Purpose: Respective European Union member states’ interest in using spending reviews varies as there are no international mandatory regulations. The EU legislation contains general indications as to maintaining a rational fscal policy, from the provisions of the TFUE, expanded in the Pact for Stability and Growth, and elaborated in 2011.

Methodology: Adopting an interpretative research approach, this article elaborates a multiple explanatory case study design to discover how existing theories about public spending reviews are conceptualized by practitioners in their natural contexts.

Findings: The deteriorated state of many countries’ public fnances, as a result of the global fnancial crisis, has increased the interest in advanced innovative consolidation and fscal stabilization methods. Spending reviews are among the most developed and advanced methods. Such reviews were conducted both by countries that had applied this instrument before (Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, United Kingdom, Australia), and by those that introduced them for the frst time (Ireland, Canada, France). However, reviews are applied in countries characterized by signifcant economic advancement and mature public management systems.

Originality: This article analyses and draws conclusions from several selected countries’ experience to date in using spending reviews. The budget functions are compared using information from the implementation of the spending reviews. This article contributes to flling two main gaps identifed in the literature review.

Purpose: The paper analyses etatist and liberal economic attitudes in Poland, their changes after the last economic crisis, and the differences in this respect between socio-occupational groups with a particular focus on managers, professionals, and business owners, on the one hand, and other working and non-working groups, on the other hand.

Methodology: Individual-level data from three representative surveys conducted in 2012,2 2016, and 2017 on stratifed random samples of the whole adult Polish population are analyzed. Findings: Despite public legitimization of economy based on private ownership and the free market, Polish public opinion still shows strong preference for public ownership and state interventionism. This preference slowly diminishes. It differs between various socio-occupational groups: managers, professionals, and business owners are more liberal than others, especially non-working people and farmers.

Research implications: Since strengthening the regulatory and controlling functions of the government in economic life is the recent tendency in Poland and other countries, the slowly growing liberal attitudes may counteract this direction. So far, however, the Polish public opinion strongly supports governmental intervention in the economy.

Originality: So far, no one wrote a similar analysis of changes in etatist and liberal economic attitudes in the post-crisis Poland.

Objective: The aim of the present study is to examine whether the European Union budget comprises significant resources for financing measures relating to social cohesion. The analysis is based on the contents of the Europe 2020 Strategy.
Given the constraints of space and for the sake of clarity of the argument, the author focuses on the role of the EU budget rather than all measures aimed at social cohesion undertaken by EU institutions or targeted by policies of individual Member States.

Methodology: Documents, studies and reports published by the European Commission constitute the main source of information. In addition, the author has taken into account macroeconomic data demonstrating the deterioration of the social situation since 2009, as well as the instruments that the European Commission has deployed since 2013 in order to respond to post-crisis challenges.

Conclusions: It can be roughly estimated that more than 40 percent of total resources within the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 shall be allocated to the social cohesion policy. Opportunities afforded by the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy include primarily the definition of objectives whose priority is indisputable and the introduction of the hitherto neglected analysis of certain socio-economic indicators, classified by country or region and, in certain cases, examined in more detail than required by the European Commission. The monitoring of objectives is conducive to the introduction of new solutions and implementation tools, as exemplified by the new instruments within the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020, as well as the adjustment of available funds in light of the most pressing challenges. The European Semester has facilitated the task of comparing progress in strategy implementation by individual Member States, as well as the provision of recommendations for each of them and an individualized approach.

Research implications: This article contributes to the discussion on further integration of the European Union's social dimension, with particular emphasis on the need to work out a common approach to immigration policy.

Originality: The author presents her own opinions regarding current events in terms of the post-crisis social cohesion policies of the European Union, taking into account the European Commission’s financial instruments.

Purpose: To analyse the issue of public debt in Poland and examine its effect on other areas of socio-economic life as well as government policy.
Approach: The question of public debt is placed in its historical context by looking at how it grew during the Communist system and influenced the transition period. The article draws on a range of secondary economic statistics and considers in detail a number of public policy issues, such as the reform of the pension system.

Findings: One result of the large debt incurred by the end of the 1970s was that Poland became indebted to creditors in the West. This dependency helped to shape its economic policy at the end of the 1980s. The transition to a market economy placed new burdens on the country’s public services, primarily due to the resulting large deactivation of labour. Furthermore, the creation of a compulsory private pension system at the end of the 1990s diverted significant funds out of the government’s budget and swelled the country’s public debt. Since the outbreak of the economic crisis, Poland has avoided a recession by increasing public investment by utilising available European Union funds. However, due to internal and external limits on the size of its public debt, the government is being pressured to reduce this spending. In order to create more fiscal room, the government has partly dismantled the compulsory private pension system as a short-term solution to the growing debt crisis.

