Is the Welfare State Relevant for Economic Growth? Evidence for Portugal

In this paper, we describe the evolution of welfare state spending in Portugal in the period 1980-2018 and consider its implications for economic growth. Overall, welfare spending in Portugal increased over this period as a percentage of GDP, but stagnated or even declined in recent years. Our empirical analysis attempts to quantify the contribution of welfare spending to economic growth in that period. We provide a comprehensive robustness check by means of specification-curve analysis. We conclude that the sign of the effect varies with the specification choices, but neither positive nor negative estimates are robust.