Nerovnosti v příjmech, bohatství a spokojenosti obyvatel v České republice a zemích V4 v období 2013 - 2023

This thesis analyses the development of income and wealth inequalities in the Visegrad Group countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary) over the period 2013–2023 and examines the relationship between objective inequality indicators and their subjective perception by the population. The added value of the thesis lies in the deliberate use of a comprehensive set of seven indicators (Gini coefficient, Theil index, Palma ratio, S80/S20, median equivalised disposable income, at-risk-of-poverty rate and wealth-to-income ratio), which allow the distribution of economic resources to be captured across multiple dimensions simultaneously, thereby overcoming the limitations of analyses relying solely on a single synthetic indicator. The subjective dimension is captured through the Life Ladder index from the Gallup World Poll and assessed by means of correlation analysis constructed separately for each country. The results of the analysis yield several findings. The thesis identifies the phenomenon of "hidden inequality" in the Czech Republic. While standard income indicators have long ranked the country among the most egalitarian economies in Europe, the inclusion of the wealth dimension significantly modifies this picture and suggests that the centre of economic inequality in the Czech context is gradually shifting from the income sphere towards the accumulation of wealth and asset ownership. This trend is consistent with Piketty's thesis on the systematic dominance of capital returns over the rate of economic growth. The correlation analysis of the relationship between the Life Ladder index and selected economic indicators further revealed that the subjective life satisfaction of Czech residents is lower than would correspond to the country's objective economic situation. This discrepancy is explained by a combination of factors specific to the post-socialist context, namely lower institutional trust, a tendency towards social comparison with Western Europe, and persisting societal scepticism. The thesis also empirically demonstrates the divergence in inequality trajectories within the V4, despite their common post-socialist starting point. While Poland recorded the most pronounced relative improvement across all monitored indicators, driven particularly by active redistributive policy and dynamic income growth among lower-income groups, developments in Hungary were less favourable, linked to a more regressive tax structure and lower redistributive efficiency. Slovakia, despite maintaining low national-level income inequality, simultaneously exhibited pronounced territorial disparities and higher sensitivity to economic shocks. The Czech Republic, in turn, combined low-income inequality with gradually rising wealth inequality. The thesis thus contributes to the existing body of knowledge primarily by linking the income and wealth dimensions of inequality with their subjective perception within a single comparative analysis, based on a data-consistent eleven-year time series covering both a phase of stable economic growth and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis. The results also provide a concrete basis for formulating economic policy recommendations tailored to the institutional specificities of each of the countries examined.