Polish Reform Research Articles

The Global Financial Crisis and Changing Coalitional Dynamics in East European Pension Privatization

Since the 2008 global financial crisis, those East European countries that had partly privatized their pension systems in the 1990s or early 2000s increasingly scaled back their mandatory private retirement accounts and restored the role of public provision. What explains this wave of reversals in pension privatization, but also variation in its outcomes? Proponents of pension privatization had argued that it would boost domestic capital markets and economic growth. By revealing how pension privatization helped increase sovereign debt and how large a part of pension funds’ assets was invested in government bonds, the crisis helped strengthen the position of domestic opponents of mandatory private retirement accounts. But these actors’ capacity and determination to reverse pension privatization strongly depended on the level of their country’s public debt and on pension funds’ portfolio structure. Empirically, the argument is supported with case studies of Hungarian, Polish and Slovak pension reform.

On implementing the social innovation in Poland

The paper presents assumptions underlying the Polish reform started in the 1980s. This attempted to perform in parallel two mutually inter–related processes: decentralization of the management of the national economy, and reorganization of the state strategic managerial centre. The paper discusses the reality of the reform, which – in its essence – was intended to be a great social innovation. An attempt is also made to present the reasons for the slow pace of implementation of reform changes.

Between Marginalization and Orthodoxy: The Unitas Fratrum in Poland in the Sixteenth Century

ABSTRACT Soon after parts of the Unitas Fratrum emigrated to Poland in the years following the Schmalkaldic War (1546–47), the Brethren received much attention because of their church discipline. This fascination even led to first unions of the protestant churches in Poland. At the very beginning of the history of the Polish Reformation, the Calvinists from Lesser Poland decided to join the Brethren. This agreement was signed in Koźminek in 1555. Just after a couple of months, however, it was not valid anymore. A second attempt was made in 1570 in Sandomierz, where the Brethren joined the Lutherans and the Reformed and accepted the Reformed Confession of Faith. This union—though seemingly spectacular—did not have any consequences either. The status of the protestant confessions was secured by the religious peace called Warsaw Confederation in 1573. The Brethren remained one of three protestant confessions, which were officially recognized in Poland. This essay examines the transition of the image of the Brethren in the eyes of the Polish nobility from a radical and marginal religious group to one of the main churches and important players in the political arena.

Nothing but Trouble: Studies on the Effects of Reforms in Elderly Care in Sweden and Poland

Abstract Reforms of the public sector, conducted in the spirit of NPM since the 1990s, are frequently studied by Western and Eastern scholars. The research shows national variations in how the NPM idea was translated and adapted into a country’s context and regulations. Care for the elderly is an interesting example of reforms conducted in the spirit of NPM, because it relates to welfare and health care and to the competences of provincial and local authorities in most European countries. This paper addresses the following questions: What do we know about the reforms conducted in the spirit of NPM and its practical implication within the field of care for the elderly during 1990 - 2010? What kind of knowledge about care for the elderly is still missing and should be developed in the future ? Th is paper conducts comparative research on what is known about the effects of the Swedish and the Polish reforms regarding care for the elderly. It argues that most literature points to negative effects, but also to the fact that there are still gaps in our knowledge about the effects of reforms concerning elderly care, especially regarding its organization. Hence, despite all the research done, we do not know what kind of social and health-care services for seniors represent the best practices for the future.

From Central Planning to Market: Poland's Transformation in a Comparative Perspective and the Lessons for Myanmar

