rss_2.0Sciendo RSS Feed for Central European Economic Journalhttps://sciendo.com/journal/CEEJhttps://www.sciendo.comhttps://sciendo-parsed.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/647126e42b88470fbea15c23/cover-image.jpghttps://sciendo.com/journal/CEEJ140216https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0028<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>This study investigates the impact of unemployment and labour productivity on relative wages in Polish counties (powiats) from 2008 to 2021. Labour productivity is measured as the ratio of sold industrial production to the number of workers. The data is sourced from the Local Data Bank of Statistics Poland. The analysis employs the Solow model of efficiency wages, the neoclassical Solow model, and the Durbin model of spatial econometrics. The results reveal that both unemployment and labour productivity are statistically significant in explaining relative wages, with unemployment having the strongest, albeit negative, effect during the study period. Notably, changes in unemployment rates or wages in a county influence wage changes in neighbouring counties. The issue of spatial wage differences at the county level in Poland has not been sufficiently explored in recent years. Although recent research has focused on regional (voivodeship-level) wage differences, there remains a gap in understanding wage differences at the county level. Given changes in the Polish labour market, particularly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this study aims to update previous findings and provide a more detailed analysis.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00282024-12-05T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0027<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Although there is an extensive literature on the impact of volatility on asset returns correlation, investigating this in relation to broad asset selection and in perspective of different timelines has received less attention. In comparison to the previous papers, we use a much broader set of 35 selected asset classes and used rolling returns for five different periods ranging from 3 months to 5 years to calculate rolling correlations, which was used further for regression analysis between rolling correlation and volatility index (VIX). Results showed more impact of volatility on the mid-term horizon, such as 1 year, possibly meaning that for longer periods, structural economic factors impact correlation significantly, while for shorter periods, immediate market reactions to events and short-term fluctuations reduce the impact of the correlation. Autocorrelation of residuals suggests that correlation follows trends, which is evidenced more in longer periods. The study contributes to existing literature by comparing the volatility impact across a broad range of assets and multiple time horizons, revealing that correlation is sensitive to time horizons – overall and in terms of responses to heightened volatility. Also, the impact of volatility is different over different time periods, with most impact for the mid-time horizon, such as 1 year.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00272024-11-23T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0024<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Cross-border cooperation, financially supported by the EU Neighbourhood Policy instruments, is an important factor for the socio-economic development of cross-border areas at the EU’s external borders. This paper is devoted to cross-border cooperation on the Polish-Ukrainian border, which was financed by the Cross-Border Cooperation Program Poland-Belarus-Ukraine 2014–2020, which was one of the programs of the European Neighbourhood Policy. This issue becomes particularly significant in the context of cooperation with Ukraine, which is challenging due to the ongoing conflict in its territory. There is a need to examine existing solutions and propose future directions for cross-border cooperation. The aim of the article was to present evolution and identify the attributes of the European Neighbourhood Policy, which is a key instrument of the development of cross-border cooperation at the EU’s external borders. The second aim was a multidimensional analysis of Polish-Ukrainian cooperation during a period 2014–2020, taking into account the structure of projects, partners and areas of cooperation. The structure of partners was examined and discussed based on their status, sector, and level of activity. The research augmented the current knowledge in the field of cross-border collaboration supported by the European Neighbourhood Policy. The management of cross-border cooperation on the Polish-Ukrainian border can benefit from the study’s practical conclusions.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00242024-11-16T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0025<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>The EU‘s Global Gateway Initiative seeks to create new strategic partnerships by supporting infrastructure investments around the world. While much attention has been paid to its geopolitical implications, its long-term trade potential remains unexplored. This paper analyses the potential impact on the pattern of EU imports, focusing on product groups essential for the green transition. By combining a gravity analysis of past trade flows with scenarios for future infrastructure upgrades in Global Gateway partner countries, it sheds light on the magnitude of the trade impulses to be expected. Even with optimistic expectations for infrastructure quality, the resulting direct impact on the volume and geographical structure of the EU’s trade is very small. For Global Gateway to be successful, it needs to be developed into a driver of economic growth for the partner countries, which involves the reduction of regulatory barriers to trade and cooperation in strengthening local institutions.