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An Assessment of Social Welfare in Spain: Territorial Analysis Using a Synthetic Welfare Indicator

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is measure social welfare in Spanish provinces. To achieve this, we use the distance method P2 to compose a synthetic indicator of welfare for 2007, the last year for which data are available. The index comprises information on different social indicators from various life domains and enables a classification of Spanish provinces, as well as a study of the impact of each individual indicator in order to determine provincial disparities in social welfare levels.

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Notes

  1. Examples include Daly and Cobb (1989), Doyal and Gough (1994), Falkingham et al. (1997), World Bank (2001), UNDP (1990) and Sen (1997).

  2. Beck et al. (1998).

  3. Recent applications of synthetic indicators applied for various goals in the case of Spain may be found in Maestro and Martinez (2003), Ayala and Navarro (2004), Zarzosa (dir.) (2005), Murias et al. (2005, 2006), Herrero Prieto et al. (2007), Blancas et al. (2007), Jurado and Pérez-Mayo (2007), Pérez-Mayo (2008), Zarzosa (2009) and Somarriba (2010). However, there is a line of research which obtains synthetic welfare indicators comprising solely economic indicators, such as Ayala et al. (2006) and Villar (2006).

  4. The current work does not include the provinces of Ceuta and Melilla.

  5. EU-SILC: European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions, Eurostat (2010).

  6. Zarzosa (1996, pp. 158–174) proposes a method for selecting simple indicators and analysing their relevance.

  7. Provinces whose indicator value is lower than or equal to the first quartile are grouped together under the letter A (low welfare). The letter B (low-medium welfare) reflects provinces whose indicator value is higher than the first quartile and lower than or equal to the second quartile, letter C (medium–high welfare) provinces whose indicator value is higher than the second and lower or equal to the third quartile, and letter D (high welfare) provinces whose indicator value is higher than the third quartile.

  8. Zarzosa (1996) names this method as “The Ivanovic-Pena Global Information Quantity”, because it combines concepts proposed by Ivanovic (1974) and Pena (1977).

  9. And therefore on the correlation coefficients in Table 6 which determine these factors.

  10. Zarzosa (1996) names this measure as “The Ivanovic-Pena Relative Individual Information Quantity”.

  11. For further information regarding the approach, see Zarzosa (1996, pp. 158–174), where this technique is proposed for selecting simple indicators.

  12. This variable was not included directly but has been used to obtain to obtain other indicators in relative terms.

  13. The active labour force is defined as the percentage of active people in a group involved in the job market, either because they work or because they want to work.

  14. The unemployment rate in a group is defined as the percentage of active people in the group who are not working.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Economy, Faculty of Economics, University of Valladolid, Avd. Valle Esgueva, nº 6, 47011, Valladolid, Spain

    Pilar Zarzosa Espina

  2. Department of Applied Economy, Faculty of Social, Communication and Legal Sciences, University of Valladolid, C\Trinidad, 3, 40001, Segovia, Spain

    Noelia Somarriba Arechavala

Authors
  1. Pilar Zarzosa Espina
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  2. Noelia Somarriba Arechavala
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Correspondence to Noelia Somarriba Arechavala.

Appendix

Appendix

1.1 Simple Indicators Used to Analyse Social Welfare

Listed below are the simple indicators analysed in the present study, grouped in domains or areas of social welfare. The indicators chosen for the second stage are marked with an asterisk.

1.1.1 Demography

  • Total population. INE (2008).Footnote 12

  • Number of births. INE (2008).

  • Fertility indicator: Mean number of children per woman of child bearing age (15–49). INE (2008).

  • Gross fertility rate: Number of births per 100 women of child bearing age (15–49). INE (2008).

  • Dependency rate: Percentage representing the population not of working age (minors and the elderly) out of the total population of working age. Caja España (2008).

  • Replacement rate: Percentage representing the population aged between 20 and 29 out of the population aged between 55 and 64. Caja España (2008).

1.1.2 Income and Wealth

  • GDP: Gross domestic product at market prices, in euros per inhabitant. GDP INE (2008).

