Vol. 16, No 2 (2016)
Applicability of quantitative methods to economics, finance, and management
Editor: dr Tomasz Rólczyński
Editor-in-chief: Prof. Johannes Platje
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Editorial page: PDF download >>
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Vol. 16, No 2 (2016), page 5-21
The impact of European funds on the increase of civil society awareness on the example of Pałecznica municipality
Authors: Łukasz Makowski, Marcin Gaweł
Article (in Polish): PDF download >>
ABSTRACT: Wpływ funduszy europejskich na wzrost świadomości społeczeństwa obywatelskiego na przykładzie gminy Pałecznica
Keywords: European funds;civil society; Pałecznica municipality
JEL: D110; D810
Vol. 16, No 2 (2016), page 23-35
The impact of the Regional Operational Programme for the Lower Silesia Voivodeship for 2007-2013 for the environment and infrastructure for environmental protection in the voivodeship
Author: Bartosz Bartniczak
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ABSTRACT: State of the environment and environmental infrastructure is one of the factors determining the quality of life of residents in a given territory. The main objective of the Regional Operational Programme for the Lower Silesia voivodeship for 2007-2013 was to increase the level of living in Lower Silesia, and to improve the competitiveness of the region while respecting the principles of sustainable development. Implementation of this objective was to be achieved through the implementation of the objectives assigned to individual priorities. The aim of the priority IV Environment and Ecological Safety was the improvement of the environment, preventing its degradation and conservation of biodiversity and natural assets of Lower Silesia, as well as the improvement of safety in the region through counteracting natural and technological risks and eliminating their effects and to support active in this range of emergency services. Objective of the study is to show how the implementation of projects funded under Priority IV contributed to improve the environment and infrastructure for environmental protection. For this purpose, will be compared with the results of completed projects statistics regarding the state of the environment and environmental infrastructure in the region. The analysis will be carried out in the various environmental components that correspond to the thematic focus of the various activities carried out under Priority IV. The analysis will therefore be conducted in the area of waste, water and wastewater management, air quality, flood protection infrastructure, restoration of degraded land, protect the environment from natural and technological risks and to protect biodiversity.
Keywords: Regional Operational Programme, environment, Lower Silesia Voivodeship
JEL: —
Vol. 16, No 2 (2016), page 37-50
The level of income and the consumption of Polish households in 2007–2013 in the light of statistical surveys
Author: Katarzyna Kachel
Article (in Polish): PDF download >>
ABSTRACT: Thesis put forward stated that changes in the structure of spendings during the period of 2007–2013 were one of the many factors that had impact on the shape of financial condition of households. What is more, it had influence on model consumption among people. All households were taken into consideration in the analysis. Data provided by General Statistical Office of Poland, papers “Household budgets” and “Condition of households in the light of household budgets research” were used to produce this paper. On that basis indicated that changes in structure of income and spendings in Poland are one of the many factors that have impact on financial condition of the members of households.
Keywords: gospodarstwa domowe; dochód rozporządzalny; wydatki; budżet gospodarstwa domowego; elastyczność cenowa popytu; dobra podstawowe; dobra wyższego rzędu; konsument
JEL: D12
Vol. 16, No 2 (2016), page 51-63
Applicability of QFD Method to the Design of Recreation Services
Author: Anna Szeliga-Kowalczyk, Anna Łabaza
Article (in Polish): PDF download >>
ABSTRACT: The purpose of the article is to present the applicability of QFD method to the design of recreation services. QFD method is an excellent tool for the design and preparation of service in the way that avoids inconsistency during its delivery, and it takes the customer’s requirements into account. Using this method allows to obtain the customer’s opinion before the service is provided, thereby allowing service providers to protect themselves from possible dissatisfaction and, consequently, claims and loss of the customer. The analysis of the subject literature and description of the case study were used as a research method. So far, QFD method has been used mainly in the design of products and production processes. The possibilities of its application in services are very wide, and its usefulness in terms of potential benefits is very high. The first section of the article presents the specificity of recreation services, its characteristics and determinants of proper preparation, as well as the basic forms of providing these services. The second section concerns the characteristics and a detailed description of QFD method. The third one presents a practical example of using this method in the design of the selected recreation service.
