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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
We 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.
Description
Keywords
Public spending Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Government spending efficiency
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Afonso, António…[et al.] (2025). “Functional public sector spending and SDGs: an efficiency map for the EU countries". REM Working paper series, nº 0388/2025
Publisher
REM – Research in Economics and Mathematics