  • Gross available family income in terms of purchasing power, in euros per inhabitant. Caja España (2008).

  • Income inequality index: Inequality index in distribution of income declared in income tax return. Index created by Jiménez-Ridruejo Ayuso and López Díaz (2009).

1.1.3 Education

  • Illiteracy amongst both sexes: Proportion of the population of both sexes, aged 16 and over, illiterate/or with no qualifications. INE (2008).

  • *Male illiteracy: Proportion of males, aged 16 and over, illiterate/or with no qualifications. INE (2008).

  • Female illiteracy: Proportion of females, aged 16 and over, illiterate/or with no qualifications. INE (2008).

  • Further qualifications, both sexes: Proportion of the population of both sexes, aged between 25 and 34, with further qualifications. INE (2008).

  • *Further qualifications, males: Proportion of the male population, aged between 25 and 34, with further qualifications. INE (2008).

  • Further qualifications, females: Proportion of the female population, aged between 25 and 34, with further qualifications. INE (2008).

1.1.4 Employment

  • Active labour forceFootnote 13 both sexes. INE (2008).

  • Active labour force, males. INE (2008).

  • Active labour force, females. INE (2008).

  • Unemployment rateFootnote 14 both sexes. INE (2008).

  • *Male unemployment rate. INE (2008).

  • Female unemployment rate. INE (2008).

  • Work accidents: Work accident rate per 100,000 workers who are at risk. INE (2008).

  • *Fatal work accidents: Rate of fatal work accidents per 100,000 workers who are at risk. INE (2008).

1.1.5 Social Protection

  • *Unemployment benefit cover: Gross unemployment benefit rate cover (percentage of unemployed persons who receive unemployment benefit). INE (2008).

  • *Mean amount of non-contributory pensions: Mean amount of non-contributory social security pensions. INE (2008).

  • Contributory pensions, 65 years of age: Number of beneficiaries of contributory pensions per 100 persons aged 65 and over. INE (2008).

  • Non-contributory pensions, 65 years of age: Number of beneficiaries of non-contributory pensions per 100 persons aged 65 and over. INE (2008).

  • Contributory and non-contributory pensions, 65 years of age: Number of beneficiaries of contributory and non-contributory pensions for each 100 persons aged 65 and over. Drawn up by the authors based on information from the INE (2008).

1.1.6 Health

  • Infant mortality, both sexes: Infant mortality rate in the first year of life, for both sexes. INE (2008).

  • Male infant mortality: Infant mortality rate in the first year of life amongst males. INE (2008).

  • *Female infant mortality: Infant mortality rate in the first year of life amongst females. INE (2008).

  • *Perinatal mortality: Perinatal mortality rate, from week 28 of pregnancy to week 1 after birth. INE (2008).

  • Mortality which may be prevented through primary care, both sexes: Rate per 10,000 deaths of mortality due to diseases which could be prevented by primary care, both sexes. INE (2008).

  • Mortality which may be prevented through primary care, males: Rate per 10,000 deaths of mortality due to diseases which could be prevented by primary care, males. INE (2008).

  • *Mortality which may be prevented through primary care, females: Rate per 10,000 deaths of mortality due to diseases which could be prevented by primary care, females. INE (2008).

  • Mortality which may be prevented through medical health care, both sexes: Rate per 10,000 deaths of mortality due to diseases which could be prevented by medical health care, both sexes. INE (2008).

  • Mortality which may be prevented through medical health care, males: Rate per 10,000 deaths of mortality due to diseases which could be prevented by medical health care, males. INE (2008).

  • *Mortality which may be prevented through medical health care, females: Rate per 10,000 deaths of mortality due to diseases which could be prevented by medical health care, females. INE (2008).

  • AIDS: AIDS cases diagnosed during the year. INE (2008).

  • *AIDS per 100,000: AIDS cases diagnosed during the year, per 100,000 inhabitants. Drawn up by the authors based on data from the INE (2008).

  • Births: Percentage of normal births out of the total number of births. INE (2008).

  • Doctors: Registered doctors per 100,000 inhabitants. INE (2008).

