Catching-up effect: analysis of chosen institutional factors and their influence on economic growth in the countries of the Visegrad Group in a period 2004 - 2014

This bachelor thesis examines the impact of catching up effect onto the Visegrad group countries in the period of 2004 to 2014 and the speed of their convergence to the economic level of the old member countries of EU. In the theoretical part the thesis focuses on the origin and development of both groups of countries as well as particular approaches to the economic growth itself, institutional economy and the catching-up effect. The main focus of the practical part is to perform a comparative analysis of five institutional factors with the aim to find out if the countries are getting closer or further to the level of EU 15 countries and what impact does it have on their economic development. This thesis results in statement, that on the macroeconomic level the entrace of the Visegrad group to the European Union positively affected their economic development a brought them closer to the level of EU 15