The impact of economic globalization welfare states

Abstract

The literature has yet to draw firm conclusions regarding the effect of economic globalization on government spending in developing countries in general and Pakistan in particular. This paper tries to overcome this gap on the literature and analyses the impact of globalization and democracy on the aggregate level of Pakistan's social spending from 1972 to 2018. The methods used include econometrics models. The results confirm that globalization is inversely related to social spending, while democracy positively affects social expenditures. Other results confirm that debt service and inflation rate harm social spending. In contrast, the more significant economic development and the increased unemployment rate have a positive and meaningful relationship with social expenditure in the long run. Public decision-makers should consider these conclusions to promote economic and social sustainability in Pakistan.