Publications - Monographs and Scientific Edited Books

The publication is a continuation of the elucidation of the context of income polarization in Slovakia, which was part of the previous monograph of 2016. In this publication, we presented our methodology of exploration of income inequalities and polarization, taking into account international theoretical and practical experience. In this monograph we reveal the range of the determinants of inequalities and polarization, especially at the regional level of Slovakia, and expand the range of the research with important aspects of the financing problems of the pension system and the constraints of household consumption in relation to the potential of the inequalities growth and the polarization deepening. We draw the reader's attention on the need of critical thinking, especially in relation to the presented results of the comparison of unemployment and wage developments in Slovakia, in Czech Republic and Hungary, and on the characteristics of the systemic changes impacts after 1989 on the regional level of Slovakia. For obvious aging process of the Slovak population we look upon through the examining of the employment development over 50 years in individual sectors of the economy and we detect how human potential is used in specific regions. Seeing that wage developments and unemployment are some limiting factors for the future development of retirement pensions, we have focused our attention on a wider range of risks and on the possibilities of resolving the financing of the pension system with regard to stopping the growth of income inequality and polarization. The consumption of households is the reflection of the society position, the adequacy of set policies and the reflection of the income situation of the population. It is presented through the results of international comparisons and documents inequalities through the household consumption expenses structure, limited income availability, low tendency to save, increasing indebtedness of the population, and "remarkable" price development in Slovakia. The last part of the publication, which deals with the limits of the systemic change in employment and with the adaptation of the Slovak society on changes coming from the fourth industrial revolution, is extremely serious about its contents and the depth of open issues.