  • *Beds: Beds per 100,000 inhabitants. INE (2008).

  • Pharmaceutical expenditure: Total cover (subsidised pharmaceutical expenditure). INE (2008).

  • *Traffic accident injuries: Number of people injured in traffic accidents per 100,000 inhabitants. INE (2008).

  • *Psychiatric visits: Number of psychiatric outpatients in hospitals, per 1,000 inhabitants. INE (2008).

1.1.7 Physical Environment

  • *Burned forest area: Burned forest area per 10,000 hectares of total forest area. INE (2008).

  • Vehicles: Total number of motor vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants. INE (2008).

  • *Registered vehicles: Number of registered motor vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants. INE (2008).

  • *Bank branches: Total number of bank branches per 100,000 inhabitants. INE (2008).

  • *Motorways: Kilometres of motorway per 1,000 km2. INE (2008).

1.1.8 Culture and Leisure

  • *Movie spectators: Number of movie spectators per 100 inhabitants. INE (2008).

  • Books and pamphlets: Total average circulation of books and pamphlets per 1,000 inhabitants, published in a particular province and made available to the public. INE (2008).

  • *Overnight stays. Number of overnight stays in hotel establishments, per 100 inhabitants. INE (2008).

  • *Movie theatres: Number of movie theatre screens per 100,000 inhabitants. INE (2008).

  • *Places in hotel rooms: Number of places in hotel establishments per 1,000 inhabitants. INE (2008).

  • *Campsite places: Number of campsite places available per 1,000 inhabitants. INE (2008).

1.1.9 Social Cohesion

  • Hospitalisation, alcohol dependence: Number of patients admitted to hospital due to alcohol dependence per 100,000 inhabitants. INE (2008).

  • Hospitalisation, drug dependence: Number of patients admitted to hospital due to drug addiction per 100,000 inhabitants. INE (2008).

  • *Hospitalisation, drug and alcohol dependence: Number of patients admitted to hospital due to alcohol and drug dependence per 100,000 inhabitants. Drawn up by the authors based on information from the INE (2008).

  • *Arrests: Number of people arrested by the Civil Guard or National Police per 1,000 inhabitants. INE (2008).

  • Violent deaths, external causes: Number of violent deaths due to external causes of death per 100,000 inhabitants.

  • *Violent deaths, attacks: Number of violent deaths due to attacks (murder) per 100,000 inhabitants. INE (2008).

  • Violent deaths, alcohol use disorders: Violent deaths due to mental disorders resulting from alcohol use per 100,000 inhabitants. INE (2008).

1.1.10 New Technologies

  • Broadband: Number of broadband connections at 1 January 2008. La Caixa (2009).

  • Broadband connections per thousand: Number of broadband connections per one thousand inhabitants, at 1 January 2008. Drawn up by the authors, based on Broadband lines. La Caixa (2009).

1.1.11 Municipal Indexes

  • *Economic activity index: Comparative index of the importance of economic activity as a whole. La Caixa (2009).

  • Business index: Comparative index of the importance of business (wholesaler and retailer). Its value reflects the relative weight of business activity in a province compared to the national total in Spain. La Caixa (2009).

  • Restaurant and bar index: Comparative index of the importance of business activity in restaurants and bars. Its value reflects the relative weight of business activity in restaurants and bars in a province compared to the national total in Spain. La Caixa (2009).

  • *Industrial index: Comparative index of the importance of industry (including construction). Its value reflects the relative weight of industry in a province compared to the national total in Spain. La Caixa (2009).

  • *Tourism index: Comparative index of the importance of tourism. Its value reflects the relative weight of the tourist industry in a province compared to the national total in Spain. La Caixa (2009).

  • *Mercociudad index: Index published by Mercociudad. For this research, we took the value corresponding to the provincial capital. Source: http://www.merco.info/es/countries/4/rankings/3. Mercociudad (2009).

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Zarzosa Espina, P., Somarriba Arechavala, N. An Assessment of Social Welfare in Spain: Territorial Analysis Using a Synthetic Welfare Indicator. Soc Indic Res 111, 1–23 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0005-0

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