The aim of the article is to evaluate the significance of the European Union funds supporting the cohesion policy, which the Eastern Polish local governments benefit from in order to improve their residents’ quality of life. Empirical data used in the research concerns five provinces located in Eastern Poland and the research data comes from the sources of the Polish Main Statistical Office in Warsaw. The temporal scope of the study encompasses the period 2004-2018. The choice of the spatial scope of the research is justified by the peripheral location of Eastern Poland, as well as the fact that this region benefits from the EU Programme financially supporting local government units. The article elaborates on the use of the EU funds aiming to enhance the cohesion policy performed by local governments of Eastern Poland and the residents’ opinion on the improvement of their quality of life. The research proves that the provinces of Eastern Poland are particularly qualified to gain financial funding from the European Union due to their lower level of Gross Domestic Product per capita compared to the country as a whole. According to the residents of Eastern Poland, their quality of life has improved and can be treated as comparable to the country’s average, even though slightly worse. The research confirms the elaboration’s hypothesis that the use of the EU funds by the local governments in Eastern Poland results in the increased country cohesion measured by the improvement of residents’ quality of life. This, in turn, constitutes a vital outcome of the European Union cohesion policy.
The aim of this paper is to assess the significance of organic food purchases by consumers in Poland – motivated by supporting the local economy – against the background of other factors shaping consumer behaviour. The empirical material consists of the results of a survey among 850 consumers of organic food in Poland. The empirical material was analysed using Pearson’s chi-squared test of independence and the non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test. The study shows that for a large group of organic food consumers, supporting the local economy appears to be an important motive for its purchase. The only factor significantly differentiating the two groups of consumers (motivated or not motivated by supporting the local economy) was the level of family income. The study allowed us to conclude that among consumers motivated by supporting the local economy, attitudes described as reflexive localism (the motive of supporting the local economy associated with concern for the natural environment) predominate.
For several years, the development of regions of Eastern Poland has been supported with funds from the European Union (EU) special programme entitled «Eastern Poland». Its goal is to stimulate the economic and social development of this part of Poland, which is one of the least developed regions in the EU. These funds are aimed at reducing development disproportions between Eastern Poland and other regions. Therefore, the question about the effects of applying financial support from public funds of these regions is justified. Our research attempts not only to find an answer to this question, but also to fill the research gap explaining the role of some factors in the reduction of regional disparities in rural areas. The paper aims to identify the factors and effects of public investment activity in rural municipalities in Eastern Poland against all rural municipalities in the country. The research hypothesis assumes that there is a positive relation between the level of municipal investment activity and the share of the municipalities’ tax revenue in the overall budget revenue, and that the level of municipal investment activity depends on geographical location of rural areas. The research covered all rural municipalities in five regions of Eastern Poland, while data have been obtained from Central Statistical Office in Poland for the period 2004–2017. A percentage share of investment spending of rural municipalities in the overall budget expenditure was used as a measure of investment activity. The study used a comparative analysis method, descriptive statistics (mean, coefficient of variation), as well as one-factor analysis of variance and linear correlation. The research has shown that investment activity in rural municipalities in Eastern Poland during the analysed period was slightly lower than in the country as a whole, with remarkable differentiation among particular municipalities. There is no single factor defining the investment capacities of local authorities, however, relatively big differences in the receipt of EU funds by rural municipalities in Eastern Poland. The findings show that the proximity to highly developed regions did not energise the economic growth of rural municipalities in Eastern Poland to the same extent as the proximity to larger cities. The research results can be used by public sector institutions in rural development programmes, including measures to improve the effectiveness of the financial investments from public funds to increase the quality of life of rural inhabitants.
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