Extraordinary politics and durable reform: lessons from trade liberalisation in Estonia and Poland

This article analyses the significance of the period of extraordinary politics after the fall of communism for policy reform. It examines under what circumstances policy reforms enacted during such periods are durable by comparing trade liberalisation in Poland and Estonia in the early 1990s. The article relates this question to the historical institutionalist debate surrounding critical junctures, gradual change and the politics of stability and change. It argues that trade policy reform enacted during periods of extraordinary politics is most likely to be durable if it is associated with deeper changes in structural conditions, such as dominant ideas, interests and institutions.     

Outward foreign direct investment by Polish state-owned multinational enterprises: is ‘stateness’ an asset or a burden?

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are commonly associated with undue advantages due to preferential treatment by the state. Simultaneously they are often quoted as handicapped given the notorious state interference, management problems and agency tensions. They used to be regarded as a mainly domestic issue but in the context of globalisation and the fact that states enter treaties with new obligations, SOEs’ performance ceased to be solely a domestic problem, increasingly so as state-owned multinational enterprises (SOMNEs) emerge. This article presents the results of research on Polish SOEs’ outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). It offers an overview of overseas activities of nine major Polish firms with a state stake and aims to contribute to the conceptual literature on foreign investments conducted by SOMNEs. We distinguish between FDI by SOMNEs as specific – privileged (facilitated) or discriminated (hampered) – investments subject to the home country’s state power and the host country’s state perception.     

Grants-in-aid and election outcomes in recipient jurisdictions: The impact of EU funds on mayoral elections in Poland

We analyze the impact of EU funds on the outcomes of Polish mayoral elections in 2010 and 2014. We employ an instrumental variable approach to account for the endogeneity of EU funds. Our instruments approximate the availability of EU funds. The first instrument builds on the alignment of the local electorate with the regional donor government. The second instrument uses the funds spent in municipalities in the same sub-region dropped from the sample because the mayors do not run again. We do not find convincing empirical evidence in favor of the notion that EU funds increase the vote shares of mayors. We go on to test whether the electoral effect of EU funds is conditional on the attitude towards the donor institution among the population in the recipient population. This conditional factor is under-researched and politically virulent – given citizens’ skepticism towards the EU that Krastev (2017) describes for Central and Eastern European EU members. Our results are affirmative. EU funds increase the vote shares of mayors in municipalities where Krastev (2017) predicts the degree of EU skepticism to be low while they are not found to do so in municipalities where EU skepticism is predicted to be widespread. These results suggest that citizens’ attitudes towards the donor of vertical grants determine the political gains of recipients from using them.     

‘Communities of resistance’ and the use of newspaper discussion boards: Polish workers in Japanese foreign investments

This article examines the content of 200 posts on newspaper discussion boards by workers in a cluster of Japanese foreign investments in Poland. The conclusions are first, that the material experiences of workers generate a set of themes in relation to the labour process with regard to wages and working conditions, bullying and monitoring that exhibit similarities across countries. Second, we argue that an analysis of the discourse used is shaped by political and institutional conditions, which reveal national differences in how workers perceive and locate their exploitation. Finally, in relation to debates about workers’ resistance and the use of the Internet we argue that the interaction of themes related to the material experience of work are intertwined with institutionally embedded understandings of exploitation, which not only enable a shared framework for venting, but also provide the basis for a community of resistance.     

The Latvian Road to the Euro

The article presents the situation in Latvia ahead of the country＇s adoption of the euro by offering an analysis of the extent to which the country is prepared for the move and of general economic difficulties as well as indicating possible threats to its future development. The article talks about difficulties caused by the great unemployment connected with the specific economy of the country, political problems of the post-socialistic multinational country and steps done towards the fulfilling of all the convergence criteria. Its aim is to present the moments around the change of the currency which is done by the material＇s analysis because there are not enough statistical data for the mathematical analysis. It can be concluded that the adoption of the euro will probably be beneficial in the long run for Latvia＇s economy. The conclusions may be done by comparison with the situation of Estonia and its foreign trade with Poland which is shown in the article because there are a lot of similarities between the two Baltic countries.     

