Around the Bloc: Warsaw, Brussels Play Chicken at Climate Summit
The EU’s biggest coal producer is fearful that CO2 cuts will hurt its economy.
More...We kindly inform you that, as long as the subject affiliation of our 300.000+ articles is in progress, you might get unsufficient or no results on your third level or second level search. In this case, please broaden your search criteria.
The EU’s biggest coal producer is fearful that CO2 cuts will hurt its economy.
More...
Prague and Sofia won’t sign Eastern European group’s letter calling on EU to block Nord Stream-2 pipeline bypassing Ukraine.
More...
We analyze the correlation between the European integration and incorporating Germany into the process of European cooperation. We point out that the European integration after WWII was determined by the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community in the year 1951. This Community made it possible to control the steel industry of the Member States (among them Germany) within the framework of the common market. It was aimed at stable and harmonized devel-opment, as well as at preventing an uncontrolled growth of military-industrial complex, increasing the production for the army and decreasing the probability of the outbreak of the next war. Then - after the deepening of cooperation (taking her new areas) – the European Communities (EC) were created. They are still institutional foundations of the EU. One of the main reasons of the EC creation was the willingness to ensure lasting peace in Europe and to create „security community” through a.o. incorporation of Germany into the group of cooperating states. In this paper, we analyze the security system components created (e.g.) by the EC/EU, as well as the origin and changes of their characteristics. We compare the process of German unification (and more general: of defining the German unity, and broader: unity of the German speaking territory) after WWI and WWII. The analysis of similarities and differences leads us to the present stage of the European integration, when the unification of two German states was accomplished for the price of German acceptance of deepening of the integration and the creation of the European monetary union. We analyze various consequences of unification of Germany and the creation of the euro zone. In our opinion, they go far beyond the economic or political ones, and are connected with the EU Eastern enlargement.
More...
Artykuł przedstawia związki pomiędzy polityką społeczną a ekonomią społeczną w obszarze wspólnych wartości. Punktem wyjścia do prezentowanej analizy jest uznanie ekonomii społecznej za element realizacji polityki społecznej o wielosektorowym charakterze. W tym celu przywołano definicje wymienionych pojęć, które dodatkowo uwypuklają związki istniejące między nimi. Omówiono także aspekt postrzegania obu obszarów zarówno w wymiarze teoretycznym, jak i aplikacyjnym. Niemniej najważniejszym elementem tekstu jest wskazanie podstawy aksjologicznej polityki społecznej i ekonomii społecznej. Za naczelną wartość uznano sprawiedliwość społeczną, która jest definiowana przez pryzmat trzech innych wartości – równości, wolności oraz wartości kolektywnych. Wartości te mogą być także postrzegane jako elementy składowe sprawiedliwości społecznej. W celu właściwego ich przedstawienia treść artykułu odwołuje się m.in. do teorii J. Rawlsa, R. Nozicka, A. Sena, a także filozofii komunitarian.
More...
Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie, na ile starzenie się ludności może być szansą dla rozwoju sektora ekonomii społecznej w Polsce. Zarysowano tutaj możliwości działania w obszarze usług opiekuńczych, ale też innych usług, które mogą być oferowane osobom starszym. Starsze osoby (zarówno pracownicy, jak i wolontariusze) mogą być istotnym zasobem dla podmiotów ekonomii społecznej, ale też trzeba mieć na uwadze pewne ograniczenia i problemy w działaniu organizacji z ich udziałem. Na końcu artykułu zamieszczono rekomendację, aby w systemie monitorowania podmiotów ekonomii społecznej uwzględniać dane o wieku osób, które w nich pracują (pracownikach), jak i o wolontariuszach. Podmioty ekonomii społecznej mogą dostosować swoją działalność do zmian demograficznych, ale ich oferta musi uwzględniać zmieniające się potrzeby odbiorców ich usług. Podmioty ekonomii społecznej mogą być ważnymi aktorami w tworzeniu polityk na rzecz osób starszych na szczeblu lokalnym.
More...
Spółdzielczość – uważana za jeden z filarów ekonomii społecznej i ważny element budowy społeczeństwa obywatelskiego – jest wskazywana rzadko lub wręcz pomijana w oficjalnych dokumentach dotyczących tych zagadnień. Celem artykułu jest wykazanie, że międzynarodowo uznane wartości i zasady spółdzielcze są zbieżne z wartościami ekonomii społecznej i z zasadami, na jakich opiera się funkcjonowanie społeczeństwa obywatelskiego. W artykule omówiono genezę zasad spółdzielczych obecnych w różnych prądach ideowych w rozwoju historycznym spółdzielczości, ich ewolucję i próby skodyfikowania przez Międzynarodowy Związek Spółdzielczy, aż do przyjęcia przezeń Deklaracji Spółdzielczej Tożsamości w 1995 r. W dalszej części zaprezentowano tę Deklarację, jej wpływ na międzynarodowe i krajowe akty prawne dotyczące spółdzielczości, próby jej adaptacji do potrzeb różnych branż spółdzielczych oraz rozpoczętą dyskusję nad koniecznością jej nowelizacji. W konkluzji podkreślono, że spółdzielczość jako element gospodarki społecznej i składowa społeczeństwa obywatelskiego może być efektywnym uzupełnieniem państwa, wolnego rynku – nadającym bardziej „ludzkie oblicze” efektom zglobalizowanej gospodarki.
