Ass. Prof. Iveta Radičová, PhD. (1956) graduated at the Departmet of sociology Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.

She deals in the research of social policy in the context of social costs of transformation process in Central and Eastern Europe.

She is the director of the S.P.A.C.E., non - profit organisation , Social policy analysis centre, Bratislava.

Assoc. Prof. Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts, and Department of Social work, Faculty of Pedagogy, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic and a hosting teacher at different universities abroad. She si an author of many publications and studies, she is also an expert for the European Commission in the field of social policy. In the present time she is an advisor for the Minister of Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak republic.

Abstract of the speech:

Institutional Reform and Social Protection Performance in Slovakia

The debate will attemt to answer the following questions: To what extent have the Slovak Republic adopted social protection institutions that make the functioning of social protection relatively flexible or inflexible?

To what extent have these institutions shaped social protection system adjustment dynamics in our economy ? How does the impact of institutions on social protection outcomes compare to that of macroeconomic and structural reforms? Have social protection institutions and policies had an impact on the effectiveness of social reform programs? In other words, to what extent do they "matter"?