Tashkent, Uzbekistan
This study focused on examining the impact of social protection policies on poverty and income inequality in Central Asian countries. Using econometric methods such as a pooled OLS model, a fixed effects model and a random effects model, an empirical analysis was conducted using four social protection indicators from the World Bank database: Building Human Resource (BHR), Equity in the Use of Public Resources ( EPR), Policy for Social Inclusion and Equity (PSE) and Social Protection Ratings (SPR). The regression results showed that only the second and third indicators have a statistically significant effect on poverty and contribute to its reduction. An analysis of the relationship between inequality and social protection using a pooled OLS model showed that all four indicators of social protection were statistically significant and contributed to reducing income differentiation in these countries. However, regression analysis using fixed and random effects models revealed that only Human Resource Development (BHR) and Social Protection Ratings (SPR) were statistically significant and negatively associated with the Ginni coefficient.
Income inequality; poverty; social protection; Central Asia; OLS.
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