Researcher Ció Patxot to lead European project TRANSHIST

Ció Patxot, researcher at the UB School of Economics and member of the Barcelona Economic Analysis Team (BEAT), is participating as principal researcher at the European project TRANSHIST based on the interaction between the welfare state and the family throughout history. Developed by the International Centre of Aging and financed by the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union, it is an initiative of the Interreg V-A Cooperation Programme, Spain-Portugal (POCTEP), 2014-2020.

Other researchers are collaborating in the project: Berkeley University Graduate School professor Ronald Lee, the Autonomous University of Barcelona associated professor Guadalupe Souto, University of Hawaii professor Andrew Mason, and Pedro Luís de Oliveira Martins Pita Barros, professor at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Lisboa.

Dr Patxot leads one of the research projects of the project. With the title “National transfer accounts in Spain 1900-1970”, its aim is studying the evolution of transfers of resources from other age groups in order to finance the consumption (intergenerational transfers) in Spain during those decades, as well as understanding how the evolution of the welfare state and demographic and institutional developments affect the living standards of individuals and dependent age groups.

“In the life cycle of a human being, there is an unequal distribution of production and consumption,” Dr Patxot said. “There is a first period (childhood and youth) where it is consumed more than what is produced; during the working age, production is higher than consumption, and then old age arrives, where again, production decreases or disappears”, she added. Therefore, during the initial and final periods, it is necessary “to receive transfers of resources (intergenerational transfers) from other age groups in order to finance the consumption itself”, Dr Patxot explained.

According to the researcher, the study of these transfers is essential to understand how resources are distributed among different age groups and how this affects their well-being. Thanks to the National Transfer Accounts (NTA) methodology, it is possible to determine the origin of all the resources that each person receives and how these resources are used.

The study of public and private transfers allows to analyse the sustainability of the welfare state and to understand how ageing will impact the standard of living of each age group. Finally, the historical reconstruction of the introduction of the welfare state and its impact on private transfers and savings will also highlight the need and opportunity for reforms to deal with the imminent ageing of Spanish population.

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