Stát sociálního blahobytu a národní konkurenceschopnost

The second half of the 20th century saw the most rapid progress in the development of the welfare state, and the principles of this regime, have, to a greater or lesser degree, affected the function of all developed national economies. My thesis explores the effect of the welfare state on national competitiveness, analysing two examples of different types of welfare state -- the liberal and the social democratic one. The aim is to identify areas in which each of the models positively or negatively influences the degree of national competitiveness. The thesis opens with the description of the concept of welfare state, including its types, and the definition of national competitiveness and the methods of its measurement. The following chapters introduce the socioeconomic systems of four different countries, two representing each of the studied models of the welfare state. The two subsequent parts are analytical. The first one compares the level of competitiveness in the selected countries and its prerequisites using quantifiable economic indicators. The second one employs multi-criteria competitiveness rankings, on the basis of which the performance of individual countries, and consequently also of both of the models, is studied in the selected areas.