Study on the variables reflecting the action of interest groups. The case of Greek economy

Abstract

In literature there are many studies considering the action of interest groups in several countries’ societies and economies. In order to study the effect of special interest groups in the economy of each country, a multitude of variables have been used by researchers. After an extended bibliographic research in the recording of the economy affecting variables that have been used, this research presents a methodology for the selection of those which better represent the action of interest groups in the economy of Greece. The methodology used is based on Principal Component Analysis and therefore on the correlation tests needed. In this way it can be concluded which variables can be more advantageous in future research.

Forecasting the effects of interest groups on Greek economy

“…The aim of data analysis, is the selection of the appropriate variables, which best reflect the action of interest groups in a country's economy, according to bibliographic research. The study period covers the first quarter of 1999 to the fourth quarter of 2019 Initially, from the above group of variables, the variables "Number of interest groups", "Population" and "Political rights/democracy" are taken out of the group, as there are no required statistical data for the case of Greece (Papadakis et al 2022). For the rest of the variables, the methodology starts by testing if the data of the variables under consideration are normalized.…”

“…The application of the Principal Component Analysis follows, where will shor the variables with the highest loadings, therefore the variables that best reflect the action of the interest groups. All methodology and results of this research are published in Papadakis, Atsalakis and Zopounidis (Papadakis et al 2022). It is emerged from their study, that the variables where best reflect the action of interest groups in Greece are the "GDP growth rate" and the "General Government Expenditure".…”