Value: In the wake of the global financial crisis and economic turmoil in the European Union, the matter of public debt has taken on increased importance. This paper considers this question from a long-term perspective in a country that has been relatively successful during the international economic downturn. By examining public debt from this broad perspective, we can better understand the economic situation in Poland and the European Union, whilst also shedding light on some of the surrounding academic perspectives and public policy debates.

Uncertainty is a state of mind. Around 1930 at the beginning of the big depression crisis, Keynes predicted that during the next 100 years, the standard of living in the most advanced countries will increase from four to eightfold. In spite of World War II, this overly optimistic prediction (as it seemed at that time) was confirmed in the 80 years since Keynes’s prophecy. In spite of the big crisis of the 1930s and the devastation of World War II, the standard of living in the western world increased four to fivefold.

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to answer the questions (1) whether the reforms of the regulations in the banking sector were effective and (2) which mechanisms discipline the behavior of banks. Moreover, we also raise a question how the behavior of banks depends on the institutional environment.

Methodology: To achieve the objectives, the article uses probit analysis on panel data covering the years: 1995–2006 for the entire period, and for years: 1999–2004 and 2004–2006 for 350 banks from OECD countries.

Findings: The quantitative results clearly argue for banking regulation, rather than leaving the supervision of the banking sector market discipline. However, the survey results also show that the behavior of banks depends largely on the institutional environment. Therefore, we questioned whether the currently proposed regulatory reforms that are homogeneous in nature will be effective in disciplining banks.

Practical implications: Among many reforms that are proposed the most important concerns are ones on banking regulation. Some believe that regulation of the banking sector should not be such useful, others believe that regulations are needed, which showed the fi nancial crisis in 2007–2011.

Purpose: This study examines the determinants of ex-ante state capture in Poland.
Methodology: In order to establish the determinants of ex-ante state capture a logistic regression is estimated.

Findings: The study shows that in Poland the majority of legal acts were passed with the aim to satisfy the interest of particular groups. Furthermore, the regression analysis shows that the likelihood of state capture increases during the period of higher economic growth and local elections. The likelihood of state capture, however, declines during presidential elections. The results we attribute to different interests of political parties in the period of local and presidential elections. Finally, we fi nd that the state capture increased over the years in Poland. Additionally, we show that the EU accession did not prevent state capture in Poland. In contrast, the financial crisis of 2007 resulted in a wake-up effect and the likelihood of state capture declined in Poland.

Research limitations: In the study we employ proxies for state capture, yet we assume that corruption is a wide spread phenomenon in Poland. However, due to its nature corruption is very diffi cult to assess and measure.

Originality: The study uses a unique dataset on ex-ante state capture that was identifi ed in the legal acts that have been passed in the period 1990–2011 in Poland.

Purpose: The paper presents a review of the latest research on executive compensation and indicates the main problems and weaknesses of the existing solutions as well as trends for the future.

Methodology: In the analysis executive compensation constitutes a crucial element of corporate governance. The analysis is based on a review of the latest studies and research on the effectiveness of executive compensation referring to its size, structure and disclosure.

Findings: The paper presents the latest fi ndings in the practice of executive compensation and it points to the extension of the period of time giving rise to the payment of cash bonuses, the introduction of a range of different indicators, based on which executives are evaluated, simplifying compensation packages, the implementation of deferred payments, the introduction of the “say on pay” rule and clawbacks.

Practical implications: The analysis points out the main weaknesses of executive compensation, which were particularly emphasized in research studies on companies affected by the financial crisis. The paper presents a wide range of suggested solutions that could be implemented in the fi eld of executive compensation in order to provide for a better alignment of the interests of executives with those of shareholders and for the increase in shareholder value.

Originality/value: The paper attempts to identify the most severe corporate governance problems with reference to executive compensation and to confront them with research results as well as the recently proposed and implemented reforms and recommendations.

Purpose: Modernity consists of many confl icting aspects: It brings many empty promises, yet has resulted in new institutions that create bridges between the values and interests of millions of people who seek freedom, prosperity, quality of life, strengthened democracy and social justice. In this paper I attempt to a gain and loss account against modernity, because institutional rules are not only conducive to cooperative interactions, but to hostile interactions as well. People are not always guided by moral commitment, but rather more often driven by cold calculation or coercion.

Methodology: Modernity has at least three defi nitions. The fi rst defi nition is based on ideas that took over the imagination of the era. The second defi nition is based on an analysis of the behavior of people who respond to reason as well as emotion and believe that they act more rationally than their ancestors or the traditional “others”. The third defi nition is the one closest to my heart, consisting of the use of institutional categories.
Institutions offer practical ways of connecting ideas and people. The challenge for them is the result of deepening local and national interdependencies, but increasingly often also regional (e.g. European) and global. Interdependencies are the result of the scientifi c and technological revolution, global markets, global governance mechanisms, the emergence of new social forces and cultural confl icts (against the background of reconciling identity and differences).