More...
In interwar Poland incomes from service pays, retirement pensions and remunerations for hired labour were included into incomes being the object of taxation with the state income tax. Until its amendment in 1922, the statute of 16 July 1920 on the state income tax had not provided for any separate rules of their taxation. In 1922 the statute separated “Section II” covering provisions establishing rules, a mode, and a tax rate appropriate only for incomes from service pays, retirement pensions, and remunerations for hired labour. That solution, amended over a dozen times, and regulated jointly by 70 legal acts, survived until 1 September 1945. Then the tax on remunerations was separated from the provisions of the statute on the state income tax. Any payments of any type received by an employee for his work both during the term of service relationship, contractual relationship, as well as after their termination, from that time on were subject to taxation according to the rules established by the decree of 18 August 1945 on the tax on remunerations.
More...
Observed in recent decades, the increasing rate of political, economical, social, technological changes, has generated a number of challenges including occurrences such as compression of time and space, the development of information technology and the development of environmentally friendly attitudes. These challenges have made the increase in demand of skills and specialist knowledge in the field of transport, shipping and logistic. These resources are an example of merit goods that is why the state should be involved in their delivery. The purpose of this article is to present the changes that have taken place in public universities that specialize in personnel training and researches in the field of transport – shipping - logistic. As an empirical illustration will be used Warsaw University of Life Sciences.
More...
Residents of rebel-held areas and many internally displaced people can’t vote in the third round of nationwide elections since the Maidan uprising.
More...
One of the hallmark policies implemented post-apartheid, the Restitutionof Land Rights Act 22 of 1994, is a rights-based program aimed at addressingthe loss of land resulting from past racially discriminatory laws or practices.The aim of this research was to identify what are the factors that determine thedifferent outcomes of the restitution process when claimants are demanding thereturn of land rights and to highlight the challenges regarding the implementationof this land restitution policy. Focusing on two specific yet contrasting areasin Cape Town, Constantia and Kensington, it was determined that due to factorspertaining to the lands in question, the neighborhood surrounding the lands, theclaimants, as well as the organization, function, and performance of different publicentities, the policy has managed to fulfill restorative justice, but has yet to fulfillits ultimate goal of returning land rights to the claimants and undoing the injusticesof the apartheid regime.
More...
Optimal currency area theory is the supporting knowledge base of the European euro area. However, the euro area does not work seamlessly, and many doubts have arisen in regard to the theoretical foundations of the project and the procedures used to implement it. In particular, the accession of new members remains doubtful. This paper develops a diagnosis and proposes modifications to the theoretical foundations of the optimal currency area in line with recent developments in economic thinking. This progress is focused on the application of a triad of abstract notions – capital, labour, and money – and the use of essential notions, among which labour self-financing is the most significant. The analysis leads to an integrative as opposed to a discriminative currency area. Another aim of this paper is to show how to reshape the existing discriminative euro area as an area involving states that do not fulfill the Maastricht criteria. An integrative area can involve states with different productivity levels, allowing the fixed exchange rate criterion to be withdrawn. In addition, the application of self-financing removes the problem of dominant public debt. A major part of this paper develops a measure of labour productivity and applies it to procedures involving the use of exchange rates.
More...
Over recent periods, especially in the last two decades, Africa has recorded growth and received inflows of both direct and indirect forms of foreign investment. This is due to ongoing globalisation and to the redistribution or allocation of capital and wealth among nations with the idea of competing on a global scale. Many countries, particularly sub-Saharan African countries, have seen this trend as part and parcel of their long term development plan and growth agenda ever since China became a development partner for most of these countries. In this paper, the Investment Development Path (IDP) theory introduced by Dunning in 1981 is used to examine the basis of the Chinese Investment model. The author sheds light on Chinese investment in Ghana after 2008 and the performance of these investments. In order to examine the possible positive impacts and prospects of foreign direct investment in Sub-Saharan African countries, the author considers the significant role of Asian investment, especially that of the People’s Republic of China and its strategic dominance of investment on the continent. The last section of the article briefly examines the specifics of Chinese investment in Ghana. Finally, the author presents a summary and some policy recommendations.
More...
