Potencjalne ryzyka związane z przystąpieniem do strefy euro -doświadczenia państw Europy Środkowo-WschodniejBenefits and costs of joining the eurozone -experience of Central and Eastern European countries: This article discusses experience of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries which have adopted the euro. The emphasis is placed on three phenomena: an increase in inflation, a decline in competitiveness and a greater volatility of the economic growth. As the analysis shows, there was no effect of price increase due to currency conversion in all CEE countries, as well as neither loss of competitiveness nor decrease in foreign trade balance has been proved. However, CEE countries that adopted the euro experienced greater fluctuations of economic growth -both the minimum and maximum GDP growth rate was relatively high in comparison to CEE countries which kept their currencies.
Purpose – An attempt to answer two questions: (i) does spending on social-welfare policies constitute a statistically-significant impulse for reducing poverty among various risk groups in the EU countries? And (ii) what is the level of efficiency of social spending when it comes to reducing various problems associated with poverty in the EU member states? Research method – Two research methods: Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) and extended Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) are used. Results – It is established that social-welfare policies in most of the EU countries create a sufficient impulse to reduce poverty among elderly people and survivors, families with children and the unemployed. However, the impulse is often not sufficient in the case of people with problems in meeting housing needs, as well as the sick or disabled. What is more, the relative efficiency of social-welfare spending in some of the EU countries is low, which suggest that better outcomes may be achieved not only by increasing the spending, but also by improving the policies among current amount of funds. Surprisingly, the best-performing countries in reducing the poverty by social-welfare policies include, next to Denmark and Finland, also some Central and Eastern European countries: the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Originality/value/implications/recommendations – The research extends the knowledge on the efficiency and effectiveness of government activities for the purpose of limiting poverty.
S łowa k lucz owe: innowacyjność, B+R, efektywność Abst r a k t. Celem artykułu jest odpowiedź na pytanie, jak zmiany w polityce innowacyjnej Łotwy, będące rezultatem kryzysu finansowego oraz znaczącego napływu funduszy strukturalnych UE, wpłynęły na efektywność wydatków na B+R w tym kraju. W artykule przedstawiono ewolucję wysokości i struktury wydatków na B+R na Łotwie w latach 2004-2014 i opisano zmiany w łotewskiej polityce innowacyjnej w tym czasie. Następnie dokonano porównania wybranych wyników działalności B+R do wysokości wydatków na B+R na Łotwie w trzech okresach: przed, w trakcie i po globalnym kryzysie finansowym. Rezultaty badania wskazują, że Łotwa doświadczyła wyraźnego wzrostu efektywności wydatków na B+R po recesji z lat 2008-2010. Jako przyczyny wskazuje się zmiany w łotewskiej polityce innowacyjnej, które nastąpiły w czasie kryzysu finansowego, oraz efektywne wykorzystanie znaczącego napływu funduszy strukturalnych UE. Poczynione obserwacje mogą być cennym wkładem do dyskusji na temat warunków wysokiej efektywności wydatków na B+R w gospodarce oraz kształtowania optymalnej polityki innowacyjnej przez instytucje publiczne.
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