World literature studies 2, vol. 7, Outstanding Romanian Personalities in World Literature and Literature Studies. (Eds.) Libuša Vajdová, Andrei Terian. Bratislava, Institute of World Literature, SAS, 2015.

Изследвания по световна литература 2. том 7, Изтъкнати румънски личности в световната литература и литературна наука. Редактори: Либуша Вайдова, Андрей Териан

Author(s): Ioana Slavcheva / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2016

Keywords: Outstanding romanian personalities in world literature and literature studies

Comments on the articles under the head-title Outstanding Romanian Personalities in World Literature and Literature Studies

Elena Prus. Literary francosphère and French imprint. Chişinău, Pontos, 2013.

Elena Prus. La francosphère littéraire et l’empreinte française. [Елена Прус. Литературната франкосфера и френският отпечатък.] Chişinău, Pontos, 2013.

Author(s): Rennie Yotova / Language(s): French / Issue: 1/2016

Keywords: French literature; francosphère; comparative literature

Review of the book on the topic of French literature and its influence

Cosmopolitanism and the Postnational. Literature and the New Europe. Edited by César Domínguez and Theo D’Haen. Leiden/ Boston, Brill/ Rodopi, [2015].

Cosmopolitanism and the Postnational. Literature and the New Europe. Edited by César Domínguez and Theo D’Haen. Editeurs : César Domínguez et Theo D’Haen]. Leiden/ Boston, Brill/ Rodopi, [2015].

Author(s): Roumiana L. Stantcheva / Language(s): French / Issue: 1/2016

Keywords: Cosmopolitanism; Postnational; Literature and the New Europe.

Comments on the topic in the book: Cosmopolitan and the postnational. Literature and the New Europe.

Fair elections as a principle of election law

Uczciwość wyborów jako zasada prawa wyborczego

Author(s): Grzegorz Kryszeń / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 21/2016

Keywords: democracy; elections; electoral law; electoral standards; principles of electoral law; fair elections; election monitoring

The aim of the work is to discuss the demand for identifying the principle of fair elections as a legal determinant of democratic elections. It presents arguments for including this principle among the basic principles of election law, and thus for considering it as one of the fundamental legal “pillars” or the guarantees of democratic electoral process, and in a broader perspective, as one of the key principles of representative democracy or even the whole democratic

About the collection of articles: Мигриращи култури и социални практики [Migrating Cultures and Social Practicies], dedicated to the 10-anniversary of the founding of the Academic Circle for Comparative Literature. Roumiana L. Stancheva (Ed.), 2013.

За сборника: Мигриращи култури и социални практики, посветен на 10-годишнината от основаването на Академичния кръг по Сравнително литературознание. Съставител Румяна Л. Станчева, 2013.

Author(s): Rennie Yotova / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2015

Keywords: migrating writers; the topic of migration in literature; social aspects of migration

About the collection of articles: Мигриращи култури и социални практики [Migrating Cultures and Social Practicies], dedicated to the 10-anniversary of the founding of the Academic Circle for Comparative Literature. Roumiana L. Stancheva (Ed.). Editorial staff: Nikolay Aretov, Ognyan Kovachev, R. L. Stancheva.. Библиотека Голямотовписване. София, Университетско издателство „Св. Кл. Охридски”, Издателскицентър „Боян Пенев”, 2013.

About: Steven TÖTÖSY de ZEPETNEK and Tutun MUKHERJEE (Ed.) Companion to Comparative Literature, World Literatures, and Comparative Cultural Studies. New Delhi, Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Ltd., 2013, 528 p.

Война на термините или нови стратегии? За сборника: TÖTÖSY de ZEPETNEK, Steven, and Tutun MUKHERJEE (Ed.). Companion to Comparative Literature, World Literatures, and Comparative Cultural Studies. New Delhi, Cambridge University Press India Pvt.

Author(s): Roumiana L. Stantcheva / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2015

Keywords: Comparative Literature; World Literatures; Comparative Cultural Studies

About: Steven TÖTÖSY de ZEPETNEK and Tutun MUKHERJEE (Ed.) Companion to Comparative Literature, World Literatures, and Comparative Cultural Studies. New Delhi, Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Ltd., 2013.

Comparative literature or Cultural studies. About the collection of articles: Roads and Trails of the Europeanism in the Balkans. 2014.

Литературни или културологични сравнения? За сборника: Пътища и пътеки на европеизма на Балканите. [Roads and Trails of the Europeanism in the Balkans. In honor of the 50th anniversary since the Institute for Balkan Studies & Center of... 2014.

Author(s): Roumiana L. Stantcheva / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2015

Keywords: Europeanism; Balkan Literatures

Roads and Trails of the Europeanism in the Balkans. In honor of the 50th anniversary since the Institute for Balkan Studies & Center of Thracology foundation. Antoaneta Balcheva and Yordanka Bibina (Ed.)

Title pages

Title pages

Author(s): / Language(s): English,Bulgarian,French / Issue: 1/2016

Title of the journal, International advisory board, Focus and scope, Peer review process, Open access policy, Table of contents.