With the development of geoinformation technologies and geoinformation mapping the sphere of activity of professional geographers and cartographers has been enriched by a wide application of databases (DB). They enable geographical information to be put in order in a user-friendly system. The article considers the methodological aspects of the organizations and creation of such a system - the "Municipal settlements of Ukraine" databases. The basic stages and databases forming the principles which the author designated during the creation of this specific database are highlighted. The DB structure is revealed - the list of the data included in every table is given. The ways of DB applications are determined; they consist in using DB for the creation of various cartographic studies and reference books about the municipal settlements in Ukraine. The prospects of DB development and perfection are considered.
More...
Since 2002 Kruger National Park (KNP) has subjected to a commercialisation strategy. Regarding income generation, SANParks (1) sees KNP as the goose that lays the golden eggs. As part of SANParks' commercialisation strategy and in response to providing services that are efficient, predictable and calculable for a large number of tourists, SANParks has allowed well-known branded restaurants to be established in certain rest camps in KNP. This innovation has raised a range of different concerns and opinions among the public. This paper investigates the what and the where of casual dining experiences in KNP; describes how the catering services have evolved over the last 70 years; and evaluates current visitor perceptions of the introduction of franchised restaurants in the park. The main research instrument was a questionnaire survey. Survey findings confirmed that restaurant managers, park managers and visitors recognise franchised restaurants as positive contributors to the unique KNP experience. Park managers appraised the franchised restaurants as mechanisms for funding conservation.
More...
Issues concerning seniors' participation in tourism have been of increasing interest to many researchers. This results from their dynamic growth in the world's most developed societies which, together with cultural changes, contributes to greater participation in various forms of tourism. So far, this phenomenon has been examined by applying quantitative methods, surveys being the most common. Some researchers state that qualitative methods may also be of great use in the analysis of tourist behaviour. Therefore, this article aims at presenting the methodological conditions of participant observation as a qualitative method for analysing such behaviour. Its use is exemplified by research findings on Polish seniors conducted among participants of package tours to various European countries. It presents observations concerning their behaviour in both time and space. Special attention was paid to seniors' motives and the forms of tourism those motives led to.
More...
The article presents, with an example of four cities of various size, a phenomenon of a drop in water consumption by the city population in Poland. The paper draws on 1995-2012 official statistics. A significant decrease in household water consumption was observed, which refers to both the total water volume used by households as well as the average daily water consumption per resident. The article also determines the most essential factors affecting the amount of water consumed, out of which the price of water appears to be of the most significant one.
More...
British broadcast on arms trafficking in Romania scrutinized for alleged unethical journalistic conduct.
More...
This paper discusses and proposes two analytical approaches for analysing and evaluating the coordination of fiscal and monetary policy conducted during the current crises based on achievement of their fundamental economic goals as well as their efficiency. Using such a framework, the paper aims to make an assessment over the coordinated implementation of anti-crisis measures in the USA, United Kingdom, Japan, Russia and China in 2009 – 2011. The main outcome is that the fiscal-monetary mix in the USA and China has been a well-coordinated one and supports economic growth, whereas the United Kingdom, Russia and China have failed to design and implement effective macroeconomic and financial policies.
More...
This article reviews the research effort in the field of corporate entrepreneurship from recent decades and explores internal and external factors that trigger entrepreneurial behavior within the organization. We are discussing corporate entrepreneurship in the context of established companies as a way to improve efficiency, competitive advantage and the level of innovativeness. Corporate entrepreneurship supports the company efforts to use and develop competitive advantages, to find new market opportunities and to build up organizational competencies to explore them. We are examining the entrepreneurial intensity in established companies from the digital advertising industry.
More...
Transformation of the ownership structure of state-owned companies was one ofthe key principles of the political transformation in Poland. The way the changes wereimplemented depended on the motivation of successive Polish governments, the executive management of companies concerned, trade unions and most of all on the economic situation of respective companies.The aim of the paper was to present the policies of the Council of Ministers ofthe Republic of Poland in terms of ownership transformations of Morska StoczniaRemontowa Gryfia SA between 1989 and 2015. Based on the analysis of research data, the determinant institutional-legal factors of the process were presented.The main objectives were to seek answers to the following questions: What decisions were made by the Polish government about ownership transformations of MorskaStocznia Remontowa Gryfia SA? and What were the effects ofthe policies implemented by the management of the shipyard in terms of its ownership transformations? Accordingly, analysis was conducted on the effect of decisions made by the Minister of Privatization (and then by the Minister of Treasury) on the course of ownership transformations of Morska Stocznia Remontowa Gryfia SA Furthermore, the cooperation between the management of Morska Stocznia Remontowa Gryfia SA, trade unions and the founding body of the shipyard was presented. An important aspect in the analysis of ownership transformations of Morska Stocznia Remontowa Gryfia SA was to identify the trends of restructurization of the shipyard in order to improve its difficult financial situation and toenable its privatization.
More...