Measuring active ageing within the European Union: implications on economic development

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24136/eq.2019.028

Keywords:

Active Ageing Index, European Union, economic development, labour market, macro-econometric modelling

Abstract

Research background: The ageing phenomenon undermines the stability and equilibrium of the labour market and it affects the economic development of countries, as well as the welfare of older people aged over 65 years.

Purpose of the article: Against this background, our research is conducted to assess the specific ways in which active ageing (measured through the active ageing index ? AAI), correlated with other economic and labour market credentials, would impact the economic development of EU Member States.

Methods: The research methodology consists of two econometric procedures, namely (i) cluster analysis performed on EU?28 countries to configure congruent groups according to similar features of the active ageing (measured through the Active Ageing Index ? AAI) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) levels, respectively (ii) panel data analysis, applied distinctly on two panels, EU?15 (old) and EU?13 (new), relying on four macro-econometric models (robust regression, panel corrected standard errors, spatial lag and spatial error), in order to test the direct influences of AAI and other economic and social selected variables on economic development. The analysis is made for the 2010?2018 lapse of time, by capturing all the available data for the AAI as reported by the European Commission.

Findings & Value added: The results highlight important dissimilarities between the EU countries that require a rethinking of policies for the active ageing population support. Thereby, constant policy rethinking, adequate strategies, measures and tools for the active ageing population support become outlier keystones that entail a successful integration of the older people within all life dimensions.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Bacigalupe, A., González-Rábago, Y., Martín, U., Murillo, S. & Unceta, A. (2018). The Active Ageing Index in a Southern European region (Biscay): main results and potentials for policymaking. In A. Zaidi, S. Harper, K. Howse, G. Lamura & J. Perek-Białas (Eds.). Building evidence for active ageing policies. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6017-5_6
View in Google Scholar

Cristea, M., Marcu, N., & Cercelaru, O. V. (2016). Longer life with worsening pension system? Aging population impact on the pension system in two countries: Romania and Croatia. In Economic and social development: book of proceedings. 15th international scientific conference on economic and social development – human resources development. Varazdin.
View in Google Scholar

Cristea, M., & Mitrică, A. (2016). Global ageing: do privately managed pension funds represent a long term alternative for the Romanian pension system? Empirical research. Romanian Journal of Political Science, 16(1).
View in Google Scholar

Cristea, M., & Thalassinos, I.E. (2016). Private pension plans: an important component of the financial market. International Journal of Economics and Business Administration, 4(1). doi: 10.35808/ijeba/95. DOI: https://doi.org/10.35808/ijeba/95
View in Google Scholar

Cornish, R. (2007). Statistics: cluster analysis. Mathematics Learning Support Centre.
View in Google Scholar

De São José, J. M., Timonen, V., Amado, C. A. F., & Santos, S. P. (2017). A critique of the Active Ageing Index. Journal of Aging Studies, 40. doi: 10.1016/j.jaging.2017.01.001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2017.01.001
View in Google Scholar

Dincă, M., & Lucheș, D. (2018). Work integration of the roma: between family and labor market. Sustainability, 10(5). doi: 10.3390/su10051495. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su10051495
View in Google Scholar

Dykstra, P. A., & Fleischmann, M. (2018). Are societies with a high value on the Active Ageing Index more age integrated? In A. Zaidi, S. Harper, K. Howse, G. Lamura & J. Perek-Białas (Eds.). Building evidence for active ageing policies. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-6017-5_2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6017-5_2
View in Google Scholar

Djurovic, I., Jeremic, V., Bulajic, M., & Dobrota, M. (2017). A two-step multivariate composite I-distance indicator approach for the evaluation of Active Ageing Index. Journal of Population Ageing, 10(1). doi: 10.1007/ s12062-016-9169-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12062-016-9169-8
View in Google Scholar

European Commission (2016a). Ready for the demographic revolution? Measuring active ageing. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId= en&catId=752&furtherNews=yes&newsId=2430#navItem-1 (20.05.2019).
View in Google Scholar

European Commission (2016b). Active Ageing Index at the local level. Peer review in social protection and social inclusion 2015-2016. Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Population Unit of the UNECE and the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research in Vienna, Berlin, Germany, 14-15 April 2016.
View in Google Scholar

European Commission (2019a). Eurostat. Database. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database.
View in Google Scholar

European Commission (2019b). Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion. Statistical data. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId =1249&langId=en (20.05.2019).
View in Google Scholar

Hall, A., & Gylfi, Z. (2014). Values and labor force participation in the Nordic countries. Economics: the Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal, 8. doi: 10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2014-41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2014-41
View in Google Scholar

Káčerová, M., & Mládek, J. (2012). Population ageing as generation substitutions: economic and social aspects. Ekonomický časopis. 3(60).
View in Google Scholar

Kafková, M. P. (2018). The Active Ageing Index (AAI) and its relation to the quality of life of older adults. In A. Zaidi, S. Harper, K. Howse, G. Lamura & J. Perek-Białas (Eds.). Building evidence for active ageing policies. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-6017-5_4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6017-5_4
View in Google Scholar

Marcu, N., & Dobrotă, C.E. (2016). The economic impact of the cohesion policy. Revista Economica, 68(3).
View in Google Scholar

Marcu, N., Meghişan, G. M., & Ciobanu, M. C. (2015). Research on Romanian labour market dynamics. Revista de Chimie, 66(9).
View in Google Scholar

Neţoiu, L., & Cârstina, S. (2014). Analysis of the correlation between minimum wage levels in the country, indicators of social protection and poverty threshold. Procedia Economics and Finance, 8. doi: 10.1016/S2212-5671(14) 00120-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(14)00120-8
View in Google Scholar

Noja, G. G., & Cristea, M. (2018). Working conditions and flexicurity measures as key drivers of economic growth: Empirical evidence for Europe. Ekonomický časopis, 66(7).
View in Google Scholar

OECD (2019). OECD databases. Retrieved from https://data.oecd.org/ (12.05.2019).
View in Google Scholar

Pânzaru, C. (2015). Some considerations of population dynamics and the sustainability of social security system. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 183. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.847. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.847
View in Google Scholar

The World Bank (2019). Data bank. Retrieved from https://databank.world bank.org/data/home.aspx (16.05.2019).
View in Google Scholar

UNECE/European Commission (2019). 2018 Active Ageing Index: analytical report. Report prepared by Giovanni Lamura and Andrea Principi, Geneva, June. Retrieved from https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/pau/age/Active_ Ageing_Index/Stakeholder_Meeting/ACTIVE_AGEING_INDEX_TRENDS_ 2008-2016_web_cover_reduced.pdf (19.05.2019).
View in Google Scholar

Um, J., Zaidi, A., & Choi, S.J. (2019). Active Ageing Index in Korea–comparison with China and EU countries. Asian Social Work and Policy Review, 13(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/aswp.12159
View in Google Scholar

Xiong Q., & Wiśniowski A. (2018). Comparative study of active ageing in China and the EU countries. In A. Zaidi, S. Harper, K. Howse, G. Lamura & J. Perek-Białas (Eds.). Building evidence for active ageing policies. Singapore Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-6017-5_17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6017-5_17
View in Google Scholar

Zaidi, A. (2015). Active Ageing Index: a legacy of the European Year 2012 for active ageing and solidarity between generations. Policy Brief, 4.
View in Google Scholar

Downloads

Published

31-12-2019

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Thalassinos, E., Cristea, M., & Noja, G. G. (2019). Measuring active ageing within the European Union: implications on economic development. Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, 14(4), 591-609. https://doi.org/10.24136/eq.2019.028

Similar Articles

431-440 of 457

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