, [e-journal] 5(1), pp.5-32. DOI: 10.1023/A:1009850119329.
Bate, R., 2009. What is Prosperity and How Do We Measure it? AEI Development Policy Outlook, [e-journal] 3(2009). Available through: < https://papers.ssrn.com/ > [Accessed 20 November 2022]. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2342844.
Binelli, Ch., Loveless, M. and Whitefield, S., 2015. What Is Social Inequality and Why Does it Matter? Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe. World Development, [e-journal] 70, pp.239-248. DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.02.007.
Bjørnskov, C., Dreher, A. and Fischer, J., 2008. Cross-country determinants of life satisfaction: exploring different determinants across groups in society. Social Choice and Welfare, [e-journal] 30(1), pp.119-173. DOI: 10.1007/s00355-007-0225-4.
Blackburn, R.M., 2008. What is social inequality? International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, [e-journal] 28(7/8), pp.250-259. DOI: 10.1108/01443330810890664.
Boudon, R., 1974. Education, Opportunity and Social Inequality. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Castells-Quintana, D. and Royuela, V., 2017. Tracking positive and negative effects of inequality on long-run growth. Empirical Economics, [e-journal] 53(4), pp.1349-1378. DOI: 10.1007/s00181-016-1197-y.
Ciminelli, G., Schwellnus, C. and Stadler, B., 2021. Sticky floors or glass ceilings? The role of human capital, working time flexibility and discrimination in the gender wage gap. Paris: OECD Publishing.
Cooray, A.V., 2009. The Role of Education in Economic Growth. [pdf] Available through: < https://papers.ssrn.com/ > [Accessed 20 November 2022]. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.1520160.
Council of the European Union, 2006. Presidency conclusions of the Brussels European Council 23 and 24 March 2006 (7775/1/06 REV 1).
Dahl, E. and Malmberg-Heimonen, I., 2010. Social inequality and health: the role of social capital. Sociology of Health & Illness, [e-journal] 32(7), pp.1102-1119. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2010.01270.x.
Dahl, E., 1993. Social inequality in health—The role of the healthy worker effect. Social Science & Medicine, [e-journal] 36(8), pp.1077-1086. DOI: 10.1016/0277-9536(93)90126-O.
Dollar, D., Fisman, R. and Gatti, R., 2001. Are women really the "fairer" sex? Corruption and women in government. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, [e-journal] 46(4), pp.423-429. DOI: 10.1016/S0167-2681(01)00169-X.
Easterly, W., 2007. Inequality does cause underdevelopment: Insights from a new instrument. Journal of Development Economics, [e-journal] 84(2), pp.755-776. DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2006.11.002.
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Carribean, 2018. The Ineffciency of Inequality (LC/SES.37/3-P). [pdf] Santiago: United Nations. Available at: < https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/43443/6/S1800058_en.pdf > [Accessed 9 July 2022].
Ege, A. and Ege, A.Y., 2019. How to Create a Friendly Environment for Innovation? A Case for Europe. Social Indicators Research, [e-journal] 144, pp.451-473. DOI: 10.1007/s11205-018-2039-4.
European Institute for Gender Equality, 2016. Poverty, Gender and Intersecting Inequalities — Review of the implementation of an area A: Women and poverty of the Beijing Platform for Action. [pdf] Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Available at: < www.eige.europa.eu/publications/poverty-gender-and-intersecting-inequalities-in-the-eu > [Accessed 10 August 2022]. DOI: 10.2839/065115.
European Institute for Gender Equality, 2017. Economic Benefits of Gender Equality in the European Union How closing the gender gaps in labour market activity and pay leads to economic growth. [pdf] Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Available at: < www.data.europa.eu/doi/10.2839/96823 > [Accessed 10 August 2022]. DOI: 10.2839/28703.
Eurostat, 2020. Quality of life indicators – measuring Quality of life. [online] Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Available at: < www.ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=
Quality_of_life_indicators_-_measuring_quality_of_life#The_need_for_ measu
rement_beyond_GDP > [Accessed 11 July 2022].
