| Abstract [eng] |
The aim of this master’s thesis, based on the results of literature analysis and the author’s research, is to identify welfare state models in Europe, to assess the impact of redistribution of welfare states and income inequality in countries belonging to different models. Tasks of the thesis: to analyse the concept of welfare state and income inequality in the scientific literature, to conduct a hierarchical cluster analysis to identify welfare state models in the European countries, to examine the changes in the redistribution and income inequality variables in European welfare state models over time, and to estimate the impact of welfare states on income inequality. The following methods were used in the master's thesis: analysis of scientific literature, descriptive quantitative research, systematization of data, interpretation of obtained results and graphical representation of data. The literature review provides an overview of the development of welfare state theories, presents the main concepts of the welfare state, analyses the types of welfare state, identifies the links between the welfare state and income inequality and explains what causes changes in income inequality. After the literature analysis the author has carried out a clustering study of welfare states for European countries and a study of redistribution and income inequality trends in 2020-2010. The results of the research were statistically processed with the SPSS programme batch. The cluster analysis identified 5 welfare state models in the 29 European countries studied. The results of the study were compared with similar studies carried out by other authors and the following differences were found: a new hybrid type of welfare state was obtained, with a proximity to the liberal regime. In contrast to most of the other authors' studies, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia and Finland were classified as Bismarck-type. The study of trends in redistribution and income inequality revealed that tax and benefit systems are now less effective in reducing inequality compared to the last decade. The conclusions and recommendations summarise the main concepts of the literature analysis and the results of the study. The author believes that it would be useful to include more European countries in the cluster analysis. |