R&D Offshoring to Emerging Economies: Can Poland compete?

R&D Offshoring to Emerging Economies: Can Poland compete?

Author(s): Tomasz Mroczkowski / Language(s): English / Issue: 33/2013

Keywords: innovation; R&D; offshoring; Germany; pharmaceutical industry; biotech; Poland

Economists have analyzed offshore outsourcing mainly from the perspective of transaction costs and procurement decisions. In the current phase of globalization offshoring practice increasingly involves high value added activities such as design and R&D. Today’s globalized R&D system embraces increasingly capable emerging economies that offer firms new options in terms the offshoring not just development but also research functions. However the offshoring of R&D to emerging economies entails higher levels of risk and uncertainty. The literature review shows that problems associated with this kind of R&D offshoring have seen few studies and are not well understood – especially in a comparative perspective of the practices of companies based in different countries with distinctive business philosophies. Some evidence points to differences in the offshoring practices of US companies – as “globalization leaders”– with those of German companies as “reluctant globalizers”. The paper reports the preliminary results of an ongoing study of offshoring of pharmaceutical and biotechnology R&D to emerging economies. In this study we compare clinical trials destinations chosen by US and German companies – using the American government clinical trials database. We find interesting differences which however do not support the hypothesis that German companies are less aggressive about offshoring clinical trials than US based ones. We also look at the position of Poland as a site for offshored R&D and make recommendations about how the country could improve its competitiveness in this domain in the future.

To Rent or to Buy – Analysis of Housing Tenure Choice Determined by Housing Policy

To Rent or to Buy – Analysis of Housing Tenure Choice Determined by Housing Policy

Author(s): Hanna Augustyniak,Jacek Łaszek,Krzysztof Olszewski,Joanna Waszczuk / Language(s): English / Issue: 33/2013

Keywords: housing demand; home ownership; housing policy; financial market development

The article discusses the relatively large share of owner-occupied housing in the housing stock in selected European countries with relatively low per capita income and describes the underlying causes of this phenomenon. We also identify the economic implications of the growing number of owner occupied housing and poorly developed rental market. The paper analyses home purchase or rental decisions and explains the correlations between housing availability, consumption and households’ savings, as well as houing policy and investigates this question empirically. The way in which the development of the rental market can improve the situation in the property market is presented on the basis of a simple model.

FFR Level in the Period 2000-2007 and the Emergence of the Asset Price Bubble on the US Real Estate Market

FFR Level in the Period 2000-2007 and the Emergence of the Asset Price Bubble on the US Real Estate Market

Author(s): Małgorzata Karaś / Language(s): English / Issue: 33/2013

Keywords: monetary policy; subprime crisis

This article aims at investigating the impact of the level of the Fed funds rate in the United States in the period 2000-2007 on the emergence of the asset price bubble on the US real estate market, burst of which triggered the financial crisis in the US and globally. Rather than constructing a single theoretical or empirical model of this potential influence, a more eclectic approach is taken. The argument is structured around three fundamental questions (1) whether the Fed funds rate had been low compared to benchmarks in the given period; (2) whether low short-term rate itself had been able inflate a real estate bubble; (3) whether alternative explanations of the bubble causes were sufficient. For each of the issues a number of qualitative explanations and quantitative models is provided and analysed. Based on the gathered data, models, and arguments, the paper concludes that the influence of the Fed funds rate on the bubble’s emergence is not to be underestimated. This conclusion should be kept in mind in the context of future directions for monetary policy in the US and globally, as the extremely low interest rates applied by central banks to date might be inflating the next bubble.

Gender Equality as the Determinant of FDI Flows to Central European Countries

Gender Equality as the Determinant of FDI Flows to Central European Countries

Author(s): Michał Brzozowski / Language(s): English / Issue: 33/2013

Keywords: foreign direct investment; gender inequality; economic development; Central and Eastern Europe; gravity equation

The purpose of this paper is to asses the weight of human capital and gender equality in explaining the bilateral FDI inflows to 11 Central European economies. The group comprises the ten countries that acceded to the EU in 2004 or 2007 and Croatia which is a candidate country since 2004. The focus on the region is justified by the fact that the European Commission acknowledged that fostering human capital development and gender equality is a condition of economic development. The period under investigation encompasses 2000-2009 and includes both the global FDI flows peak achieved in 2007 as well as the two years of sharp declines in 2008 and 2009. If FDI is mostly low-cost seeking oriented, however, gender inequality in health and access to education may create a pool of low-pay workers that can be profitably exploited unless the level of productivity is not seriously hindered by gender disparities. In this paper I argue that women’s representation in parliaments is another aspect of the gender gap that may shape foreign investors decisions. These hypotheses are verified in the framework of a standard gravity model using System Generalized Method of Moments technique.

