Socio-economic development, income inequality and redistribution

Tackling the issue of income equity through redistribution consists of a discussion about the extent and forms of redistribution. The study responds to the issue of income redistribution defined within the neoclassical welfare economy by addressing the research question concerning the relation of the selected areas of social policy (expenditure of social protection) and of socio-economic development (Human Development Index, Gini coefficient). The study uses a quantitative approach to the research question, statistically tests the relation between social protection expenditure and socio-economic development, and tests income inequality using the Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The results show that social protection expenditure on health care and old age had a positive impact on socio-economic development, assessed through the Human Development index; only social protection expenditure on disability had a negative impact on socio-economic development. Also, social protection expenditure on health care, on the disabled and on old age had a mainly negative impact on income inequity, based on the Gini coefficient

Forms of Providing and Financing Long-Term Care in OECD Countries

Long-Term care is being prioritised due to population ageing, and hand in hand with the development of professional provision of long-Term care, public expendi-Tures will be increasing. Mainly countries with a sharp increase in the number of people aged 80+ will have to address the sustainability of long-Term care systems and the pro-curement of relevant services. This paper aims to evaluate the forms of provision and financing of long-Term care in selected OECD countries. Provision and funding of long-Term care in terms of a formal system are assessed based on selected criteria using analytical methods (principal component analysis and TwoStep cluster analysis). Results of the evaluation carried out in 2008 and 2013 by means of the selected indicators of long-Term care, using TwoStep cluster analysis, confirmed both similar as well as different approaches to the provision and financing of long-Term care in the analysed countries. The most marked differences in the provision of care based on indicators LTC recipients aged 65+ and LTC recipients in institutions as a percentage of total LTC recipients were found between the first cluster (Australia and Korea with the highest share of LTC recipients) and the second cluster (Czech Republic, Estonia, with the lowest share of LTC recipients). In financing of long-Term care (LTC expenditures on institutions as a percentage of total LTC expenditures), the most significant differences were observed between the first (Australia, Korea, with the largest share of LTC expenditures on institutions) and third cluster (mainly Nordic countries, with the lowest share of LTC expenditures on institutions of total LTC expenditures). © 2017 Renáta Halásková et al., published by De Gruyter Open 2017.Operational Programme Education for Competitiveness [CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0296]; Evaluation of Public Policy Objectives in the Context of Sustainable Development and Performance of Regions [RO/2016/08

Public administration in EU countries: selected comparative approaches

The focus of the paper is on selected comparative models in public administration (human research system, model based on the system of government and models of local government and territorial organization). The aim of this paper is to provide a more thorough view on public administration in the EU-28 countries and to assess the selected comparative approaches and the financial dimension according to the levels of public administration. Evaluation of the selected indicators of financial dimension of public administration was carried out using the method of analysis, whose outcomes confirmed the most notable differences between the EU-28 countries in the first and third cluster in fiscal decentralization of expenditure and in total general government expenditure

Relationship of social protection expenditures and socio-economic indicators: A panel data analysis of the EU countries

Systems of social protection and approaches in tackling social risks differ by the degree of redistribution and by its generosity. The cur-rent issue in developed countries is finding the optimal relationship between economic and social policy. Therefore, the selected areas of social policy and economic development from a narrow perspective are subjected to the research investigation. To address the issue, the paper aims to analyse the association between social protection expenditures and the selected socio-economic indicators. In line with the aim, four hypotheses have been verified. H1: There is a positive relationship between social protection expenditures and indicators of socio-economic development. H2: There is a positive relationship between social protection expenditures and indicators of unemployment. H3: There is a negative relationship between social protection expenditures and indicators of income inequality. H4: There is a negative relationship between social protection expenditures and indicators of poverty. The panel data regression for the sample of the 27 EU countries in the period 2007-2015 was applied to test the hypotheses. The results of the final fixed effect model with robust coefficients revealed a positive relationship between Human development index and unemployment rate on the one side and social protection expenditures on the other. On the contrary, a negative relationship was identified between social protection expenditures on the one side and poverty rate for the elderly 65+ and income inequality (measured through Gini coefficient) on the other. These findings confirm the fact that the amount of social protection spending is reflected in the socio-economic development of the EU countries. © 2020, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research. All rights reserved.Internal Grant Agency of Tomas Bata University in Zlin [RO/2018/12]; Smart governance and application of 3E principles in public policies

Innovation performance and R&D expenditures in Western European regions: Divergence or convergence?

Although Western Europe is a global leader in innovation activities among the OECD countries, these activities are not distributed evenly across NUTS 2 regions. Thus, the analysis of convergence or divergence related to innovation performance and R&D expenditures among Western European NUTS 2 regions is posed as the aim of this paper. Applying differential local version of spatial autocorrelation (LISA), difference-in-difference estimation the paper reveals the local variation of convergence and divergence and general spatial regime divergence in innovation performance and R&D expenditures within Western European NUTS 2 regions. Moreover, spatial lag cross-sectional regression provides support to the consideration of R&D expenditures as determinant for innovation performance along with the continuing divergence between most of Western and Southern European NUTS 2 regions and the others. Thus, the results confirm the stability in innovation performance and R&D expenditures in Western European NUTS 2 regions which could be the source of lagging behind not only other OECD countries but BRICS countries as well. On the regional level several NUTS 2 regions demonstrated the convergence dynamics, however, the general spatial divergence regime should lead to more actions regarding R&D polices under the EU programming period of 2014-2020. © Foundation of International Studies, 2018 and CSR, 2018

