Economic Growth vs General Welfare: Empirical Findings from Four European Economies

by Eirini Leriou, Nikolaos Rodousakis and George Soklis

Διάλογοι στη Δημόσια Διοίκηση, Τεύχος 5, σσ. 44-57, Ιούλιος 2025

Abstract

This paper investigates the extent in which economic growth achieves the improvement of general welfare. For this purpose, we combine input-output analysis with welfare economics to measure whether the sectoral decomposition of economic growth is compatible with the development of economic sectors that better promote general welfare. We apply our analysis in four European countries, i.e. Germany, Greece, Italy and Netherlands. The results indicate that economic growth is partially compatible with the improvement of general welfare only in the cases of the Italian and the Dutch economies.