Franc, R., Prizmic-Larsen, Z. and Lipovčan, L.K., 2012. Personal security and fear of crime as predictors of subjective well-being. In: D. Webb and E. Wills-Herrera, eds. Subjective well-being and security. Dordrecht: Springer. Pp.45-67. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-2278-1.
Freitag, M. and Schlicht, R., 2009. Educational Federalism in Germany: Foundations of Social Inequality in Education. Governance, [e-journal] 22(1), pp.47-72. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0491.2008.01421.x.
Gligorić Matić, M., Gavrilović, B. and Stanišić, N., 2020. GDP and beyond: Prosperity convergence in the countries of Western and Eastern Europe. Acta Oeconomica, [e-journal] 70(4), pp.493-511. DOI: 10.1556/032.2020.00033.
Grubaugh, S.G., 2015. Economic growth and growth in human development. Applied Econometrics and International Development, [e-journal] 15(2), pp.5-16.
Gründler, K. and Potrafke, N., 2019. Corruption and economic growth: New empirical evidence. European Journal of Political Economy, [e-journal] 60, 101810. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2019.08.001.
Hanushek, E.A. and Wößmann, L., 2010. 'Education and Economic Growth'. In: B. McGaw and E.L. Baker, eds. International Encyclopedia of Education. Oxford: Elsevier. Pp.245-252.
Hillmert, S., 2013. Links between immigration and social inequality in education: A comparison among five European countries. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, [e-journal] 32, pp.7-23. DOI: 10.1016/j.rssm.2013.02.002.
Hudec, O. and Urbančíková, N., 2007. Spatial disparities based on Innovation and Human Capital. In: M. Jenks, D. Kozak and P. Takkanon, eds. “World Cities‟ and Urban Form. Taylor & Francis Books.
Hurst, Ch., Gibbon, H.F. and Nurse, A., 2016. Social inequality: Forms, causes, and consequences. NewYork: Routledge.
Jha, C. and Sarangi, S., 2018. Women and corruption: What positions must they hold to make a difference? Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, [e-journal] 151, pp.219-233. DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2018.03.021.
Kabakci Günay, E. and Sülün, D., 2021. The evaluation of the impact of social capital on economic development within the framework of the Legatum prosperity Index: The case of OECD countries. Elektronik Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, [e-journal] 20(80), pp.1982-1996. DOI: 10.17755/esosder.864792.
Kaur, H., Kaur, M. and Soni, M., 2022. Hdi Growth: a Comparative Analysis of Brics Economies Using Data Analytics. [pdf] Available through: < https://papers.ssrn.com/ > [Accessed 20 November 2022]. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.4126160.
Klasen, S., 2000. Does gender inequality reduce growth and development: Evidence from cross-country regressions. [pdf], Policy research report on gender and development working paper series, 7. Available at: < https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/docu
ments-reports/documentdetail/612001468741378860/does-gender-inequality-red
uce-growth-and-development-evidence-from-cross-country-regressions > [Accessed 10 July 2022].
Lewis, T., 2007. Social Inequality in Education: A Constraint on an American High-Skills Future. Curriculum Inquiry, [e-journal] 37(4), pp.329-349. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-873x.2007.00390.x.
Marx, I., 2013. Why direct income redistribution matters if we are really concerned with reducing poverty. Intereconomics, 48(6), pp.350-356.
Mo, P., 2000. Income Inequality and Economic Growth. Kyklos, [e-journal] 53(3), pp.293-315. DOI: 10.1111/1467-6435.00122.
Mo, P., 2001. Corruption and Economic Growth. Journal of Comparative Economics, [e-journal] 29(1), pp.66-79. DOI:10.1006/jcec.2000.1703.
Moorhouse, E., 2017. The Many Dimensions of Gender Equality and Their Impact on Economic Growth. Forum for Social Economics, [e-journal] 46(4), pp.350-370. DOI: 10.1080/07360932.2017.1309672.
