Poland's Economic Research Articles

The Trade of Woody Biomass in the Context of Environmental Economics in Poland

The Trade of Woody Biomass in the Context of Environmental Economics in Poland

Forum for Institutional Thought: A platform for an exchange of ideas about institutional economics in Poland

This article presents the history, objectives, and scope of activity of the Forum for Institutional Thought Association. The Forum is an initiative by a group of social sciences’ representatives gathered around the belief that the institutional approach currently offers the best way to understand the world, particularly the changes that happen in the economies undergoing a systemic transition.

Energy Literacy and Its Determinants among Students within the Context of Public Intervention in Poland

This paper presents the results of a survey concerning energy literacy conducted among a group of 913 students at the Cracow University of Economics in Poland—a country whose power system is still primarily based on burning coal and where the prospects of the closure of the mining sector present particularly difficult challenges. The aim of the study was to investigate specific aspects of energy literacy such as knowledge, behaviour, attitudes, and self-efficacy, and to determine what affects them using multivariate linear regression analysis. According to the findings, the primary factors determining energy literacy are gender, going away from home to study, and the experience of energy poverty. Self-efficacy, attitude, and the pro-ecological elements of both attitude and knowledge are the factors that have the most impact on students’ behaviour. The absence of a statistically significant impact of general knowledge on behaviour is a critical presumption for developing the premises of an effective pro-environment energy strategy. Based on the data, we present a number of policy proposals, including informational activity as well as ways of influencing the emotional and behavioural domains.

Manifestations of internationalisation of public universities of economics in Poland regarding student mobility – findings

Manifestations of internationalisation of public universities of economics in Poland regarding student mobility – findings

Sustainable Development as a Determinant of Poland's Economic, Social and Environmental Security

Purpose: The aim of the study was to provide a concise description of the objectives, targets and degree of implementation of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development adopted in 2015, whose implementation contributes to improving national security. The specific objectives included the quantitative and qualitative analysis of selected sustainable development indicators assigned to individual goals of Agenda 2030, as well as the examination of the degree of their implementation in Poland in the 2010-2020 period. Design/Methodology/Approach: To achieve the set objectives, the research process used the 2019 UN Report, Poland on the way to SDGs. Report 2020 as well as data obtained from official statistics in the form of indicators for national priorities. Findings: As a result of the conducted research, it was proved that the assumptions of the sustainable development concept influence the state and level of national security. Practical Implications: Government entities as well as the industry sector are recommended to continuously and widely educate the public on the necessity of implementing the principles of sustainable development. National priorities also need to be supplemented with additional indicators to provide a complete picture of the implementation of certain objectives. Originality/Value: Security in every dimension should be the primary concern of the state, businesses and consumers. An effective way to achieve this is through the implementation of the concept of sustainable development, of which Agenda 2030 is the current indicator.

Countermovements: Rural Social Imaginaries Confronting Neoliberal Economics and Politics in Southern Poland

During the postsocialist economic transformation, liberal economic and political ideas encountered different pre-existing ontologies of power, work and economics in Poland, which were particularly prevalent in rural mountain regions in the south. This different world-making is the basis for a Polanyian countermovement against marketisation. However, the incompatibility of alternative ontologies does not prevent villagers from achieving economic success. These inherited ontologies are stabilising the uncertainties stemming from economic and political liberalisation through family ties and appraisal tools based on the values of rural culture.

Educational Activities for Developing Social Entrepreneurship

The purpose of this article is to analyse educational activities undertaken in the area ofsocial entrepreneurship. The main conclusions are that respondents do not know about social entrepreneurship and social initiatives are undertaken only to a minimal extent; education for social entrepreneurship is at an unacceptable level. Thus, education in economics in Poland should be enriched with social economy and social entrepreneurship. An essential element that can positively affect the development of social entrepreneurship is the support of social activities undertaken by young people within a broader debate about the social dimension of our lives.

Reasons full-time students of economics in Poland undertake jobs

Observation of the behavior of full-time students at economics universities in Poland reveals that a signifi cant percentage of these students combine studying with gainful employment. In Summaries the literature there is a lack of research results and theorization concerning the decision-making mechanisms of full-time students choosing to combine studying with work. The assumption proposed in the article is that an employment-seeking student may perceive work primarily as a source of income or, alternatively, he/she may wish to gain professional experience that would make it easier for him/her to enter the labour market in the future. This article aims to investigate the motivations behind the decision to seek employment taken by full-time stu- dents of Economics in Poland. In particular, it attempts to identify the reasons behind starting a job and the criteria that played the most important role upon accepting a job offer. Focus is placed on the comparison between fi nancial motivations and reasons relating to professional development. This article uses the results of a survey created and conducted by the author. The conclusions based on these results indicate that the main source of motivation for engaging in gainful employment was fi nancial in nature and the primary criterion for choosing a particular employer was the level of compensation.