This publication is intended to contribute to the discussion on Myanmar’s post-socialist economic transformation and development and to provide knowledge and expertise on successful examples of systemic transformation, such as Poland. It tries to establish how these examples can be applied in the conditions of Myanmar. Some of the chapters are the result of the capacity building workshop for Myanmar policymakers entitled “From Central Planning to Market”, which took place in October 2013 in NayPyiTaw and was co-organised by the Embassy of Poland and the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development of Myanmar. The workshop was an element of “The Polish Reform Mission to Myanmar”, a technical assistance programme to support systemic transformation and sustainable development in Myanmar. Chapter One examines Myanmar’s national development strategy and its various elements. Chapter Two analyses Poland’s long-term development trajectory and the sources of the recent success. Chapter Three examines Poland’s development and transformation in a comparative perspective with other Central and Eastern European countries. Chapter Four expands this comparative analysis to post-socialist countries in Asia and discusses various models of post-socialist transformation and development. Chapter Five examines Poland’s political transformation since 1989. Chapter Six analyses the successful modernization of Poland’s banking sector. Chapter Seven examines the same sector in Myanmar and Vietnam and points to the necessary reforms.

The Survival and Return of Institutions: Examples from Pension Reforms in Central, Eastern and South-eastern Europe

Opening a new phase in historical institutionalism, Wolfgang Streeck and Kathleen Thelen show how a rigid dichotomy between incremental adaptation and radical transformation fails to capture important transformative processes common to advanced political economies. While their research focuses on gradual but radical transformation, the two authors leave open the interpretation of what constitutes abrupt, but only limited change. This article integrates their framework, defines what they call survival and return, and, within this genus, indicates two analytically distinct species: replication, where the old logic survives due to the redundancy of the new institutional arrangement; and reaction, where structural reforms generate demand for the old incentive structures, which are ultimately reintroduced. To elucidate the concepts, recent Croatian, Hungarian and Polish pension reforms are compared and their institutional instability analysed.

Historia Polski historią Biblii pisana

Artykuł prezentuje związek wybranych polskich przekładów biblijnych z narodową i osobistą historią Polaków (XIV–XVI wiek). Dzieje Psałterza Floriańskiego (XIV–XV wiek) i Biblii Królowej Zofii (XV wiek) są związane z początkami dynastii Jagiellonów. Pierwszy druk biblijny po polsku (Prolog do Ewangelii według św. Jana, 1518/1519) oraz edycje Nowego Testamentu w tłumaczeniu Stanisława Murzynowskiego (1551–1553) świadczą o rozwoju polskiej ortografii. Ilustracje do Biblii Leopolity (1561, 1575/1577) i dopiski do komentarzy do Dziejów Apostolskich Tomasza Falconiusa (1566) opowiadają o burzliwych dziejach polskiej Reformacji. Dedykacja drugiego wydania Biblii Leopolity i jej zmiana są świadectwem fiaska pierwszej wolnej elekcji. Rękopiśmienne dopiski we wrocławskim egzemplarzu Biblii Szymona Budnego (1572) opowiadają o upadku I Rzeczypospolitej. Rękopiśmienne zapiski w Żołtarzu w tłumaczeniu Walentego Wróbla (1528) są kroniką rodziny Wiliezińskich. Opowiadając historię polskich przekładów biblijnych, można opowiedzieć historię Polski.

News and Views

AbstractThe Act of 6 November 2008 on Patients’ Rights and the Commissioner for Patients’ Rights collect and safeguard patients’ basic rights as well as provide, for the first time in Poland, an original concept for patients’ collective rights. In addition, the new Act stipulates the specific mechanism for protecting patients’ rights by the newly established body called the Commissioner for Patients’ Rights. Polish reform of medical law will undoubtedly contribute to the expected ratification of the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine. However, the nature of codified rights is relatively abstract, and the Act cannot be read without reference to legislation related to physicians and health care institutions.

