THE RICH AND THE POOR IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE GREAT RECESSION: SOME EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

This paper proposes a theoretical framework of the factors that affect the gap between the rich and the poor in the European Union. It uses a twelve-year panel data set from 2002 to 2012 of 27 countries to determine the short-term effects of the macroeconomic performance, the level of household income inequality, and the social protection expenditure on the extremes of the income distribution, controlling for several structural factors of income disparity. The impact of these variables on the shares of income separately accruing to the bottom, median and top household income is estimated. It is found that the three core determinants have a different impact before the Great Recession of 2008 and during the crisis years, and a different public commitment towards reducing disparities depending on the type of welfare regime.