Browsing by Author "Bazah, Najat"
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- Fertility as a variable for tackling the demographic challenge, is having children in Spain an unfulfilled desire?Publication . Bazah, Najat; Sánchez Fuentes, A. JesúsIn this article, we examine the maternity gap for the case of Spain. This is a phenomenon of great social and economic relevance that presents challenges for analysis, including adequate delimitation of the concept and the acquisition of quality quantitative data that enables dependable empirical measurement. We have drawn data from the three waves of the Fertility Survey conducted by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (1985, 1999, and 2018) and find that, while the desire for maternity in Spain is not relatively low, the number of actual births is significantly lower. First, we propose alternative theoretical approaches that contribute to a comprehensive vision of this complex phenomenon. Next, we analyze the perceived barriers to maternity in Spain for each period, identifying the factors that influence them. Results indicate that women with higher levels of education are associated with larger gaps between the numbers of children desired and actual children, and that the maintenance of stable relationships and access to good health services contribute to reductions in the maternity gap. Finally, in a differentiated analysis for men and women using data collected in the 2018 wave, we find that the main results are similar for the two sexes, although distinct profiles do emerge depending on the professional status of a woman (when unemployed or inactive) and with respect to the importance of declared reasons for not having children, such as work and reconciliation with maternity (by women) and lacking a suitable partner (by men).
- Functional public sector spending and SDGs: an efficiency map for the EU countriesPublication . Afonso, António; Alves, José; Bazah, Najat; Fuentes, A. J. SánchezWe evaluate the efficiency of public expenditure in the 27 European countries in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda. Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), we map performance over the period 1995-2023, incorporating Musgravian functional spending – redistribution, allocation, public services, and private activities – as input variables, and constructing synthetic indices for the five pillars of the 2030 Agenda – people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership – as outputs. Results indicate that input efficiency scores range from 0.77 to 0.95, while output scores range from 0.88 to 0.93, suggesting a potential 5%-23.5% increase in inputs or a 7%-11.7% improvement in outputs. Denmark, Ireland, and Finland are efficient throughout the entire period, with strategic reductions in public spending correlating with high SDG performance. Sweden also has high efficiency and leads in multiple pillars by 2023. Conversely, the peace pillar remains the least achieved, while the people pillar shows the greatest progress.
- Public sector efficiency and the functions of the governmentPublication . Afonso, António; Alves, José; Bazah, NajatWe examine the relationship between public sector efficiency and government spending, to assess public resource management across the 27 European Union countries. Specifically, we analyze the growth of public expenditure in relation to outcomes across various public sector performance (PSP) indicators. We compute government spending efficiency using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to subsequently assess the relationship between efficiency and the growth rate of public expenditure. Our findings suggest that higher efficiency can be achieved without proportionally increasing public spending, both in total expenditure and in specific areas such as social protection, economic affairs, education, healthcare, and public services. Indeed, with overall output efficiency scores between 0.77 and 0.87, with the same level of inputs, output could increase around 13%-23%. Additionally, public spending tends to rise during recessions, while it decreases with higher levels of human capital and redistribution indicators. Finally, more efficient countries tend to coalesce around Austria, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Poland, and Sweden.