防御性现实主义:进攻性现实主义时代的悲剧

作者旨在回答一个重要的问题:防御性现实主义在进攻性现实主义时代的命运如何?这个问题可以分解为两个小问题:进攻性现实主义时代下的防御性现实主义国家面临哪些生存压力?这些生存压力对防御性现实主义国家会造成哪些影响?作者认为,在进攻性现实主义时代,防御性现实主义国家面临五种生存压力:防御性现实主义国家是进攻性现实主义国家进攻的诱因;防御性现实主义国家经常遭遇进攻性现实主义国家的攻击;防御性现实主义国家被进攻性现实主义国家包围;防御性现实主义国家几乎无法和进攻性现实主义国家合作;防御性现实主义国家的军力通常在整体上或在关键指标上落后于进攻性现实主义国家。在这些生存压力之下,防御性现实主义国家的生存质量堪忧,在重要的物质利益和国家的自主性两项指标上的表现难如人意。作者采取了案例分析的方法,以中国宋朝和波兰为例,论证了进攻性现实主义时代的防御性现实主义困境。     

Predictive Power of Personal Factors in Studying Students' Perception of Sales Profession in Poland

Since Poland has become a member of the European Union, free market activities have increased dramatically. The purpose of this study is to explore university students' perceptions of personal selling as a career in Poland. Using logistic regression and Z-test methodologies, we analyzed the perceptions of 114 students. The results confirm the findings of previous studies that personal factors play a significant role in predicting students' perception of sales profession as a career. The findings presented in this study show that Polish students have a biased perception about sales as a career; however, interestingly, few dimensions show a significant effect. Understanding students' perceptions of the sales profession will help corporate recruiters achieve their goals by selecting those students most likely to excel in sales careers.     

Examining Polish Market Mavens and Their Attitudes Toward Advertising

Abstract

In this paper, we offer some insights about Polish consumers with varying levels of general marketplace expertise, their role in diffusing product information, and their views of advertising. Market mavens are consumers who exhibit heightened interestin and knowledge about the marketplace. Because of their interest in communicating with others about the many aspects of the marketplace, these consumers can play an integral role for companies interested in diffusing marketing information. Our study results indicate that market mavens do indeed exist in Poland and they exhibit similar characteristics to market mavens identified in the U.S. They have more favorable attitudes toward advertising than other consumers. Additionally, they consider advertising as an important source of product and social image information. Although Polish mavens are less critical of advertising being misleading and confusing, they are concerned about advertising promoting materialistic values. Our findings imply that firms doing business in Poland would be well advised to target market mavens because they pay attention to advertising, have favorable attitudes toward advertising, and like to talk about marketplace phenomena with others.     

Motives and Modes of FDI,Firm Characteristics and Performance

Abstract

In this exploratory study, die autfiors attempt to determine and interpret die interdependencies between die motives and modes of setting up subsidiaries by foreign investors in Poland, and the main characteristics and performance of these subsidiaries. Two modes of setting up a subsidiary are examined: green-field and acquisition. The audiors use data collected from seven foreign subsidiaries operating in Poland and apply within-case and cross-case analytical approach to identify and interpret relationships between die variables under consideration. The results of the study lead to a formulation of eight hypotheses requiring further testing and research.     

国外私有林产权制度与相关财政政策——英国和波兰考察报告

介绍了英国和波兰私有林发展状况及相关的财政政策,在充分借鉴其发展政策和思路的基础上,提出了推进我国发展集体林产权及综合配套改革需要遵循的原则和要求,并针对当前和长远两个不同时期提出了加大两项投入,建立健全五项制度和建立投入稳定增长机制等政策建议。