Mularska-Kucharek, M. and Brzeziński, K., 2016. The Economic Dimension of Social Trust. European Spatial Research and Policy, [e-journal], 23(2), pp.83-95. DOI: 10.1515/esrp-2016-0012.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2011. Divided we stand: Why inequality keeps rising. [online] Paris: OECD Publishing. Available at: < https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/the-causes-of-growing-inequalities-in-oecd-countries_9789264119536-en#page1 > [Accessed 15 August 2022]. DOI: 10.1787/9789264119536-en.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2012. Closing the Gender Gap: Act Now. [online] Paris: OECD Publishing. Available at: < https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/close-the-gender-gap-now_9789264179370-en#page1 > [Accessed 15 August 2022]. DOI: 10.1787/9789264179370-en.
Ortega, B., Casquero, A. and Sanjuán, J., 2014. Growth in Human Development: The Role of Corruption. Journal of International Development, [e-journal] 26(7), pp.974-998. DOI: 10.1002/jid.2963.
Ortiz, I. and Cummins, M., 2011. Global Inequality: Beyond the Bottom Billion – A Rapid Review of Income Distribution in 141 Countries. [pdf] Available through: < https://papers.ssrn.com/ > [Accessed 20 November 2022]. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.1805046.
Paulus, A., 2004. Income inequality and its decomposition: The case of Estonia. In: T. Paas and E. Tafenau, eds. Modelling the Economies of the Baltic Sea Region. Tartu: TU Press. Pp.206-235.
Pickett, K. and Wilkinson R., 2015. Income inequality and health: A causal review. Social Science & Medicine, [e-journal] 128, pp.316-326. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.12.031.
Power, C., 1994. Health and social inequality in Europe. The BMJ, [e-journal] 308(6937), pp.1153-1156. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.308.6937.1153.
Salvini, S., 2014. Gender Discrimination. In: A.C. Michalos, ed. Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Dordrecht: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_1126.
Samson, Š., Byrtus, J., Hudec, O., Muška, M. and Naďová, M., 2001. Regionálna ekonomika. Košice: Ekonomická fakulta TU v Košiciach.
Schneider, S., 2016. Income Inequality and Subjective Wellbeing: Trends, Challenges, and Research Directions. Journal of Happiness Studies, [e-journal] 17(4), pp.1719-1739. DOI: 10.1007/s10902-015-9655-3.
Seguino, S., 2005. All Types of Inequality Are Not Created Equal: Divergent Impacts of Equality on Economic Growth. [pdf] Levy Economics Institute Working Paper, 433. Available through: < https://papers.ssrn.com/ > [Accessed 20 November 2022]. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.875382.
Shin, I., 2012. Income inequality and economic growth. Economic Modelling, [e-journal] 29(5), pp.2049-2057. DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2012.02.011.
Stiglitz, J., 2015. Inequality and economic growth. The Political Quarterly, [e-journal] 86(S1), pp.134-155. DOI: 10.1111/1467-923X.12237.
Stiglitz, J.E., 2012. The Price of Inequality – How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future. New York: Norton & Company.
Suter, C., 2014. Social Inequalities. In: A.C. Michalos, ed. Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Dordrecht: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_2766.
Timmerman, T.A., 2016. Does national culture predict national prosperity? Allied Academies International Conference. Academy of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict. Proceedings, 21(1), pp.46-49.
Van De Werfhorst, H.G. and Salverda, W., 2012. Consequences of economic inequality: Introduction to a special issue. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility. [e-journal] 30(4), pp.377-387 DOI: 10.1016/j.rssm.2012.08.001.
Walker, C. and Jackson, C.T., 2019. Measuring Prosperity—Navigating the options. Guildford: University of Surrey.
Authors
Copyright (c) 2022 Simona Šimovičová, Nataša Urbančíková
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access. This journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0.
Authors who publish with the Quality Innovation Prosperity agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.