The Effects of Military and Health Expenditures as Public Goods and Services on Distribution of Income: An Analysis on Selected European Union Countries

Abstract

Abstract: Distribution and redistribution policies in the public economics are important devices used to prevent inequality in income distribution in that specific country. As it is well known, the economic growth of countries does not mean the whole thing by itself. In addition to economic growth, ensuring equality in income distribution, which is an indicator of how national income is distributed among households, is also an important macroeconomic indicator. In this context, in this study, the long-term and causality relationship between military and health expenditures with income distribution for the period 2001-2018 of 13 selected European Union member countries has been tried to be examined. In the two-way causality analyzes using the Bootstrap panel Granger causality methodology, it is striking that there is a direct interaction from all three variables to each other for the most of the sample countries. According to the main findings of the study, it has been determined that serious policy differences persist due to the lack of sufficient common implementation or harmonization in fiscal policy, contrary to the monetary policy in EU countries. In particular, some countries try to maintain public services with almost a concession from income distribution, however; the fact that the situation is completely ‘vice versa’ for some countries, is other remarkable result of the study. Again, in the conclusion part of the study, besides the general evaluation, some basic problem-solving suggestions are also presented to help the policy makers to improve the distribution of income in the future.

Keywords

• Military Expenditure
• Health Expenditure
• Income Distribution
• Bootstrap Panel Granger Causality
• Panel Data Analysis

Kamusal Birer Mal ve Hizmet Olarak Savunma ve Sağlık Harcamalarının Gelir Dağılımı Üzerindeki Etkileri: Seçilmiş Avrupa Birliği Ülkeleri Üzerine Bir Analiz

Öz

Öz: Kamu ekonomisinde dağıtım ve yeniden dağıtım politikaları, bir ülkede gelir dağılımındaki eşitsizliği önlemede yararlanılan önemli aygıtlardır. Bilindiği üzere, ülkelerin iktisadi büyümesi tek başına bir anlam ifade etmemektedir. Ekonomik büyümenin yanı sıra milli gelirin hane halkları arasında nasıl dağıldığının bir göstergesi olan gelir dağılımında eşitliğin sağlanması da önemli bir makroekonomik göstergedir. Bu çerçevede, bu çalışmada seçilmiş 13 Avrupa Birliği üyesi ülke 2001-2018 dönemi için tam ve yarı kamusal mal olarak savunma ve sağlık harcamaları ile gelir dağılımı arasındaki uzun vadeli ve nedensellik ilişkisi incelenmeye çalışılmıştır. Bootstrap panel Granger nedensellik metodolojisi kullanarak çift yönlü olarak yapılan nedensellik analizlerinde, pek çok örnek ülke için her üç değişkenden de birbirine doğru etkileşim olduğu göze çarpmaktadır. Çalışmanın temel bulgularına göre, AB ülkelerinde para politikasında olanın aksine maliye politikasında yeterli ortak uygulama veya harmonizasyon olmaması nedeniyle ciddi politika farklılıklarının sürdüğü tespit edilmiştir. Özellikle bazı ülkelerin gelir dağılımından adeta bir ödün ile kamu hizmetlerini sürdürmeye çalışması, buna karşın; bazı ülkeler için ise durumun bunun tamamen tersi görünümde olması çalışmaya dair dikkat çekici sonuçlardandır. Yine, çalışmanın sonuç kısmında genel değerlendirme yanında politika yapıcılara gelir dağılımını gelecekte düzeltmeye yardımcı olacağı düşünülen temel çözüm önerileri de sunulmaya çalışılmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Savunma Harcamaları
• Sağlık Harcamaları
• Gelir Dağılımı
• Bootstrap Panel Granger Nedensellik
• Panel Veri Analizi

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