Conclusions: The most important task is to identify the mechanisms of complex systems so that people know how to act under conditions of uncertainty, risk and crisis. Hence, the expectations toward institutions often exceed their abilities. Even though new institutions are being created and old ones are being fixed, we are witnessing and participating in, institutional paralysis and the decay (e.g. corruption). In this situation, it is imperative not only to improve control methods (e.g. legal), but also to resort to normative systems (values and identity) and knowledge (competence and skills). The source of this paralysis is often man himself, convinced of his own maturity and equipped with all sorts of rights, but manipulated on a scale not yet seen in the past. We are experiencing our own struggle as to what roles are closest to us, e.g. consumer, investor, or citizen?

Research Implications: Modernity is an emblematic, but confusing term. Therefore, the most important task is to identify the activities of complex systems, so that people know how to act under conditions of uncertainty, risk and crisis. People – agencies must operate in structures that defi ne the boundaries of their actions. The main task of social sciences is to identify the conditions for the construction of successful confi gurations of agencies and structures.

Originality: Sometimes the “old” is better than the “new”, but to adopt this as a principle of life would be a mistake. It is better to think that the “new” is a metamorphosis of the “old”, sometimes expected, sometimes not. Based on the example of capitalism – fi rst commercial capitalism, then industrial capitalism, and today financial capitalism – I demonstrate how the mechanisms of institutional morphogenesis work, with emphasis on structured cooperation and organized conflict.

Purpose: The paper aims at identifying the major information gaps related to the financial sector that have emerged during the last years, including the explanation of the reasons and consequences of these gaps.

Methodology: The analysis is conducted using the descriptive methodology based on real developments in the financial sector. This analysis identifies substantial institutional changes within the financial sector combined with the introduction of new financial instruments that significantly increased information gaps related to financial developments.

Findings: We found that one of the main reasons for the breakdown in the financial liquidity market was the sudden buildup of a systemic risk caused, among other things, by substantial information gaps and limitations in the transparency of financial markets. The low transparency of the financial markets has been caused by institutional changes and new financial instruments introduced within the financial sector. They were introduced by the financial institutions themselves to facilitate very risky financial activities that were very profitable for them in the short term, but – as it occurred – very disruptive for the whole financial system and the whole economy in the longer term.

Research limitations: The analysis is limited only to the consideration of the causes and consequences of statistical gaps substantially reducing the transparency of the financial sector. A more comprehensive project should also explore and provide an appropriate proposal for remedy data and – even more important – a proposal to setup a macroprudential policy framework.

Originality: The original contribution of the paper is the link between specific institutional changes within the financial sector as well as new financial instruments and the emergence of particular information gaps.

Purpose: Analysis of reasons, correlations and consequences following from the impact that financial investors have on commodity markets – both before and after the crisis.

Methodology: The research on the tremendous impact that the financial sector exerts on price formation in commodity markets, defined as the financialization of commodity markets, was based on a narrative approach. This approach makes use of available historical documents and attempts to reconstruct factors causing structural changes in commodity markets. As a result of these factors, commodity and financial markets (and particularly
capital market) have become similar to a great extent.

Findings: Drawing upon the research, it can be stated that the global financial crisis has contributed not only to a major change in the involvement of investors in commodity markets, but also to a structural change of this involvement, which is accompanied by a number of negative consequences.

Originality: The research enables to draw certain conclusions, e.g. that the financialization of commodity markets is reflected in a radical price fluctuation in these markets due to which the prices are isolated from fair value. Structural changes are also discussed. They entail the attempt to counteract such negative consequences, e.g. regulations imposed to provide a greater transparency of the activity undertaken by investors in commodity markets.

Purpose: The goal of the text is to show a number of challenges which major central banks must face today. Impressive engagement of the central banks in counter-crisis policy leads to many controversial decisions and its results are not clear both for economic theory and for real economy. For now, one cannot show a full overview of the policy of central banks – on the one hand, thanks to the expansionary monetary policy, recession was quite shallow and the risk in financial markets has declined, but on the other hand, few side effects of this policy can be mentioned, which can jeopardize economic stability in the future.

Methodology: The paper has a theoretical character. The findings are based on a literature review and an analysis of the major macroeconomic data.

Findings: The text indicates the most important areas which have to be investigated by central banks. There are serious doubts about issues like: inflation targeting as a fundamental part of monetary policy, the efficiency of monetary policy instruments and the side effects of loose monetary policy.