Ekonomista z Wilna - dorobek naukowy Władysława Mariana Zawadzkiego

Wladysław Marian Zawadzki (1885–1939), was born in Vilno, Polish economist, Minister of Treasure (1932–1935), pioneered mathematical economics in Poland (the Walrasian mathematical economist). The conservative professor of economics at the School of Commerce (SGH) in Warsaw and the Stefan Batory University of Wilno (1919–1931). The SGH had at this time the stronger team of theoreticians. It was led by Wladyslaw Zawadzki. He was a very thorough exposition of J.M. Keynes’s monetary analisis, contrasting it with his earlier ideas in the Treatise on Money and the Tract on Monetary Reform. Zawadzki regretted Keynes’s etatism but comforted himself and his readers that Keynes had changed his mind at least twice before The General Theory.

Low-carbon Scenarios Development for Modal Shift in the Chemical Industry

Supply chain managers have to deal with the performance requirement to significantly reduce CO2 emissions in searching for excellence in green business processes management. The purpose of this article is to examine the perspectives on low-carbon scenarios development for modal shift in the chemical industry. The author outlines main research findings from the Interreg Central Europe ChemMultimodal project realised by 14 partners from 7 countries, among others by Department of Logistics at Warsaw School of Economics in Poland. The project idea is focused on analysing the potential and growth opportunities for multimodal transport usage in chemical supply chain management. Firstly, the objectives, current status and methodology of the project are explained. Then, the results of the research carried out among chemical and logistics companies operating in Poland are discussed. Furthermore, there is recognised that transport modal shift decisions determine changes in supply chain configurations that might be supported by planning and management tools. Consequently, the elements of the ChemMultimodal toolbox are outlined and its potential significance for low-carbon scenarios development is highlighted. As a result, both theoretical and practical implications of the research findings are indicated.

On Economics in Poland in 1949-1989: Introduction

Abstract This article is a concise introduction into the history of economics in totalitarian Poland in 1949-1989. In it, I attempt to show the degradation of economics in Poland in this period. The main theses of the article are three. First, academic economics and the institutions necessary for the normal functioning of science were destroyed in Poland at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s. Pseudo science was substituted for the science of economics. Second, these events had a damaging impact on the quality of research in the years that followed. In my opinion, the alleged achievements of Polish economists, e.g., Oskar Lange's monograph Ekonomia polityczna, as well as the works of Włodzimierz Brus and members of the so-called “Wakar School,” were of only “outside” importance. Third, after 1949, the teaching of economics degenerated as well. In effect, the achievements of Polish economists in the period 1949-1989 are negligible. They did not contribute significantly to the accumulation of true knowledge about the economy. Moreover, in violation of the ideals of science, Polish economists intensely indoctrinated the society, perpetuating the totalitarian system in Poland.

Assessment of Poland's Economic Policy During te Crisis

The rapid weakening of economic activity, covering most states in the world, gives rise to a lively discussion on the choice of methods to tackle the crisis, the legitimacy and effectiveness of various economic policies, the role of the state and the scope of its intervention in the economy. The paper evaluates the Polish economic policy in recent years. This refers to the situation prevailing in the EU and the USA. I conclude that the Polish economy during the crisis remained relatively stable, without having to provide the emergency aid from the outside. The development of such a situation has been affected by different reasons, including: - The benefits of the so-called "backwardness rent", which resulted, among others, in the inflow of EU funds (Poland was in 2007-2013 and in will be in 2014-2020 the biggest beneficiary of the EU budget); - The effects of decisions on changes in the tax and social security, taken for political reasons (before the crisis); - The controversial withdrawal from the funded pension system, reducing the budget deficit and public debt; - The prudent monetary policy and anti-inflation policy pursued over many years. Actions taken in Poland are primarily focused on reducing costs, which differs quite significantly from the economic policy dominant in the U.S. and the "old" EU countries which generally pursue expansionary fiscal policy and a policy of cheap money. Polish solution facilitates the achievement of short-term fiscal sustainability, but does not create favorable conditions for the development in the long-term (insufficient investment, petrification of economic structure, lack of innovation).

