A new view on the evaluation of regional disparities in social sphere

Zuzana Palová, Jarmila Šebestová, Slezská univerzita v Opavě, Obchodně podnikatelská fakulta v Karviné

 

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present a new view on evaluation of regional disparities in the social sphere. This view is closely linked precisely with the European Social Fund Czech Republic (ESF CR). This fund was the main financial resource for reducing social inequalities. This subject stems from the need to answer the question whether the funds from this fund is really directed into the most needed regions. The performed literature search revealed that none of the approaches of the authors who deal with social disparities, not adapted to this fund. All previous approaches are focused on the social sector in a very broad sense. This fund, however, is considered a crucial means of financing social cohesion objectives in the Czech Republic. A new approach of measuring lies in its connection with the main objective of the ESF CR with link to operational programs of this fund. In the paper there were designed individual indicators for assessing social disparities depending on the objectives of the ESF in the Czech Republic for operating period 2007–2013. Indicators have been designed in order to obtain real data for further empirical analysis.

Zuzana Palová, Jarmila Šebestová, Slezská univerzita v Opavě, Obchodně podnikatelská fakulta v Karviné