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The Prospects of Catching up for New EU Members Lessons for the Accession Countries to the European Union from Previous Enlargements

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  • Jan Delhey

Abstract

With EU membership, politicians as well as citizens in the accession countries hope to achieve improvements in living conditions and – at least in the long run – to catch up with the West European societies. Catch-up modernization of the less advanced member states is also an ”official” goal of EU policy. Expert opinions about the prospects for success, however, vary widely. In this paper, a general model for how EU policy influences quality of life in less well-off member countries is presented. An analysis of former enlargements – the cohesion countries Ireland, Greece, Portugal, and Spain – reveals that EU integration obviously facilitates processes of catch up but does not guarantee them. This is demonstrated by using indicators covering different aspects of quality of life, per capita income (material living conditions), social protection ratios (general quality of society), and life satisfaction (subjective well-being). Bearing in mind their particular economic and social conditions and their heterogeneity, the prospects of the future member states are discussed.
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  • Jan Delhey, 2001. "The Prospects of Catching up for New EU Members Lessons for the Accession Countries to the European Union from Previous Enlargements," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 205-231, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:56:y:2001:i:2:p:205-231
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1012407209274
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    1. Ed Diener & Eunkook Suh, 1997. "Measuring Quality Of Life: Economic, Social, And Subjective Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 189-216, January.
    2. UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre. MONEE project, 1997. "Children at Risk in Central and Eastern Europe: Perils and Promises," Papers remore97/4, Regional Monitoring Report.
    3. Richard Estes, 1997. "Social Development Trends in Europe, 1970–1994: Development Prospects for the New Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 1-19, September.
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    2. Delhey, Jan, 2002. "Korruption in Bewerberländern zur Europäischen Union: Institutionenqualität und Korruption in vergleichender Perspektive," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Social Structure and Social Reporting FS III 02-401, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    3. Pamela Abbott & Claire Wallace, 2014. "Rising Economic Prosperity and Social Quality the Case of New Member States of the European Union," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(1), pages 419-439, January.
    4. Milena Nikolova & Boris Nikolaev, 2017. "Does Joining the EU Make You Happy? Evidence from Bulgaria and Romania," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(6), pages 1593-1623, December.
    5. Luca Andriani & Gaygysyz Ashyrov, 2022. "Corruption and life satisfaction: Evidence from a transition survey," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(4), pages 511-535, November.
    6. Joel I. DEICHMANN & Dominique HAUGHTON & Mingfei LI & Heyao WANG, 2022. "Does European Union Membership Result In Quality-Of-Life Convergence?," Regional Science Inquiry, Hellenic Association of Regional Scientists, vol. 0(1), pages 31-46, June.
    7. Nikolova, Milena, 2016. "Minding the happiness gap: Political institutions and perceived quality of life in transition," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 45(S), pages 129-148.

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