Has Economic Growth in Balkan Countries Been Pro-Poor in the 2012-2017 period?

Abstract

The study investigates whether economic growth in the Balkan countries was pro-poor in the most recent period. We also try to establish to what extent various measures of pro-poorness of economic growth produce consistent and comparable results. Firstly, concepts of pro-poor growth are defined and corresponding approaches toward measuring pro-poor growth are presented. We distinguish between measures based on a general class of pro-poor indices and a dominance-based techniques. In the empirical part of the study, we verified whether economic growth in six Balkan countries (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia) was pro-poor in the 2012-2017 period. The analyses is based on the latest available panel data of the European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). Growth was pro-poor in Croatia, Romania and Slovenia during the whole analysed period. The growth pattern was non pro-poor in Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia in certain years, mainly during periods of economic downfall. Various measures of pro-poor growth patterns do not produce consistent results in all instances. The results of the conducted comparative analysis suggest that the level of social benefits does not directly influence the pro-poor nature of the economic growth.