Originality: The text presents quite a new approach in analyzing macroeconomic policy by indicating important gaps in contemporary economic knowledge according to which economic policy is conducted.

Purpose: The article aims at analyzing the functional form of the relation between the level of public debt and the government bond yields in both developed and developing countries. A surge in public indebtedness following the financial crisis in 2008-2010 undermined the credibility of sovereigns in the credit markets. As a result, the government bond yields have risen, thus amplifying the problem of rapidly expanding public debts.
The purpose of the article is to estimate the threshold value of government debt above which its service costs rapidly increase.

Methodology: The relation between the 10-year government bond real interest rate and the level of debt is investigated with the use of spline regression with cubic splines. The regression model is estimated using annual data for 66 countries that spans between the years 1980-2010. An additional analysis is conducted for the last decade and after splitting the sample into high-income and catching-up countries.

Findings: In the sample that covers all countries and the whole 1980-2010 period no relation between the level of debt and interest rate has been detected. In the years 2001-2010 the threshold value of debt above which the real interest rate starts to grow rapidly is estimated to be around 150% of GDP in catching-up countries and about 110% of GDP in high-income countries.

Research implications: An analysis of the impact of fiscal policy on the level of interest should take into account the likely non-linearity of the relationship.

Originality: Spline regression has not yet been used in the analysis of the relation between debt and interest rate.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to confirm the thesis that the amount of public funds expenditure has no impact on the effectiveness of state functioning, which – to a greater extent – is dependent on the efficiency of these funds. In the article, the author claims that in the case of the European Union there is no explicit evidence concerning the efficiency of public funds in Member States – both on the micro and macro level.

Methodology: A literature review conducted on the basis of collections of academic and scientific articles and an analysis of particular solutions implemented in the European Union and in OECD Member States as well as concerning the consolidation of public funds in the context of the effectiveness of state functioning.

Originality: The author of this work – on the basis of the (performed) analysis presented in the article, explains that the optimal fiscal policy should use appropriately selected tools allowing to achieve the best (optimal) method for the management of public funds, in particular the external and internal position of the economy of the given country. The key factors that decide on the effectiveness (excluding non-financial factors) are neither
universal (absolute) nor relative extent of public spending. The author concludes that the level of effectiveness is either dependent on the structure of this spending and procedures connected with public expenditure planning, executing, accounting and reporting processes, or the level (quality) of the effectiveness and efficiency evaluation system.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to define the factors that contribute to the use of the category of accountability not only in the formal meaning (public finance discipline), but also for the needs of public management (effectiveness of public finances).

Methodology and findings: The article indicates that one of the conditions to ensure the effectiveness of public finances in the fight against the crisis is the use of accountability rules relating to the process of public finance management. The article is based on the concept of quality of public finances and institutional arrangements used for the management of public finances.

Originality: This article presents two dimensions of accountability: first is the traditional approach to accountability equated with responsibility for public finance discipline; second is the modern approach in which accountability is a kind of public authority program built on the commitment to achieve the purpose and the need to account for the results. The article indicates that the category of accountability can be regarded as part of the public financial management system, both at the national and supranational level.

Purpose: The main target of this paper is to present the implementation of the innovation policy in Poland during the last financial and economic crisis. The main hypothesis is an assumption that if innovative activity is one of the ways of overcoming the current economic crisis, the government’s innovation policy should strongly support such activity.

Methodology: The verification of the hypothesis is based on an analysis of theoretical and empirical research conducted by governmental and non-governmental institutions.

Results: The analysis of literature as well as research conducted by governmental and non-governmental institutions showed that the innovation policy in Poland is undergoing a deep transition. The effects of the policy are currently insufficient.

Originality: Despite substantial domestic and foreign literature about the role, targets and effects of innovation policy, there is a lack of analysis of this issue during the time of the current economic crisis.

Purpose: The article presents the results of the analysis of the employment and salary policy in Polish public administration in the period of 2002-2011 in terms of public administration management in times of the financial crisis and the competitiveness of employment in government administration. The authors of the article examine the effectiveness of the subsequent government efforts to institute “a cheap state”. They have assumed that in the
examined period the effectiveness of government administration did not change considerably.

Originality: The presented analysis covers such issues as: identifying the determinants of changes in salary and employment rates in government administration; an analysis of the relevant major legal institutions; a study of the main changes in the salary and employment policy in government administration; an analysis of the employment nd remuneration budget in public administration; an assessment of the changes in the effectiveness of the
functioning of government administration.

Methodology: In their studies the authors conduct inductive and deductive reasoning by means of the following research techniques: an analysis of legal acts, strategic government documents and reports of the Supreme Audit Office (NIK); a statistical dynamics and structure analysis; a comparative analysis and a one-dimensional analysis of public expenditure efficiency.