Social Innovation Policy in the European Union

Author(s):  
Alex Nicholls ◽  
Daniel Edmiston

This chapter provides a detailed overview of the development of social innovation policy in the European Union. It makes an important analytical distinction between policy for social innovation and policy as social innovation. In the context of these two policy agendas, not only has social innovation been understood as a means to achieve an end in this regard, it has also been recognized as an end in itself. These agendas have been advocated by the European Commission and across various individual states. This chapter establishes how the concept of social innovation has been understood, applied, and managed in pan-European policy agendas over recent years. It examines the key policy agendas from the perspective of institutions, cognitive frames, and networks: the Europe 2020 strategy (2010–20), the Social Business Initiative and the Social Investment Package.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuliya Kuznetcova

If until the 90s. innovation policy was focused solely on the activities of enterprises in the real sector of the economy, and economic and social problems were not considered in their interconnection and interdependence, then with the advent of the 21st century the situation has changed dramatically. The increasing contribution of health care, education, social security to the gross domestic product, job creation has made it possible to consider them as a sphere of origin and application of innovations. It has been established that in conditions of a high load on the budget system of the country, social innovations can play a significant role in the development of society, influencing the saving of government spending on the social sphere while improving the quality of life of citizens. The purpose of the article was to identify the features of supporting innovative activities in the social sphere at the state level in the Russian Federation and the European Union. The study revealed the content of the activities of key organizations that are focused on the development of social innovations: in the Russian Federation – the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, the Social Projects Support Fund, innovation centers in the social sphere in the regions of the country, in the European Union – the Commission on Social Innovations and the Innovation Union . The key features of the activities of these organizations are identified in terms of support and replication of social innovation. Based on the study, it was found that in Russia, the ecosystem for supporting innovation in the social sphere is less stable and structured, but is dynamically developing in terms of its individual components. In the European Union, the system for supporting social innovation is much more established, many of its elements are highly developed (in particular, evaluating the effectiveness of social innovation).


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 111-119
Author(s):  
Gabriela Wronowska ◽  
Janusz Rosiek

Increase in convergence of the European Union countries has been focal for the European Union leaders, from the very beginning. The aim of the study is to examine whether any social convergence occurred in the EU-28 from 2010 to 2016, in the context of the implementation of the recommendations and the social policy objectives formulated under the Europe 2020 strategy. This article is based on an overview of the literature on the subject and the statistics of Eurostat. The methods of assessing the effectiveness of objects is DEA and sigma convergence. It is a new approach to convergence measurement based on the assessment of the efficiency diversification of the European Union countries and it has clearly been the value added to the analyses conducted so far. The obtained results in the scope of the estimation of the effectiveness were then compared to the existing results produced with the use of the methods generally recognized and employed in the literature. Conclusions were presented in the final part of the study.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8628
Author(s):  
Emília Duľová Spišáková ◽  
Barbora Gontkovičová ◽  
Emil Spišák

Research and development have been of interest to the European Union for a long time. This topic is also underlined in economic reform agendas and plans that have the form of strategies with clearly set targets. The article deals with the issue of financing R&D activities from the perspective of the share of expenditure to GDP, the total amount of funds spent on R&D, the share of expenditure per capita, and the structure of expenditure. The aim is to analyze and compare development in the field of R&D financing in selected countries of the European Union with emphasis on achieving the Europe 2020 target and to point out the expected development of the indicator for the first years of the validity of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. During the processing of the article, mathematical and statistical methods (regression and correlation analysis) were used in addition to standard logic methods intended for processing data and drawing conclusions (synthesis, induction). The final evaluates the achievement of the target in the field of R&D financing in accordance with the target of the Europe 2020 strategy and, using regression, predicts the development of the given indicator for coming years.


Equilibrium ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Stanickova

Research background: Economic crisis hit all the European Union Member States hard, with the impact of crisis varying considerably. The low growth performance in the EU has increased concerns regarding an increasing wage dispersion, income inequality at large, and social exclusion in line with poverty. Inequality should be seen as a cornerstone of both sustainable and inclusive growth under the Europe 2020 Strategy. Social inequality in the EU is a real problem, which hampers sustainable economic growth. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this study is to introduce evaluation of social development convergence and divergence trends between the EU Member States in the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The study gives an outline of the issues of the labour market and income disparities and poverty. Policymakers must be clear about what social objectives they are aiming to achieve, therefore special attention is paid to headline national goals of the Europe 2020 Strategy. Methods: The main task of this study is to assess social dimension and inequalities problems in the EU27 by applying Data Envelopment Analysis method, resp. time-series dynamic efficiency analysis in the form of output-oriented Malmquist Productivity Index. This study contains changes of key social equality indicators related to the Europe 2020 Strategy and compares objectives and general outlines of period 2010-2015, as well as the impact on national economics and living conditions. Findings & value added: Results contain elements of typology premises of the EU28 and point to a large diversity in inequality patterns, as the Author observes both increases and decreases in inequality at the EU level. Recent changes in social inequality have been associated with the business cycle, particularly with the accessibility of the labour market and, of course, with income inequality. Additionally, the development challenges are discussed for improvement of the socioeconomic well-being of the EU and to avoid social disparities.


2013 ◽  
pp. 15-19
Author(s):  
Zoltán Eperjesi

I define first of all the competitiveness in my study „Analysing the competitiveness of the European Union”. After that I turn to the analysis of the competitiveness of the EU. The European competitiveness index and its concept were of great assistance during the analyses. The concept of the European competitiveness index has three main components: creative economy, economic performance, access to infrastructure. It is unambiguous that the European Union can only sustain and increase its position reached in the world economy, when its member states commit themselves for the completion of the knowledge based economic policy striving for competitiveness. The Europe 2020 strategy and the budget period 2007–2013 emphasize the outstanding role of competitiveness and urge to take the necessary measures.


2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ionuț-Marian ANGHEL

After implementing one of the toughest austerity programs in the European Union during the financial crisis, Romania returned to continuous economic growth for eight years (2012−2019), not before concluding between 2011−2013 two preventive agreements with Troika to reduce its macroeconomic imbalances. This continuous economic growth was also reflected in the achievement of the national targets under the Europe 2020 Strategy. In order to better coordinate economic and budgetary policies, the European Union has launched the European Semester. Although the main objective of the latter was to coordinate Member States' efforts to implement fiscal budgetary policies aimed at preventing macroeconomic imbalances and controlling public finances, after 2015, the European Semester began to incorporate social policy objectives, especially in the area of employment and social inclusion policies. By using the index of commodification/ decommodification of social policies developed by Paul Copeland, I illustrate, by analyzing the National Reform Programs and Country Specific Reports, that half of the policies taken in the two areas were towards partial commodification or commodification, and other significant measures towards commodification and decommodification, e.g. types of policies addressed to vulnerable groups trying to (re)integrate them into the labor market, even if in conditions that do not necessarily lead to social inclusion. Keywords: social policies; European Semester; Europe 2020; de/comodification; neoliberalism.


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