The Interplay between Active Ageing and Silver Economy – a QCA Analysis

Ageing, the most salient policy challenge of the 21st century, can convert into an economic venture. In order to grasp this aspiration, this paper examines the interplay between active ageing and the demand side of the silver economy from both national and the EU perspective. The goal is to configure a combination of policies recommended by the active ageing framework that ameliorates silver consumption. Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) demonstrated that the intersection between higher public health care spending, active social life, achieving employment targets and retirement before or at statutory retirement age constitutes a sufficient combination to exploit the potential of the silver economy. Therefore, the active ageing framework theoretically underpins the silver. However, the argument is not empirically compelling because only a minor proportion of the EU member states have actively engaged in the exploitation of the silver economy potential.