Purpose – With pay transparency (PT) as an emerging trend in organizations around the world and the European Union promoting open pay regulations, PT is of increasing interest to scientists, managers and policymakers. However, it is still unclear what people think about PT and what theoretical perspectives might explain people’s views on transparent pay. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore and systematize opinions about PT and to propose theoretical frameworks to understand different reactions to it.
Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative reflexive thematic analysis of the Internet debate that emerged in Poland in 2019 in response to the proposition of new law regulations aimed to improve PT by introducing obligatory pay ranges in job offers.
Findings – The author’s analysis revealed a set of 41 specific and often opposite opinions about PT, which allow for the systematization of hopes and concerns related to PT around the 7 favorable and 6 unfavorable higher-order themes.
Social implications – The author’s results might inform policymakers and managers about the possible risks and benefits of PT implementation. Revealed opposite opinions about PT raise awareness that PT policies, while solving some social problems, might simultaneously create others.
Originality/value – The author provides new insights into opinions that people hold about transparent pay based on real-world data. The author suggests theoretical perspectives for understanding and predicting reactions to PT, such as Hobfoll’s Conservation of Resources Theory and Adam`s Equity Theory. Based on this, the authors propose that opposite opinions about PT might be explained by (a) perceived pay dispersion fairness and (b) perceived PT costs-benefits ratio.

Purpose: This paper aims to identify purchasing-related costs through the prism of transaction costs and costs of purchasing management activity.

Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a survey among 150 medium and large manufacturing companies in the chemical, automotive and electromechanical industries operating in Central and Eastern European countries. The collected data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis.

Findings: The studied companies carry out an integrated purchasing-related cost system. The authors found a statistical significance of the covariances between the pretransaction, transaction and post-transaction costs. In addition, costs that are of particular importance in long-term purchasing transactions were identified. Moreover, the authors identified the costs of quality and support actions as the most significant.

Practical implications: This research details the discussion of costs with consideration for the insights of managers of medium-sized and large companies.

Originality/value: The paper contributes to the knowledge of purchasing-related costs through the lens of the total cost of ownership that influences the purchasing management and the decisions within the buyersupplier relationship.

Purpose: One of the regulatory responses to the 2008 financial crisis was to internalize the costs related to banks’ distress by introducing bank levies. More than 23 European banking sectors have been confronted with the new levy regime imposing the additional tax on banks’ balance sheet.

Methodology: This study analyzes the effect of the levy introduction on banks’ profitability, credit activity, and on their business models. More importantly, we confront two different levy regimes – one imposed on banks’ assets and the other on liabilities – to assess their differential impact. A generalized least squares regression with a random effect is performed on a data sample of Hungarian and German credit institutions from 2005 to 2015.

Results: The results show that levy introduction weakened banking sectors in terms of their profitability as well as their lending activity. Even though banks try to compensate for the cost of the levies by passing some of the costs on to the customers and restructuring their operations to limit the tax burden, we find that these activities are not sufficient to offset the whole tax burden. We also note that while the asset levy has a more severe effect on banks’ profits, the liability levy severely affects banks’ lending due to lower interest margin resulting from higher cost of funding.

Findings: Our research results provide important conclusions for regulators, especially during turbulent periods such as the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen the banking sectors by considering the levy suspension.

Purpose: The aim of the article is to examine the selected determinants of the expected rate of return on human capital.
Methodology: We conducted an anonymous survey of expected salaries among the Accounting and Controlling students at the Cracow University of Economics, which provided a unique setting for the analysis. On the basis of collected data for the cost of living and the cost of professional education for every participant, we used the human capital model developed by Dobija to compute the perceived level of the human capital of each individual. Then, we compared the expected salaries with the perceived levels of human capital and computed expected rates of return on human capital. The following research methods are used: literature review, statistical tests, econometric modeling.
Findings: On the sample of 754 respondents, we found that male students expect a higher rate of return on their human capital than female students, while older students expect a lower rate of return on human capital than younger students.
Research limitations: Only one field of study was used to measure the determinants of the expected rate of return on human capital.
Originality: We contribute to the salary expectations and human capital literature by identifying a significant gender salary expectations gap that holds even after considering individually assessed costs of living and professional education. Our findings are consistent with the well-known observation that women tend to expect lower salaries than men.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to indicate which information originating in accounting is important for ensuring the information transparency of bankruptcy proceedings.
Methodology: Based on the literature review and the analysis of international legal acts, we determined priority types of information from accounting used in bankruptcy court proceedings. These types included information on the costs of insolvency proceedings, the assumption in the financial statements that there was no going concern, and the book value of assets. A survey was then conducted on a group of specialists in the field of bankruptcy.
Findings: Respondents indicated information on the costs of bankruptcy proceedings as the most important. However, other accounting information under study also received a high assessment from insolvency specialists. The obtained assessments of individual quality features are characterized by high reliability confirmed by low standard errors.
Research implications: Accounting evolves as a response to the information needs of accounting information users. Therefore, knowing these needs may contribute to changes in the requirements regarding the scope of information from accounting that is used in bankruptcy proceedings.
Originality/value: In-depth knowledge of various aspects of the economic side of the bankruptcy phenomenon is part of the current trend in minimizing the negative effects of bankruptcy.

