Theoretical and Applied Economics (May 2024)
Impact of COVID-19 in Europe
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic had profound effects on several industries. In this background paper, we attempted to justify how much this anomaly conducted to the increase of socio-economic inequality at the European level. The research takes into account 27 European countries simultaneously with 9 indicators that were the basis for the creation of the unequaled indicator. The composite index was calculated adopting the approach of the researcher A.A. Davidescu (Davidescu, 2017, pp. 227-240). Regarding the statistical methods and techniques used, we can mention: descriptive statistics, principal components analysis, cluster analysis, self-organizing maps and forecasts. The results determined a moderately increase in socio-economic disparities throughout Europe.