MEASUREMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PUBLIC AID FOR FARMS IN POLAND

Agricultural policy is an attempt to put into practice the laws of economic theory, in order to achieve goals defined by the State. This research, carried out on a sample of four groups of Polish farms, contributes to the question of how to improve short-term economic policy in order to stimulate market mechanisms for the long-term development of the sector. Using data from the Polish FADN for 2008-2019, the authors of the study apply the modified PSM method to determine the economic effects of changes taking place on farms. The research indicates that effective investments are the source of long-term development and economic success. At the same time, it shows that economic entities, by optimizing their microeconomic objective function, adjust investments to the objectives of public aid, which reduces the effectiveness of the use of financial resources.

Perception of the reasons for living in poverty in Hungary

The question of what are considered the causes of poverty is often neglected in the literature of this area of research. This paper analyzes the attributes of poverty in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, Hungary, which is one of the most disadvantaged areas of the country. Research was carried out in 2011 and 2019 using the method of systematic data collection, making possible the comparison of the changing perceptions of poverty over time. The research objective is to discover whether, as is common in Eastern European countries, support for explanations which blame structural conditions is dominant in the public perception of poverty. This research has made it clear, that the poor are often considered by the public to be responsible for their own vulnerable situation. With regard to the area where the research took place there is a discrepancy between reality and the public perception of poverty and the functioning of the welfare system which is thought to be generous and which is considered to offer multiple types of public aid for a wide range of recipients.

Public Aid and Entrepreneurship During the Covid-19 Pandemic in the European Union Countries

The aim of the article: The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic made it necessary to involve the state in the process of rescuing numerous business entities from bankruptcy. In the European Union, the aid measure for entrepreneurs takes a form of public aid, which, as it turns out, is the necessary and the only tool to protect SME sector enterprises against bankruptcy. Social isolation caused by the virus that spread on a large scale effectively inhibited the development of entrepreneurship, which is inherently related to the economic development of countries. The aim of the article is therefore to indicate that supporting entrepreneurs within the framework of public aid may help to reverse the unfavorable economic trends related to the disturbed development of entrepreneurship. Methodology: The article analyzes and assesses the government solutions introduced to the Polish economic reality, the purpose of which is to counteract the effects of Covid-19. The paper presents the current public aid tools available to entrepreneurs along with their financial dimension. Results of the research: State aid granted by the state to entrepreneurs during the crisis caused by Covid-19 is indispensable for their further functioning. The paper presents aid instruments related to COVID-19 that are available to entrepreneurs. The analysis shows that public aid addressed to entrepreneurs injured as a result of the lockdown comes from many sources and is almost tailored to the individual entrepreneur. The entities providing aid on the basis of state aid include: banks, local government units, executive bodies of local government units, Social Insurance Fund, State Fund for Rehabilitation of Disabled People, financial intermediaries, bodies constituting local government units, the European Investment Bank, Polish Development Fund, district and voivodeship labor offices and BGK (Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego). Having prepared a package of systemic solutions, the government introduced them systematically, depending on the situation of individual sectors of the economy. Special solutions in the form of financial shields were addressed directly to the tourism sector (e.g. loans for tour operators) or the catering sector, which in the face of the pandemic were most exposed to a decrease in revenues. The impact of introduced solutions on the country’s economy can be assessed only in the next few years, but the multitude and diversified nature of the anti-crisis solutions introduced in Poland will certainly contribute to slowing down the negative consequences of Covid-19 in the economy.

Business innovations and their key factors: public funding, human capital, and their relationships with the industrial environment

Considering that innovation plays a relevant role in the current business environment, this article investigates the effect of public funding invested in science, technology, and innovation on obtaining innovative results in industrial companies in Colombia. To achieve this purpose, we proposed three hypotheses; the first one is oriented to know if the probability of obtaining innovative results increase when companies receive Public funding for research and development activities, the second one verifies if the probability of obtaining innovative results depends on the qualifications of the human capital. The third one checks out if the probability of obtaining innovative results increases when companies have relationships with their environment institutions. The data from 1989 industrial companies was obtained from the VII Technological Development and Innovation Survey and was analyzed using a logistic regression model that seeks to predict the outcome of a categorical variable from independent variables. The results respond to the hypotheses put forth, indicating positive and significant effects of public aid for R&D in obtaining innovative results and a moderating effect of the qualification of human capital and companies' ability to interact with the different actors within their environment.