‘Klin’-ing up: Effects of Polish tax reforms on those in and on those out

In 2007 and 2008 Polish governments introduced a series of reforms which led to a substantial reduction in the tax “wedge” (in Polish: “klin”) on labour. These consisted of reductions in the disability rate of social security contributions (SSCs) and an introduction of an income tax credit for families with children. We show that the SSCs reforms on their own brought much greater reductions in the tax burden compared to a widely discussed 15% “flat tax”, despite a very similar simulated cost. When considered together the package of introduced reforms reduced the mean ATR on total labour cost from 41.6% to 35.7%. This compares to the mean ATR of 39.6% which would result from the introduction of the “flat tax”. In the analysis we present the effects of the reforms both for the employed and for the non-employed populations. The latter analysis is done in such a way as to account for the entire (simulated) distribution of wages of the non-employed and shows interesting differences between the effects of reforms on employed and non-employed individuals. We argue that to fully appreciate the effect of reductions in labour taxation it is important to bear in mind that one of the reasons for introducing them is to make employment more likely for those who currently do not work, and demonstrate that the introduced package has had a particularly important effect on non-employed second earners. Given the extent of the reductions in the “klin” it is somewhat surprising that so far so little attention has been given to the recent Polish reforms.

Rationalizing or Empowering Bureaucrats? Tax Administration Reform in Poland and Russia

Polish efforts at administrative reform within the tax service have focused on rationalizing the function and duties of tax officials in a Weberian sense. In contrast, Russia's tax bureaucracies lean towards securing their own ‘power’ over society through their tax collection mechanisms. Polish reforms have sought to rationalize the tax bureaucracy by focusing on institutional design as well as by reducing the ability of bureaucrats to function with undue discretion. Meanwhile, in Russia, the implementation of reforms designed to make the tax administration more ‘rational’ in a Weberian sense often fails to shift the course of the state's goal to seek power for itself, especially at the expense of society at large. Comparison of the experiences of these two countries suggests that ‘empowering’ bureaucrats so that the state will be ‘strengthened’ vis-à-vis society may not provide for as successful an implementation of state policy in the long run as an approach based upon ‘rationalizing’ the state.

Reintroducing Intergenerational Equilibrium: Key Concepts behind the New Polish Pension System

The paper discusses conceptual background of the pension system from the viewpoint of its long-term objective, which is to ensure intergenerational equilibrium irrespective of the demographic situation. This requires stabilisation of the share of GDP allocated to the entire retired generation. Traditional pension systems aim, instead, at stabilisation of the share of GDP per retiree. The change in demographic structure observed over the past for a couple of decades and this historic attempt to stabilise the share of GDP per retiree led to severe fiscal problems and negative externalities for growth, as observed in numerous countries. Many countries have tried to reform their pension systems in different ways to try to resolve the issue of these ever-increasing costs. Poland adopted a new pension system in 1999. This new pension system allows Poland to reduce pension expenditure (as a percent of GDP), instead of increasing it - as is projected for the majority of other OECD countries. Although the Polish reform uses a number of techniques applied elsewhere, its design differs from the typical approaches - and the lessons and results are promising for all OECD countries. This paper presents the theoretical and practical application of this alternative approach and as such, the key features of the new Polish pension system design.

Post-Communist Civil-Military Reform in Poland and Hungary: Progress and Problems

This article critically analyzes post-Communist Polish and Hungarian civil-military reforms in the context of five issues: (1) the dismantling of Communist-era control mechanisms; (2) the establishment of clear and constitutionally-guaranteed lines of civilian authority; (3) the enactment of necessary legislation, rules, and regulations to put into effect a system of democratic oversight; (4) the reorganization of military structures; and (5) the provision of sufficient resources for military reform and operations. Although both states were sufficiently reformed to allow for their ascension to the NATO alliance in early 1999, this study comes to a more positive overall assessment of Poland's reform efforts because most key civil-military reforms have either been completed or are moving (albeit sometimes quite slowly) in a positive direction. In the case of Hungary, significant progress has also occurred, but the reform program-which got off to a fast start has slowed considerably and may be threatened with reverses by a severe budgetary and procurement crisis that shows few (if any) signs of improving.

The Polish pension reform

In the 1990s, Poland's government faced a serious crisis of the social security system. It decided to undertake a radical step and partially privatised the system in 1999. The objective was twofold. First, privatisation will gradually shift the burden from the state to the private sector. Second, the new pension funds will become major institutional investors and facilitate further growth of the capital market. This paper overviews the pension reform undertaken in Poland, compares it with reforms introduced in other countries, and provides preliminary data on the market performance of open pension funds. Polish experience can be of interest to other governments and institutions currently involved in, or considering privatisation of their social security systems.