Keywords: rekreacja; usługa; jakość; projektowanie; klient; doskonalenie; funkcja jakości; QFD
JEL:L8, L83, L15
Vol. 16, No 2 (2016), page 65-75
Tourist Centres in the Sudetes as Local Labour Markets
Author: Robert Szmytkie
Article (in Polish): PDF download >>
ABSTRACT: The main subject of this paper is to analyse the influence of tourism on local economies of small towns functioning as tourist centres. The analysis was carried out on the example of 8 small towns in Lower Silesia (Duszniki Zdrój, Karpacz, Kudowa Zdrój, Lądek Zdrój, Polanica Zdrój, Szczawno Zdrój, Szklarska Poręba and Świeradów Zdrój). The mentioned tourist centres have great economic potential, but their economies are based on large amount of small and very small business entities from the service branch. The specificity of local labour markets in the case of tourist centres can be described by stability of the labour market in the range of the number of workers, marked significance of exogenous functions, advantage of the number of job places over the number of dwelling places, and the existence of the local zones of intensive commuting to work, comprising few communes neighbouring the given town.
Keywords: tourist centres; local labour markets; tourism; small towns; the Sudetes
JEL: J21, J61, L83, Z32
Vol. 16, No 2 (2016), page 77-89
Legal and Administrative Barriers to the Functioning of Small Businesses from the Opole Region
Authors: Daniel Puciato, Weronika Puciato
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ABSTRACT: This article aims to identify the main legal and administrative barriers which limit the functionality and development of micro-, small, and medium-size businesses. The study was based on three main research methods: document analysis, statistical method and diagnostic survey, which comprised in-depth interview. The study involved 58 owners or managers of small businesses from the Opole region. Results of this study confirmed the existence of barriers related to procedures, institutions, the judiciary, legal system, legal protection and public procurement. Earlier work related mainly to barriers of economic nature, but rarely analyzed legal and administrative barriers. The findings may be of interest to public authorities which should take measures to bridge the barriers reported by the surveyed entrepreneurs. Future research should include a larger group of companies from the entire Poland. As particularly important, it should also consider the issues of public procurement, which will be considered also in the subsequent work of the authors.
Keywords: ekonomia instytucjonalna, przedsiębiorczość, sektor MŚP, województwo opolskie, bariery rozwoju, otoczenie prawne
JEL: K20, K30, M20
Vol. 16, No 2 (2016), page 91-106
An Analysis of Economic Changes in Countries of Central and Eastern Europe Belonging to the European Union in the Years 2003-2014
Author: Magdalena Maria Redo
Article (in Polish): PDF download >>
ABSTRACT: Economic changes in the Eastern Bloc countries which currently belong to the European Union can be characterized as incredibly strong and important. In the process of catching up with the general development some problems have been reduced (i.e., these countries have reduced unemployment, inflation and the cost of raised capital, increased the level of foreign exchange reserves and relative productivity as measured by the size of GDP per capita), other issues started to increase – most of these economies have a high and/or increasing public and external debt, which increases investment risk and reduces the potential for development; it is also inhibited by the relatively high level of public revenue and expenditure. In many of them economic growth is too low and unstable, in order to reduce noticeably in the near future the gap in the level of income per capita to the Western economies, or to mitigate the burden and cost of financing economic development with debt; decreasing differences in price levels reduces the competitiveness of those countries). The main aim of the present paper is to show the changes of the period 2003-2014 in major economic areas of these countries and also to point out the potential sources of economic issues in the future. For this purpose the method of inductive reasoning based on comparative analysis of selected economic indicators was used
Keywords: Central and Eastern Europe; European Union; integration process; economic changes
JEL: F15, F43, E43, H63, F21, E24, E31
Vol. 16, No 2 (2016), page 107-121
Determinanty i rozwój firm tworzonych w ramach projektów unijnych na przykładzie wybranych grup osób
Author: Błażej Suproń