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00252024-11-20T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0026<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>To control for the endogeneity problem, this study applies the two-stage least squares technique to examine the impact of bank and stock market development on economic growth in the thirteen Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in the European Union (EU) during 2001–2020. The first hypothesis states that the higher bank development has not contributed to higher growth in the CEE countries. The overall results only support the hypothesis for the subperiod of 2001–2009. The second hypothesis states that the higher stock market development has not spurred growth in the CEE countries. The overall results support the hypothesis over the entire period of 2001–2020. Finally, despite the CEE integration with the EU developed countries for the past decades, there is a very limited number of empirical studies on the finance–growth relationship in the CEE countries. This study contributes to the relevant literature by examining the bank and stock market development’s relationship with growth in the CEE developing countries.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00262024-11-20T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0023<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Research and Development works (RD works) in accounting is increasingly used both in Poland and globally. The potential benefit of numerous tax breaks is an incentive to implement innovative solutions. The article aims to verify research hypotheses through a chi² independence test concerning the need to create a new national accounting standard regarding RD works and the respondents’ knowledge of balance sheet and tax law. Questions were also raised regarding RD works expenses. The findings suggest that the respondents do not feel the need to create a new national accounting standard. However, respondents‘ knowledge of the relevant issues is relatively limited, both in terms of balance sheet law and tax law. Moreover, it was established that a tax audit should be anticipated when utilizing tax reliefs, not always from the co-financing institution. This study contributes to the ongoing perception of RD works by accountants and managers and may also serve as a foundation for further research with a larger research sample.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00232024-10-17T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0022<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>The study evaluates the effectiveness of monetary policy regimes that can serve as the basis for economic policy strategies in emerging economies. Based on the macroeconomic gap model for Belarus, simulations of the strong shock impact on the economy using different monetary policy regimes have been implemented. The effects of capital flow restrictions on the stabilization capacity of monetary policy regimes have been examined. Given the existing sanctions and internal capital controls, the most preferable regime for Belarus is a flexible inflation targeting. In transforming the economy and political system towards the inclusivity of political and economic institutions, applying a flexible price-level targeting can be considered.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00222024-09-20T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0021<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>The article aims to identify the characteristics and traits of management accountants operating in a smart environment. As technology and digital transformation reshape the business landscape, management accountants are critical in navigating this new terrain. Our approach is based on the theory of change (ToC), which provides a framework for understanding the changes in business practices and management accounting necessitated by the emergence of smart technologies. To develop our conceptual model, we extensively reviewed the literature, examining both theoretical and empirical studies to identify the emerging competencies required of management accountants in this context. We build a conceptual SMART management accounting model whose components are (S) Strategic, (M) Meaningful, (A) Agile, (R) Resilient, and (T) Transparent. Each component represents a set of specific attributes and characteristics that management accountants should possess to thrive in a smart environment.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00212024-09-12T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0020<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Using a continuous time dynamic model of growing economy we will show the following results. 1) When people derive utility from their money holding (or government bond holding) along with their consumption, a budget deficit is essential to achieve and maintain full employment under stable prices or inflation in a growing economy. 2) If we take into account that government spending due to budget deficits increases financial assets held by the private sector, and then consumption will occur from assets in addition to consumption from income, even when the interest rate on government bonds is higher than the real economic growth rate, the ratio of government debt to GDP can not diverge and the divergence is naturally prevented by mild inflation. The required inflation rate is such that the interest rate of the government bonds is smaller than the weighted average of the rate of return on capital and the nominal growth rate. Since the interest rate of the government bonds is usually considered smaller than the rate of return on capital, this is not a very demanding requirement. Thus, we need not worry at all about the accumulation of government debt or about the divergence of the debt to GDP ratio, which is often taken as an indicator of fiscal collapse.