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.

Poland and EU membership: Current issues and future prospects

Of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe currently seeking EU membership, Poland brings into sharp focus the strengths and weaknesses of the EU's classical method of enlargement This paper explores these strengths and weaknesses by examining how the tools of the EU's pre‐accession strategy, the Europe Agreement, the ‘White Paper on the Internal Market, and the Accession Partnership have leveraged change within Poland. The paper reviews the legal and administrative changes that have already been undertaken as a response to the Europeanisation process. It argues that whilst legal harmonisation is far advanced, more fundamental issues of implementation and enforcement of the acquis remain to be dealt with. The paper concludes that whilst the pre‐accession strategy acts as a discipline on the reform process, it limits the extent to which Polish reform preferences can be accommodated. This will affect the progress of accession negotiations.

:History of the Polish Reformation and Nine Related Documents

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The post-Leninist state: A conceptual and empirical examination

While it is becoming increasingly evident that the post-Leninist state is experiencing a considerable decline in capacity and strength, Western analysts have been slow to address the situation analytically. This essay examines the reasons for the lack of attention paid to the state by former Sovietologists, and offers a new theoretical perspective on the Leninist and post-Leninist states. The utility of this perspective is subsequently demonstrated by applying it to the case of local government reform in Poland. The inability of the Polish reform to overcome the administrative weakness of the state demonstrates both the seriousness of the problem, and the need for greater “state” consciousness on the part of post-Sovietologists.

Management culture in large Polish enterprises in heavy industry: Diagnosing the present state and identifying the need for change

This paper presents the results of a research project aimed at determining differences in the managerial culture of Polish enterprises. The first investigations were made in 1987–1988, i.e. before the dramatic Polish reforms, and the second were conducted in 1990. The results of these two sets of studies have then been compared. The present contribution also presents the results of studies of demographic features of managers in companies in Silesia.

Institutional Reform in East-Central Europe: Hungarian and Polish Contract Law1

East-Central Europe is awash in legal reforms. New constitutions, new property regimes, and new corporate laws clutter the legal landscape. Western commentators have tended to focus on the various means of privatizing state assets, while contract law reforms have been largely ignored. This study addresses that void. Hungarians and Poles significantly amended their contract codes in 1990, and now reform commissions in those countries are considering further changes. This article identifies and critiques the changes in contract law currently underway in Hungary and Poland. Sources include English translations of the relevant contract codes, both prior to and following the current reforms.2 In addition, the article draws upon interviews with Hungarian and Polish lawyers, academics, entrepreneurs, and government officials conducted during the author's July 1991 visit to Budapest and Warsaw. The most striking feature of contract law reform is the fact that relatively few contract rules need to be changed. In fact, a comparison of contract rules under central planning with analogous rules in market economies reveals a remarkable degree of convergence. Thus far, Hungarian and Polish reforms have centered on deleting the contract rules that supported central

POSTCOMMUNIST REFORMS FROM THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE PERSPECTIVE

The analysis presented is an attempt to explain the changes laking place in post-communist Eastern Europe using the concept of organizational change. Organizational change is understood as an attempt to ensure a strategic match between the environment and organizational structure and processes. Four types of change are identified and analyzed: innovative, adaptive, regressive, and systemic. Up to 1990, cycles of changes could be observed in the communist systems. Innovative changes have been followed by stagnation punctured with adaptation followed by regression. In 1989–1990 in Hungary and Poland the cycle has been altered: adaptive change brought a short period of innovation, which slipped out of control of the communists and spontaneously transformed itself into systemic change leading to a new identity for the system. In this way the transition toward democracy and a market economy began. Within this frame of reference the Polish and Hungarian reforms are explained. The mechanism of change is analyzed...