Renewable Energy Attitudes and Behaviour of Local Governments in Poland

The deployment of renewable energy at the local level can contribute significantly to mitigating climate change, improving energy security and increasing social, economic and environmental benefits. In many countries local authorities play an important role in the local development, but renewable energy deployment is not an obligatory task for them. Hence there are two research questions: (1) Do local governments think investments in renewable energy (RE) are urgent and affordable within the local budgets? (2) How do they react to the public aid co-financing investments in renewable energy? To provide the answer we performed qualitative analysis and non-parametric tests of data from a survey of 252 local authorities, analysis of 292 strategies of local development and datasets of 1170 renewable energy projects co-financed by EU funds under operational programs 2007–2013 and 2014–2020 in Poland. Findings showed that local authorities’ attitudes were rather careful, caused by financial constraints of local budgets and the scope of obligatory tasks, which made renewable energy investments not the most urgent. Public aid was a factor significantly affecting local authorities’ behavior. It triggered local authorities’ renewable energy initiatives, increasing the number and scope of renewable energy investments as well cooperation with other municipalities and local communities. Despite this general trend, there were also considerable regional differences in local authorities’ renewable energy behavior.

Study of the effects on employment of public aid to renewable energy sources

Economic crisis has raised the topic of whether governments should control the economy in order to promote prosperity and create jobs. This idea has specially sprung in relation to the promotion of entire productive sectors which are considered strategic or high-value by planners, one of which is renewable energies. This article analyzes the Spanish experience on subsidizing wind, mini-hydroelectric and photovoltaic energies in order to foster growth and create so-called «green jobs». Results suggest that more jobs are destroyed than those that initially were intended to be created. Key words: Renewable energies, subsidies, job destruction, economic planning, spending stimulus. JEL Classification: E24; E32; H25; H44; O13; Q42; Q43; Q48. Resumen: La crisis económica ha planteado la cuestión de si los gobiernos deberían controlar la economía para promover la prosperidad y crear empleo. Esta idea ha surgido especialmente en relación a la promoción de sectores productivos enteros que se consideran estratégicos o de alto valor por los planificadores, como el sector de las energías renovables. Este artículo analiza la experiencia española en relación con la subvención de las energías eólica, hidroeléctrica y fotovoltaica para impulsar el crecimiento y crear los llamados «empleos verdes». Los resultados sugieren que se destruyen más empleos de los que inicialmente se pretendía crear. Palabras clave: Energías renovables, subvenciones, destrucción de empleos, planificación económica, estímulos de gasto. Clasificación JEL: E24; E32; H25; H44; O13; Q42; Q43; Q48.

Economía y financiación de medios en lenguas minoritarias celtas de Irlanda y Reino Unido: el modelo público como referencia

This article investigates the monolingual media in three Celtic minority language communities of the United Kingdom and Ireland, at the end of the economic crisis that began in 2008, from the perspective of the public interest media model, prevalent in the media systems of European minority language media. The main areas of study are the economic volume, the funding system and the qualitative evaluation of editors and media directors regarding the effect of the economic crisis and the importance of public aid. The three minority Celtic languages analyzed are Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The methodological design is based on the techniques of systematic quantitative comparison between communities and a qualitative approach.

Culture in the context of COVID-19: Impact assessment and support measures

The article is devoted to the analysis of foreign experience in supporting the cultural sector in the context of the COVID-19, which is characterized by: a complex system and a variety of public aid mechanisms; a priority in supporting freelancers; support of cultural organizations, regardless of the form of ownership and the nature of the activity (non-commercial or commercial); transparency of the conditions for receiving aid for potential recipients and society as a whole. The paper also analyzes the measures of the Russian government to support the domestic cultural sector. The consequences of the pandemic in Russia are not so destructive due to the institutional features associated with the prevalence of the public sector and the existence of contractual relations between employees and cultural organizations. However, there are certain types of occupations where the costs of pandemic are very high (professional musicians, artists, writers, etc.).

Assumptions for a Financing Model for Maintaining Railway Station Buildings in Poland

The aim of this article is to present a potential financing model for the maintenance of railway stations (station buildings) with public funds. The article points out that this is an issue that needs to be solved due to the nature of the existing system of fees in the entire transport sector. This issue is also important in the context of the decisions made by the Polish Office of Rail Transport (ORT) with respect to the fees charged by infrastructure managers and operators of infrastructure facilities from railway carriers. The article also describes the current situation of railway station operators in relation to the sources of financing their activities, the ownership structure of operators, and the categories of trains commissioned by public trans-port organizers of different levels. The directions of the EU transport policy concerning the principles of creating a system of fees providing for a level playing field in terms of inter-branch competition are also presented. The article presents solutions in terms of financing the maintenance of station facilities (including station buildings) in the EU Member States with the longest railway networks (excluding the UK, i.e. Germany, Italy and France). The summary of the article highlights some suggestions of possible solutions to this problem within the framework of the Polish legal and financial system. Keywords: railway station, station building, rail yard, maintenance of infrastructure facilities, public aid, organization of rail transport