Purpose: The increasing role of digitalization in the operation of enterprises actualizes the
implementation of the basic methods of proper digitalization processes. The selection of an
appropriate method to introduce digitalization is crucial, as it affects the optimization level of the business processes.

Methodology: Specific multicriteria selection method includes five steps to identify these approaches, considering the relative error for each approach, as it affects the outcome with the performance indicator of business process digitalization. The strongest criterion value is used to identify the optimal approach. The evaluation of the methods showed that the performance of the logistic, administrative, and innovative methods is not worse than the Pareto principle.

Findings: Introducing digitalization in the administrative method has the biggest impact. The chosen method showed that Human Resources processes require modification to reduce costs. A mechanism to digitalize the personnel management processes using artificial intelligence was developed.

Implications: The results of multivariate multicriteria analysis show that the implementation of artificial intelligence minimizes human factors and optimizes time and costs.

Originality: The main contribution is the development of the method for the selection of an appropriate digitalization approach, which encompasses an implementation mechanism that can be adapted to enterprises’ needs.

Purpose: The purpose of the research was to find out the correlation between the motivation and costs of internal or external locus of control and the propensity to mentor. Investment of time and per sonal energy was regarded as factors with an internal locus of control, whereas a lack of mentee’s achievement, problems caused by a mentee, unhealthy or unfriendly relation, and a risk to be replaced by a mentee were regarded as factors with an external locus of control. In the case of internal factors, their locus of control is the mentor him/herself while, in external factors, their locus is outside of the mentor and lies in a situation or an environment.

Methodology: A quantitative cross-sectional study among Polish managers.

Findings: First, the results show that uniquely intrinsic motivation relates to the propensity to men tor, while extrinsic motivation has no importance. Second, before deciding to mentor, managers estimate the costs of mentoring: the higher they are the lower the propensity to mentor. Third, the costs related to the internal locus of control – time and personal energy invested by a mentor in men toring – are most important when deciding to mentor. The risk of destroying a mentor’s reputation, problems caused by a mentee, unfriendly or unhealthy relationship and a risk to be replaced by a mentee emerged as of little importance. Fourth, previous experience as a mentor or mentee positi vely influences the propensity to mentor.

Value: The study contributes to existing research, theory, and practice in the field of organizational behavior in the context of mentoring. The findings shed light on decision patterns in managers’ pro pensity to mentor and thoroughly explore the role of the anticipated cost of mentoring.

Purpose: The aim of this article is to present the results of the research on the export of venture capital backed firms in the European Union countries.

Methodology: For the purpose of this article, the author created four linear regression models. He decided for export revenue to be a dependent variable. Then, the author verified the influence of four independent variables on export value.

Findings: The research found that the turnover of venture capital backed firms positively influences their export value. Moreover, the costs of employees also play an important role in export value explanation. Nevertheless, the empirical study did not confirm any strong positive correlation of analyzed firms’ export value with the number of employees and their share of shareholders’ funds in operating income.

Limitations: The analyzed period was limited only to 2016. Second, the study used only one dependent and four independent variables. Further research must include other variables, especially moderating ones, such as entrepreneurship ratio or availability of external financing forms. Third, the regression models were based on data retrieved from Orbis Database and can induce uncertainty regarding its credibility.

Originality: At present, there are still only few research studies that explore the export of venture capital backed firms.

Purpose: The article analyzes the possible methods of public debt management, which not only aim to meet regulatory requirements but also obtain a market premium in the form of an optimal level of the yield on government bond yields that will be profitable for the issuer. The study analyzes the situation in the public finance sector in the countries that form the Visegrád Group (V4). The authors evaluate the main regulatory requirements of EU law in the area of numerical fiscal rules and their impact on the yield on basic securities such as ten-year government bonds, which directly influences the cost of servicing long-term public debt.

Methodology: The study uses desk research method for theoretical reasoning to verify the research hypothesis. The study seeks to answer the question of whether the application of national and EU fiscal rules in V4 budgetary frameworks contributes to lower yields on ten-year bonds and thereby reduces the cost of public debt. The authors utilize time series and cause-effect analysis as well as quantitative research for the systematization of statistical information and regression analysis for the examination of statistical dependencies.

Findings: The basic parameters subject to financial assessment within the fiscal rules index are (1) the deficit of public finance sector and (2) public debt with its servicing costs. In 2005–2016, the ratio of the public finance sector deficit to GDP was shaped in such a way that most V4 countries required the institution of excessive deficit procedures and further disciplinary regulations. The assessment of the situation in the public finance sector in the area of budget deficit and public debt does not translate into the yield on government bonds of non-Eurozone countries. Model-based testing indicates that the financial markets – when deciding to evaluate or purchase government bonds of non-Eurozone countries – failed to acknowledge the implementation of fiscal rules in these countries and its possible effects.