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00202024-09-07T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0019<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>This paper aims to assess the influence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the accrual-based earnings management patterns in non-financial business groups in the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE). This study contributes to the existing literature by considering earnings manipulation behaviours in assessing the reporting data quality, both in consolidated financial statements of business groups and individual financial statements of parent undertakings. The research methods are based on the Modified Jones Model with the simultaneous separation of individual subcategories of accruals via cross-sectional analysis and time-series data approach (separately for each business group). Empirical findings supported the presumption that earnings manipulation schemes in the SARS-CoV-2 transitional (2020) and crisis (2021) periods differed statistically compared to the previous 2019 and 2020 years, respectively. Moreover, this article proved that the company‘s potential financial distress could imply accrual-based earnings management behaviours and moderate the association between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and earnings manipulations activities. Finally, the obtained results confirmed that although business groups have an expanded set of balance sheet policy instruments, the quality of earnings reported in the individual financial statements of parent undertakings and the consolidated financial statements of business groups were similar during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00192024-07-18T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0018<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Applying retrospective design methodology, the article adds to our knowledge about inherited organisational values and their impact on management policies and practices. Questioning the label of Central and Eastern European workforce as low-motivated, shirking and passive, this article outlines the historical context of work motivation in former communist countries, investigating to what extent the motivation in public service organisations today may be explained by the past. It employs a framework developed by <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_ceej-2024-0018_ref_036">Vandenabeele et al. (2013)</xref> that connects management intentions to organisational and employee outcomes to analyse the malfunctions of the former rewards system and to examine how those impairments continue to influence public sector motivation today.</p> <p>Confirming Inglehart’s ‘scarcity’ theory, this article demonstrates that the several decades that passed after the fall of communism were insufficient in completely overcoming communist heritage. Malfunctions of the centralised communist motivation system resulted from the discordance between the management intentions and actions. Dysfunctions of monetary-based incentive schemes caused overwhelming work lethargy of shirking employees, who were discouraged from being creative or displaying initiative. Such patterns have still been observable at some public organisations in former Soviet countries. Thus, the past centralisation of the state continues to determine individual work motivation in public sector domains even today.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00182024-07-06T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0017<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>This study aims to measure the impact of environmental regulation on the production of renewable energies in OECD countries from 1990 to 2021. Environmental policies stringency, environmental taxes, and CO₂ emissions are variables indicating environmental regulation, which affect renewable energies production. The study relied on unconditional quantitative regression methods. The study found that strict environmental policies do not necessarily enhance renewable energy production in countries with high or low production. Moreover, environmental tax revenues have varying impacts on renewable energy production based on renewable energy production in each country. For countries with below-average levels of renewable energy (Q25), environmental taxes positively affect renewable energy production; however, in countries with high production levels (Q90), environmental taxes show a negative effect. Furthermore, CO₂ emissions negatively affect the total production of renewable energy in all quantiles except Q50, whereas R&amp;D spending positively affects renewable energies in all quantiles except Q75. The estimates also showed a significant negative effect of patents on the renewable energy production in quantile Q10. The results underscore the importance of flexibility and adaptability in environmental policies and taxes. Finally, the study indicates that policies must be dynamic and respond to the specificity of each stage of renewable energy development in the studied countries.