Economics Performance and Institutional Economics in Poland After 1989

Introduction Institutional economics is a unique way of looking at the economy and the processes that influence its development. The uniqueness refers mostly to its difference from neoclassical economics. Starting from the mid-1990s, Poland witnessed an active interest in heterodox economics, including many other economic trends, apart from mainstream economics. The reasons behind this interest are related to the practical economics on the macroeconomic level. One of the reasons for the development of heterodox economic research was that the theses about the end of the transformation process in Poland, which appeared before the end of the 1990s, were inconsistent with the statistical data illustrating the state of the Polish economy. The development of a few branches of economy and of a few markets does not equal the development of social institutions, better welfare of people, or better access to social services. The state of the Polish economy after 20 years of transformation brought an increased interest in the alternative approaches of the economy that could be useful in explaining economic phenomena and pointing to the proper changes in economic policy. Apart from a number of trends in heterodox economics, currents in institutional economics (IE) are also of great interest. After 1989, orthodox economics was dominant in Poland both in teaching and practical economics. During the late 1990s, the renewed interest in IE turned out to be essential for the understanding and explanation of the current socioeconomic situation, as it exerted a strong influence on the market and on the implementation of new economic reforms. The socioeconomic situation of that time involved the privatization of State Treasury assets, and its consequences, illegal employment and the development of the gray economy. Papers, published mostly in Poland, explained economic processes by the means of the methods of institutional economics. However, it has to be noted that those papers presented the methods of new institutional economics (NIE). A number of them failed to include the historical context and descriptive studies that are characteristics of traditional institutionalists. NIE is an attempt to fuse mainstream economic theory with the traditional institutional economics (TIE) and shows several trends. Those trends include: the new theory of the firm (Coase 1990, 1992, 1998), social and public choice theory (Buchanan and Yoon 2003, 2008), the theory of international regimes, a new economic history, and the theory of transaction costs (North 1994, 2003). What seems to be important is that NIE always seeks to set economic phenomena within the institutional environment. Due to the fact that NIE has an exploitative attitude toward institutions, one can postulate that it does not refer to IE at all. Moreover, it does not fully resemble neoclassical economics, as it ahnost entirely rejects the neoclassical theory of the firm, the neoclassical perception of market mechanism, and the construction of the homo oeconomicus model. Still, taking into consideration its explanatory values, the IE, with its holistic character and historical and evolutionary outlook on socioeconomic phenomena, was overlooked in scholarly works. NIE, on the other hand, is still dominant in the published theses and articles. Due to the fact that IE, and especially NIE, have been the fields of scholarly interest for a relatively short time, the works published in Poland point to the application of the selected institutional arguments, rather than to the full and complete implementation of the institutionalist method of traditional institutionalism and NIE. Many authors (1) make occasional and indirect references to institutionalism, not wishing to implement the theory in its entirety. The aim of the article is to present a number of selected social and economic phenomena that are of great interest to the scholars investigating the TIE and NIE. …

The Challenge of Socio-Economic Coherence for Poland's Economic Policy in Context of Transformation Processes

The Challenge of Socio-Economic Coherence for Poland's Economic Policy in Context of Transformation Processes The article focuses on Polish socio-economic coherency in the European and regional context during post WWII period. The author argues that the source of this incoherency are faulty mechanisms, its economic, social and regional policies which were before the transformation based on central coordination of strategies and later, prior to Polish membership in the EU, due to autonomic processes. Much of the weaknesses after accession of Polan to the EU have been due to mixed policies practiced. This has been based on competitive harmony in which economic, social and territorial coherence that is augmented by open coordination methods at union, national, regional and sub-regional levels. It is not sufficient applying socio-economic coherence to processes of eliminating disproportions existing in regional development. Their practical utility requires taking cognizance of the specificity of local material, human and social capital resources. The key issue of socio-economic coherence is harmonizing the development of all aspects of human living.

Pension Funds and Acceleration of Poland's Economic Development

Retirement systems existing in the world are extremely complex social, economic, legal and organisational structures, however their basic function always remains provision of funds for the maintenance of people at post working stage. This basic function may be fulfilled in different ways. The paper argues that particularly promising way have become fully funded pension schemes. They affect not only retirees but also may positively contribute to economic development.

Structural changes of economics in poland and New German Countries

The process of transition of the Polish economy from a centrally planned to a market economy started in the 1980s by a series of attempts to introduce economic reforms. By 1990–95, more important changes took place. The political and economic changes in the German Democratic Republic began near the end of 1989. The first step was the monetary union of both German states in June 1990. Although German unification (in October 1990) took place relatively later than the Polish reforms, the East German changes were greater. This paper discusses various macroeconomic indicators in both regions for the period 1990–95. These indicators are the dynamics and structure of gross domestic product, population number and employment, unemployment rate, and consumption structure.

Media Economics Research in Poland

A belief about the need for media economics research was expressed in Poland over 100 years ago by Karol Estreicher (1867), who studied the economics of newspaper enterprises. Unfortunately, despite the creation of media research centers (and media departments at universities), work in the area did not continue. Aside from the articles of Kafel (1969), Tetelowska and Szewczyk (1969), and Maciaszek (1962), the field of media economics in Poland is rather deserted. Kafel, as well as Maciaszek, proposed to concentrate research on newspaper enterprises. Tetelowska and Szewczyk were mostly interested in the 'economics of newspaper information' (p. 25). Even a discussion about a definition and the scope of interest in media economics was largely ignored. In opposition to the research concept of media economics as one integrated field of research (Kowalski, 1980), Bywalec (1980) proposed to divide newspaper economics into four parts: general theory of newspaper economics, economics of production, economics of consumption, and economics of distribution.

The Role of Foreign Investment in Poland's Economic Restructuring

No abstract available for this article.

Poland's Economic Reform

Poland's Economic Reform

Poland's Economic Reform: Myth or Reality?

Repeated attempts to salvage Poland's wrecked economy by introducing market‐based reforms and more autonomy for enterprises have been constantly thwarted by the bureaucracy with a vested interest in the status quo. Party officials are unwilling to relinquish their control over supposedly autonomous managers. Poland seems doomed to continued poverty unless it rejects centralised control.