Comparison of competitiveness of countries with different paths to advanced stage of economic development on example of Italy and Republic of Korea

In my thesis, I focus on a comparison of two countries, Italy and the Republic of Korea, in terms of international competitiveness. I have chosen these countries because of their similarity in some aspects, like the stage of economic development, or several geographical and demographical factors. On the other hand, the countries have gone through different historical developments and their paths to this advanced stage have been different. The main objective of this bachelor thesis is "To determine the degree of competitiveness of Italy and the Republic of Korea and to identify the main socio-economic problems of the selected countries based on the analysis of the selected factors." The thesis is divided into three chapters. In the first one, I describe the issues of macroeconomic competitiveness, its historical development, and current methods of measurement. In the following chapter, I present the selected countries, with a focus on their development in modern history, as this recent history undoubtedly has a great influence on the current situation. In the third chapter, I start with the actual comparison of states according to the selected categories and specific factors and also compare the countries' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on this analysis, I then identify the main problems and strengths of the selected states and try to predict their future development.