A Maintenance of a Dominant Market Position – on the Example of the Polish Post Office

Abstract

The system changes of the Polish economy, which began in the 80s of the 20th century and were continued after the accession to the European Union in 2004, have caused significant transformations, not only in the economy and ownership relations, but also in single markets. What is more, some of the European Commission’s guidelines have introduced the market regulations which were dominated by natural monopolies. These changes were to cause the competitiveness on the market and to improve its functioning in an efficiency allocative sense in order to make the consumers’ situation better. However, it is often a kind of struggle without any visible effects in short or long term. One of such examples is the Polish Post Office as the national operator in the market of postal services. The scientific objective of this study is to answer the question whether the changes in the law regulating the postal market cause real changes in the market structure, resulting in a reduction in allocative inefficiency? The working hypothesis referring to such research problem is formulated as follows: large business entities operating in the monopolistic market structure until now use all of the tools – including changes in the law, to maintain their position. It causes an increase in allocative inefficiency of companies and market. The object of the research is Poczta Polska SA. The primary research method will be based on the analysis of the legal rules, the analysis of the activities and entities’ decisions and the comparative analysis. The active research is supported by the literature recognition.