VYBRANÉ ASPEKTY SOCIÁLNÍCH SLUŽEB PRO SENIORY

The article focuses on issues of social services, which are defined as aninstrument of social policy and form of social assistance for the benefit of anotherperson. In the broader context are defined social services as services of generalinterest (social assistance services, employment services and education, social housingand long-term care). In connection with the specifics of social services attention ispaid to the economic characteristics of social services, demographic aspects andageing of population and the importance of social services for the elderly. Based onthe survey assessment of satisfaction, which is one of the indicators quality assessmentof social services, are to documented results of survey satisfaction of the elderly withthe services in selected residential facilities and satisfaction of the elderly withservices by type of provider

The structure and financial dimensions of public administration in EU countries

Various traditional trends and roles of public administration can be traced across the European Union member states. These countries, however, are obliged to abide by common administrative and legal principles of the European administrative area. This paper focuses on the structure and differentiation of public administration in EU (28) countries, levels of local government and internal division of administrative structures, using the ESA methodology and a comparison of expenditures made by public administration in 2003, 2009 and 2013. The fi scal aspect of public administration is evaluated also through fi scal decentralization (revenues, expenditures). Cluster analysis is used for the comparison of selected areas of public expenditures according to the levels of public administration, showing that EU (28) countries can be divided into three clusters. The most signifi cant differences in public expenditures according to levels of public administration were observed in EU countries in the fi rst and third cluster, where fi scal decentralization of expenditures constitutes the most notable difference. The smallest differences in all clusters are perceived in total general government expenditures as % of GDP.Web of Scienceno. 45E574

Change of EU28 countries research and development indicators between 2010 and 2015

In the paper evaluation of research and development efficiency change in EU28 countries between 2010 and 2015. The authors used the non -radial and non oriented Malmquist index of available R&D indicators of EU28 countries (five inputs and two outputs) and have found six groups of EU28 countries from the viewpoint of three index terms values (efficiency shift, frontier shift and Malmquist index). The relatively best group of countries with progress in both efficiency shift and frontier shift terms (Malmquist index >1) is represented by two countries: Italy and Germany. The last group contains the six relatively worst countries with regress in all three terms (efficiency shift, frontier shift and Malmquist index < 1): Netherlands, Greece, Malta, Poland, Luxembourg and Portugal. It was found by means of the nonparametric test that post-socialist countries are not different from capitalist EU countries from the viewpoint of efficiency change between 2010 and 2015. The biggest change in R&D efficiency using the Malmquist index between 2010 and 2015 was found in Spain, Latvia, Denmark and Ireland. Conversely, the smallest change in R&D efficiency is demonstrated by Poland, Luxembourg and Portugal.project Operational Programme Education for Competitiveness [CZ. 1.07/2.3.00/20.0296]; Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Sport of the Slovak Republic; Slovak Academy Sciences [VEGA 1/0843/18

The effect of government expenditures on the economic and institucional dimension of governance in European countries

The aim of the study is to examine the effect of government expenditures on institutional and economic dimensions of governance from the standpoint of selected indicators. We evaluate the effect of government expenditures on selected governance indicators (government effectiveness, regulatory quality and the control of corruption) according to two dimensions (institutional and economic dimension of governance). The research covers the period 2002-2021, applying a panel data analysis and the fixed effects method on the sample of 29 European countries. For the purposes of further examination, the European countries are divided into two groups (by GDP per capita in PPS). The results confirmed the effect of differing categories of government expenditures on the evaluated indicators of governance between European countries with higher and lower economic levels. European countries with a higher economic level manifested the strongest positive effect of government expenditures on secondary education and expenditures on police services in relation to the economic dimension of governance (government effectiveness and regulatory quality). The results of countries with a lower economic level show that the control of corruption is affected, both positively and negatively, by government expenditures on education. Government expenditures on pre-primary and primary education had the largest impact in the economic dimension of governance in relation to the reduction of government effectiveness and government expenditures on sporting and recreational services in terms of the reduction of regulatory quality. The reached findings can be beneficial to creators of public policies at all levels of public administration in the creation of concepts and strategic goals.Web of Science311art. no. 169

Research and development efficiency in public and private sectors: An empirical analysis of EU countries by using DEA methodology

Both the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) and its embedded technology diffusion exponentially progress and grow in terms of technical change and socioeconomic impact. The aim of this study was the evaluation of research and development efficiency in the public and private sectors in EU countries. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology, within which the slack-based model was applied, was used to achieve this aim. The Malmquist index (MI) was used to calculate changes in research and development efficiency during 2010/2013 and 2014/2017. The results present a decrease in total Research and Development (R&D) productivity in public and private sectors for an average of EU countries (28). However, Spain, Slovenia, and Portugal (in the public sector), and Ireland and Romania (in the private sector) revealed an increase of a total R&D productivity during 2010/2013 and 2014/2017 that was primarily influenced by an increase of technical efficiency (catch-up effect). Similarly, the results confirm the differences in R&D efficiency in private and public sectors in the European countries. The study's results also provide a valuable platform for creators of national strategic and innovative investment and educational plans, and creators of relevant policies and create a platform for national and international benchmarking indicators. © 2020 by the authors.Research and Development Agency GA AA [21/2020]; research project VEGA [1/0794/18