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00172024-06-20T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0016<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>This paper aims to analyse consumers’ perceptions and attitudes towards natural cosmetic products from three Central European countries. In this study, we employed quantitative surveys on samples of 230 Czech, 175 Slovak, and 325 Polish respondents. Based on the obtained data, we investigate whether and how the respondents’ country impacts how they formulate their statements regarding the features of natural cosmetics. For each country separately, we study the dependencies of respondents’ opinions and statements on their sociodemographic profile. The results of the research show statistically significant differences in the respondents’ answers to all substantive questions depending on their country of origin. Four findings are worth highlighting: first, respondents from all three countries prefer natural cosmetics over conventional ones mainly for health and environmental reasons. Second, the frequency of buying natural cosmetics is influenced by some sociodemographic factors, although this varies in all three countries. Third, respondents who buy natural cosmetics more often are also more likely to indicate them as products of higher quality than conventional cosmetics. Lastly, the declared composition of the product is the prevailing decision criterion for consumers when selecting natural cosmetic products.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00162024-06-05T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0015<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>The present study aims to explain and predict the monetary amount awarded by courts as compensation for harm suffered. A set of machine-learning algorithms was applied to a sample of decisions handed down by the Polish common courts. The methodology involved two steps: identification of words and phrases whose counts or frequencies affect the amounts adjudicated with LASSO regression and expert assessment, then applying OLS, again LASSO, random forests and XGBoost algorithms, as well as a BERT approach to make predictions. Finally, an in-depth analysis was undertaken on the influence of individual words and phrases on the amount awarded. The results demonstrate that the size of awards is most strongly influenced by the type of injury suffered, the specifics of treatment, and the family relationship between the harmed party and the claimant. At the same time, higher values are awarded when compensation for material damage and compensation for harm suffered are claimed together or when the claim is extended after it was filed.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00152024-05-26T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0014<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>In Nigeria, there has been a decline in oil revenue. This has impacted negatively on infrastructural development. This paper seeks to examine the effect of non-oil revenue as an alternative source of revenue for infrastructural development. The research design of the study was the ex post facto research design. The source of data was the secondary source and a time series of data from 1981 to 2021 was used in carrying out the research. The Autoregressive Distributed Lagged (ARDL) bounds test was used to determine the long-run and short-run relationship between the dependent and independent variables. It was observed that the variables are co-integrated, and as such, a long-run and short-run relationship exists among the explanatory variables. Furthermore, the ARDL short-run estimation result shows that the non-oil tax variables (proxied by VAT, CUSTD, and CIT) have a positive and significant effect on infrastructural development (proxied by total electricity production measured in Gigawatt hours (GWh) in Nigeria. In tandem, the ARDL long-run estimation results reveal that value-added tax, customs duties, and company income tax have a positive and significant impact on infrastructural development in Nigeria. Hence, an increase in the non-oil tax revenue base will boost infrastructural development in Nigeria in the long run. This finding is in tandem with the ARDL short-run estimation result. Therefore, it is inferred that Nigeria can experience infrastructural development when genuine commitment is made to explore an increase in non-oil revenue generation instead of being over-dependent on oil revenue.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00142024-05-20T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0013<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Observable climate change and an increase in the frequency of extreme climate events undoubtedly pose challenges for society and business operations. The changes being implemented in sustainability efforts are a response to these challenges. However, the question is how these measures affect companies‘ financial performance.</p> <p>The study aims to verify the relationship between the reporting of sustainability scores related to three aspects: environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG). It focuses on the financial performance of companies in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region in 2017–2021. The study will use panel regression and cross-sectional analysis. The results indicate a positive relationship between the disclosure of ESG activities and the financial performance of companies as measured by ROA. It was also observed that for companies operating in the financial sector, the correlation is greater, compared to companies operating in other sectors. This study contributes to the ongoing debate on the environment, society, and governance in the economy.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00132024-04-30T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0011<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>The literature are abound with studies on the impact of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors on a company‘s value, or more broadly, on its financial performance. However, most analyses concern developed markets, mainly because the largest rating agencies operate in these markets, as well as because these are markets where ESG awareness and regulations have developed much faster. In developing markets, the number of studies in this area is disproportionately smaller. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between the environmental, social, and governance ratings (ESGR) of Polish listed companies included in the WIG-ESG index and their value. This study covered 36 companies listed in WIG-ESG in the period of 2019–2023. We used market data, financial data from examined companies and ESG data provided by Refinitive. The empirical results were negative but a non-statistically significant influence of ESGR and a company’s value. Further analysis indicated that none of the sub-ratings (environmental rating (ER), social rating (SR) and governance rating (GR)) had significant impact on value. The Polish market does not seem to recognize the potential of ESG factors in building the long-term value of companies and believes that the costs of ESG factors outweigh the benefits. Investors seem to disregard or underestimate ESG criteria when valuing companies, which may seem irrational when looking at the long-term effects of ESG factors.</p> <p>This article contributes to the existing literature by being part of the research on ESG factors and company value. The article expands the field of analysing the relationship between ESGRs and corporate value by examining this relationship not only using the overall ESGR, but also its individual sub-ratings. We also attempt to answer the question of where the channels of transmission of ESGRs on the value of the company are located, and which areas affect ratings. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of this type for the Polish market.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00112024-04-19T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0012<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>The aim of the article is to analyse the structure of consumer behaviour models and their applications to financial behaviour. The paper is theoretical in nature, examining generational breakdowns and selected trends in consumer behaviour. An analysis of the ‚rules‘ significant for types of consumer behaviour is conducted. Despite recently intensified theoretical and empirical analysis of consumer behaviour, a coherent research approach that integrates the issue of consumer behaviour with the specificities of the financial-services market has not yet been developed. Models remain frail, their functionality is still insufficient, and their applicability is constantly being altered by influences on consumer behaviour, including macro and microeconomic factors and the influence of scientific fields such as economics, sociology, psychology, management and anthropology. This article attempts to create a model that takes into account the general factors adopted in models constructed so far, along with the assumption that economic, cultural, social, personal, experiences, and other factors play a role in shaping and stimulating at least five variables: type of consumer from a particular generation (C_y); type of financial products and services (X_y); motivation (M_y); capacity (Cap_y); and opportunities (O_y).</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00122024-04-19T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0010<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Preferential trade agreements (PTAs) are widely acclaimed for their potential to mitigate market imperfections and expand export opportunities. However, in changing economic circumstances, these beneficial effects may only endure for a while and often gradually fade, affecting industries unevenly. This study delves into this overlooked phenomenon by exploring Poland‘s export performance in the Western Balkan (WB) region, where the implementation of Stabilization and Association Agreements (SAAs) has evidently generated export growth, primarily driven by tariff reductions, though these gains were manifested disproportionally across sectors. Employing survival analysis, the study validates the positive influence of SAAs on Polish export competitiveness within the WBs while uncovering its temporal erosion and sectoral discrepancies. On average, a 51% and 84% decline in Polish export competitiveness to WBs is observed after 5 and 10 years, respectively. Moreover, a unique dataset on non-tariff measures (NTMs) is employed to identify specific sectors encountering significant NTMs contributing to the reported diverse export patterns. These insights highlight the need for policies that acknowledge the diminishing benefits of trade agreements and mitigate the trade imbalances caused by NTMs.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00102024-03-28T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-0008<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>EU enlargements have given new EU member states access to the European Single Market. While tariff liberalisation was already completed at the time of enlargement, technical regulations were subject to different sectoral approaches, including harmonisation and mutual recognition. We employ a structural gravity model estimated using sectoral trade data from 1987 to 2020 to assess the trade effects of these measures. We find that trade expansion, particularly exports of the NMS to the incumbent EU members, has been stronger in the sectors covered either by the Old Approach (full harmonisation) or the New Approach (essential requirements) than in sectors covered by mutual recognition. The New Approach has been more effective when coupled with mutual recognition at the sector level than with either approach alone. Our results imply that the TBT harmonisation has had a heterogenous impact on different sectors (the most important for low-tech industries was the Old Approach, while for high-tech, it was the New Approach).</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2024-00082024-03-28T00:00:00.000+00:00en-us-1