Originality: The study focuses on a unique comprehensive analysis of national fiscal rules employed in individual V4 countries and their impact on the yield on government bonds throughout the entire EU membership of the V4. What holds the greatest cognitive value in this article is the answer to the question of whether Eurozone membership impacts the valuation of a country’s public debt.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to present the extent to which indicators applied by logistics
providers in Poland measure logistics-related processes and performance in the context of implementing
the concept of management accounting in the enterprises that were researched.

Methodology: The research methods used by the authors included a literature review of mainly
German and Polish publications and survey research conducted in 2011–2013 among logistics
enterprises in Poland. This study served as the basis for verifying four hypotheses and formulating
conclusions.

Findings: The main results of this study showed that management accounting systems are implemented
in about half of then logistics providers in Poland covered by the survey. 75% of all enterprises
conducted indicator analysis to evaluate logistics processes, costs and performance, and
90% of the indicators used by these enterprises were of a financial nature.

Research limitations: The main limitation of the research was associated with conducting the survey.
The low return rate of completed questionnaires did not allow for a detailed analysis of the undertaken
subject to be conducted. Moreover, the research results cannot be generalized to all logistics
companies in Poland.
Originality: The study was the first review of the application of indicators in logistics companies
in Poland in relation to the implementation of the management accounting concept. The study
provides knowledge about how Polish logistics enterprises use indicators as an important management
accounting instrument.

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to identify the factors that affect the development of the models
of financial market state supervision and to identify the factors that have influenced the evolution
of the supervision model in Poland.

Methodology: critical analysis of literature, legal provisions and documents.
Findings: The completely integrated and the fully dispersed model of supervision are located at
the opposite ends of the spectrum. A variety of the hybrid models can be identified between them.
Factors that affect supervision organization are both economic and non-economic. Factors that
have influenced the Polish model of supervision include political aspects, administration costs
and, in due course, also the development of the financial market.

Research implications: The variety of state supervision structures, combined with the ambiguity
and multiplicity of factors that affect their evolution create a new research challenge. Significant
problems in accessing documents have been identified.

Originality: The author presents an overview of models of state supervision of financial markets
and factors affecting the evolution and structure of supervision. Conclusions drawn from the
analysis were used to identify factors that influence the evolution and supervision of the Polish
financial market.

Purpose: The objective of this paper is to describe concepts and assumptions of predictive marketing analytics in reference to decision making. In particular, we highlight issues pertaining to the importance of data and the modern approach to data analysis and processing with the purpose of solving real marketing problems that companies encounter in business.

Methodology: In this paper authors provide two study cases showing how, and to what extent predictive marketing analytics work can be useful in practice e.g., investigation of the marketing environment. The two cases are based on organizations operating mainly on Web site domain. The fi rst part of this article, begins a discussion with the explanation of a general idea of predictive marketing analytics. The second part runs through opportunities
it creates for companies in the process of building strong competitive advantage in the market. The paper article ends with a brief comparison of predictive analytics versus traditional marketing-mix analysis.

Findings: Analytics play an extremely important role in the current process of business management based on planning, organizing, implementing and controlling marketing activities. Predictive analytics provides the actual and current picture of the external environment. They also explain what problems are faced with the company in business activities. Analytics tailor marketing solutions to the right time and place at minimum costs. In fact they control the effi ciency and simultaneously increases the effectiveness of the firm.

Practical implications: Based on the study cases comparing two enterprises carrying business activities in different areas, one can say that predictive analytics has far more been embraces extensively than classical marketing-mix analyses. The predictive approach yields greater speed of data collection and analysis, stronger predictive accuracy, better obtained competitor data, and more transparent models where one can understand the inner working of the model.

Originality: Authors describe the importance of analytics which enhance the decisions that the company makes as it executes strategies and plans, so that the company can be more effective and achieve better results. The key factor that enables to execute marketing strategies accurately and build competitive advantage in the future includes predictive modeling. The ability to predict probable futures allows us to shape the future, rather than
merely survive whatever it brings.

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 aim of this paper is to show the conditions of the EU against the realities of the global economy in the post-crisis era, an indication of which are the determinants of the development of the competitive advantage of the Community.

Methodology: An analysis of the determinants of growth at different stages of the process of EU integration with particular emphasis on optimum currency area criteria for the euro zone crisis, under asymmetric demand shock.

Findings: The last global crisis has highlighted the structural weaknesses of the EU, which in times of economic prosperity can be compensated by a system of transfers and the mechanism of credibility borrowing. With such a strong crisis Europe needs more growth.

Research limitations: The costs of this crisis affect the Community, significant for both public finances and the standard of life, but are also visible on a global scale, which is difficult to estimate.

Originality: An ex ante perspective on the determinants that will not only restore EU’s position in the world, but also did not miss an opportunity to play a significant role in the rapidly changing global economy, the twenty first century.