Comparison of Alternative Approaches to VaR Evaluation

Comparison of Alternative Approaches to VaR Evaluation

Author(s): Marcin Łupiński / Language(s): English / Issue: 33/2013

Keywords: market risk; VaR; analytical; historical; simulation and hybrid VaR

The main goal of this article is to present alternative methods of market risk measurement in Polish banking sector with popular Value at Risk (VaR) approach. Four main methods: analytical, historical, simulation and hybrid (Filtered Historical Simulation, FHS) of VaR are presented and then three of them are applied to evaluate interest risk stemming from government bonds’ portfolio held by Polish banks. Adequacy of VaR measures counted with particular methods is compared with the help of formalized criteria and best fitted methodology is recommended.

Human right dimension of the right to vote

„Prawnoczłowiecze” spojrzenie na czynne prawo wyborcze

Author(s): Anna Frydrych-Depka / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 21/2016

Keywords: right to vote; disenfranchisement of persons being incapacitated; prisoners voting rights; human rights; voting, electoral code

The article discusses the issue of the right to vote as a basic political right expressed in rules and standards of international law. Right to vote as a crucial human right has been presented based on two examples, showing lack of or problematic compliance of Polish electoral law with international human rights law. As first is analyzed the question of disenfranchisement of persons being incapacitated – this is the most important dilemma for the domestic legislator. The second – implementation of the voting rights of persons held imprisonment – is more practical. For it is not enough to grant voting rights in the legal acts eg. in the constitution. It is essential to build the necessary guarantees, which allows to use it by all eligible voters. Only then we can say that right to cast a vote has an actual “human right” dimension.

Territorial distribution of invalid votes during proportional representation elections in Poland versus local government elections in 2014

Terytorialny rozkład głosów nieważnych w wyborach proporcjonalnych w Polsce a wybory samorządowe 2014

Author(s): Bartłomiej Michalak / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 21/2016

Keywords: invalid votes; elections to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland; elections to the European Parliament; local government elections in 2014

The number of invalid votes cast in Poland seems to be relatively high, when compared to other democratic countries. The phenomenon is pre-eminently noticeable in the case of local government elections. During these kind of elections being held in 2014, more than 1.7 million of invalid votes were introduced during voting to elect regional assemblies (which represents over 12% of all votes) and over 840,000 (approx. 8.2%) of election results to the voivodeship regional councils (pol. sejmiki). This brought in question the issues concerning reasons for this phenomenon, its dynamics and traceable patterns. The objective of this article is the analysis of territorial distribution of invalid votes during parliamentary elections and local government elections being performed in the form of proportional representation voting system in the years 2001–2014. The research problem is the issue of likelihood to obtain attainable identification of regions in which the scale of invalid votes cast in the subsequent parliamentary elections will significantly differ from the national percentage of invalid votes. Answering the question on how great the differences are? And whether the voivodeships, in which the given scale of these variations is the highest, are the same voivodeships that during local government elections in 2004 have also recorded the greatest deviation? Indubitable answer to this crucial question would unflinchingly lend credence to the thesis that the local government election outcomes were not adulterated.

Direct election of the president of the republic (Czech version)

Bezpośrednie wybory prezydenta republiki (wariant czeski)

Author(s): Věra Jirásková / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 21/2016

Keywords: president of the republic; direct election; form of government; constitutional revision; law; electional process; legitimacy; powers

Democratical political regime and republican establishment with the individual head of state belonged to basic ideas, which the Czechoslovakian state supported after its foundation in 1918. These constitutional traditions were followed by the Czech Republic as the independent state in 1993. The position of President of the Republic in the constitutional system is regulated in the Constitution which was approved at the end of 1992. The constitutional relations among the highest state authorities result that the Czech Republic has a parliamentary form of govern¬ment. In 1993–2012 was president voted by perliamentary way. The president was elected in point session of both chambers of parliament. The article describes the reasons and a numer of proposals to introduction of the direkt election of the head of state. These proposals reached the top in 1992 when was the constitutional amendment and then lhe law No. 275/2012 Sb., which edited the details of the electoral process, including for example regulation of the campaign financing. This law regulation checked the first direct election of the President in January 2013. In this election won in the second round M. Zeman. President of the republic received by the direct election high legitimacy but president of the republic did not get any new powers. The Czech Republic is thus still maintained parliamentary form of government.

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Problemy prawa wyborczego w publikacjach „Studiów Wyborczych”

Author(s): Piotr Uziębło / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 21/2016

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K. Spryszak, Obserwowanie wyborów jako instrument implementacji międzynarodowych standardów prawnych w dziedzinie demokracji, Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, Toruń 2014, ss. 270

Author(s): Andrzej Bisztyga / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 21/2016

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Ardita Driza Maurer, Jordi Barrat (eds.), E-Voting Case Law. A Comparative Analysis, Ashgate, Dorchester 2015, ss. 294

Author(s): Marcin Rulka / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 21/2016

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Wyniki wyborów prezydenckich, parlamentarnych i referendów na świecie w okresie od 31 października 2015 roku do 31 marca 2016 roku

Author(s): Magdalena Wrzalik / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 21/2016

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