About

WISER Portugal is a research project, financed by funded by COMPETE 2020, Portugal 2020 and the European Union [POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029365]; and the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia I.P./MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) [PTDC/EGE-ECO/29365/2017] and coordinated by Marta Simões and Adelaide Duarte.

Portugal has gone through important transformations in the scale and structure of the respective social model and, at the same time, seems to be stuck in a high inequality and poverty, low-growth trap, together with relatively low human capital levels. These features of the Portuguese economy make the Welfare State a crucial institution from the perspective of fostering economic growth in Portugal given its potential influence on inequality and human capital accumulation.

In order to gain a deeper understanding of the potential impact of the former changes for long run macroeconomic performance and social inclusion this project gathers researchers from several national institutions with a mutual objective.

The main aim of WISER Portugal is the identification of the potential role of the Welfare State as a fundamental source of growth and economic recovery in the Portuguese economy at a time when its role has been increasingly questioned based on the equity-efficiency trade-off argument and the need for fiscal consolidation.