Analyzing changes in EU social inclusion using the global Malmquist productivity index

Abstract In this paper, we use the global and the biennial Malmquist productivity indices for the Inverted Benefit‐of‐the‐Doubt model to analyze changes in EU social inclusion using data for the period 2011–2020. Our empirical results indicate that relatively more progress took place in EU social inclusion during the period 2015–2020, compared to the period 2011–2015. In addition, in the period 2011–2015, these improvements were possible mainly through the effect of efficiency change, while in the period 2015–2020, the main source of progress was the effect of the best‐practice change. In addition, we found that the “older” Member States achieved slightly faster progress rates, compared to the “new” Member States in the period 2011–2015, while the opposite was true for the period 2015–2020.