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ABSTRACT: Rola mikroprzedsiębiorstw w gospodarce jest niezwykle istotna. Ich wzrost przyczynia się do powiększenia kapitału społecznego oraz wpływa na konieczne zmiany w strukturze zatrudnienia. W związku z tym w latach 2007-2013 w ramach wdrożenia Programu Operacyjnego Kapitał Ludzki, przeznaczono znaczne środki pieniężne na dotowanie nowych przedsiębiorstw. Rola programów była nakierowana głóownie na pobudzenie osób bezrobotnych oraz należących do grup wykluczonych społecznie. Przeprowadzone badanie obejmowało dwie grupy uczestników projektów, którzy brali udział w analogicznych projektach. Pierwsza grupa obejmowała osoby po zakończeniu edukacji w wieku do trzydziestu lat, natomiast drugą grupę stanowiły osoby w wieku powyżej pięćdziesięciu lat. Warunkiem uczestnictwa było spełnienie kryterium wiekowego oraz posiadanie statusu osoby bezrobotnej. W badaniu wykorzystano głównie metody statystyczne oraz metodę kwestionariuszową, które polegały na przekazaniu uczestnikom specjalnie opracowanej ankiety. Głównym celem badania była identyfikacja podstawowych barier rozwoju utworzonych przedsiębiorstw oraz zweryfikowanie liczby przedsiębiorstw, które po zakończeniu czasu przewidzianego w projekcie, jako obowiązkowy zdecydowały się kontynuować działalność gospodarczą. Jednocześnie położono nacisk na wskazanie różnic w podejściu do rozwoju oraz prowadzenia działalności gospodarczej w zależności od grupy wiekowej. Uzyskane wyniki pozwalają na wskazanie uwarunkowań rozwojowych przedsiębiorstw zakładanych przez osoby 50+ oraz osoby młode. Wyniki badania stanowią odmienną obserwację w stosunku do badań i wcześniejszych analiz, gdzie wykazywano, że to głównie osoby powyżej 50 roku życia charakteryzowały się większym ryzykiem niż osoby młode. Jednocześnie uzyskane wyniki mogą mieć zastosowanie do przyszłych programów dotyczących wspierania przedsiębiorczości osób wykluczonych, a także lepiej dopasować je do ich potrzeb. Należy zauważyć potrzebę przeprowadzenia szerszych analiz obejmujących większą liczbę uczestników projektów z różnych regionów.
Keywords: Subsidies; Enterprises; Growth; New businesses
JEL: H81
Vol. 16, No 2 (2016), page 123-151
Dimensions and Components of Job Satisfaction in the Light of Selected Concepts and Research Perspectives
Author: Grzegorz Wudarzewski
Article (in Polish): PDF download >>
ABSTRACT: The paper contains a review of selected conceptual and research perspectives of “job satisfaction” category on the basis of scientific achievements developed in the last few decades, consisting of both scientific publications, questionnaires and surveys tested and verified in practice. On this basis it identifies the various ways of understanding job satisfaction in the context of research and diagnostic studied in three approaches most extensively and most often cited in the literature: cognitive, emotional, and process one. Then, potential components of satisfaction were grouped by assigning them to the corresponding dimensions, creating a list of modules that allows a flexible selection of components of job satisfaction. The author’s suggestions are open, contractual and flexible.
Keywords: job satisfaction; conceptual perspective; research perspective; components of job satisfaction; dimensions of job satisfaction
k-means
JEL: M12, M50
Vol. 16, No 3 (2016), page 153-164
Analysis of Bitcoin’s Development Prospects in the Context of the Possibility of Performing Monetary Function
Author: Tomasz Kopyściański, Marzena Franków
Article: PDF download >>
ABSTRACT: Innovative technologies and the emergence of virtual communities create new types of transactions and the accounting methods that go beyond the current state of knowledge in economics and existing legal solutions. These virtual communities create and distribute their own medium of payment for the exchange of goods and services, thereby providing a means of payment in which emissions or circulation central monetary authorities are not involved. The reasons behind the emergence of cryptocurrencies are not only the shortcomings of the traditional currency system which was unable to face numerous crises, but also the development of the Internet for which cryptocurrencies can prove to be a better suited form of money. Unfortunately, they stir much legal controversy with the effect that their users are exposed to significant legal and economic risk.
Therefore, the subject of research presented in the article is to analyze the economic substance of Bitcoin. The main objective in this area is to assess the role of Bitcoin in terms of capacity to serve as money.
Keywords: money; monetary function; cryptocurrencies
JEL: E42, E43