The main purpose of this paper is to assess the level of and differences in financial autonomy across Polish rural municipalities. The level of rural municipalities’ financial autonomy in 2008–2017 was benchmarked against that of other types of municipalities. Also, a multidimensional assessment of financial autonomy levels was performed for the municipalities considered, and the underlying socioeconomic conditions prevailing in 2017 were identified. As shown by this study, financial autonomy varies strongly across Polish rural municipalities. Nearly 60% of them are at medium low or low levels. As a consequence, their financial standing and capacity to fulfill their own tasks depend on allocations from the national budget. This poses a considerable problem for their ability to remain financially stable.

Local investments for the development of renewable energy sources (RESs) constitute an important element of sustainable rural development. They are conducive to the social and economic development of the said areas, and improve the environmental values and living conditions of their inhabitants. However, such advancement in rural areas is not possible without adequate financial support, including the funds from the EU budget. Therefore, the main objective of the research is to assess the scale, scope and importance of local investments in renewable energy sources in rural areas of Poland in 2014–2020, cofinanced from EU funds. The study covered 1117 projects, whose beneficiaries were rural and urban–rural municipalities. Evaluation of the municipal investment activities in acquiring EU subsidies in the area of environmentally friendly energy was conducted using selected methods of descriptive statistics and the analysis of variance. Subsequently, with the use of logistic regression, the study identified the main socioeconomic, financial and environmental conditions of the investment activities of the local government entities in RES in rural areas. Empirical studies allowed for the positive verification of the research hypothesis, which assumed that “The highest investment activity in the field of local projects co-financed from EU funds, related to the development of RES in rural areas, may be attributed to municipalities performing primarily agricultural functions, located in Eastern Poland”. The municipalities’ own income potential and investment activity are of major importance for the acquisition of EU funds used in RES financing. Municipalities at a lower development level demonstrated a greater activity in accessing these funds. They view the development of RES as an opportunity for accelerated growth.

For at least 25 years, processes involving structural changes have been growing more and more intense in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, with these processes including a decline in the number of small farms. The main aim of this paper is to present the mechanisms involved in, as well as barriers to and costs preventing the exit of farms from agriculture, including those that make it difficult to transfer production resources which are being released to other companies. This research takes the form of an overview and is based on the output of new institutional economics, and on transaction cost and rent-seeking theories in particular. The most frequent difficulties encountered in the process of exit from farming include low profitability of production and the shortage of capital among potential buyers, while the lack of sellers’ financial resources and the necessity of incurring expenses related to preparing and finalising the sale of resources held by them (the actual transaction costs related to closing down farms) are frequently overlooked. The most important barriers preventing the complete liquidation of farms are the inherent transaction costs categorised as expenses, as well as the emotional costs and costs of alternatives, which are difficult to evaluate and estimate. The following notions are particularly helpful in explaining barriers to exit from farming: the concept of transaction costs and rent-seeking theory, which are both a part of the stream of thought of new institutional economics.

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The idea of sustainability has been exerting an impact on public awareness for nearly five decades. However, representatives of various sciences interpret it in many different ways, and there were several hundred definitions of it already at the end of the 20th century. There is no doubt that a proper understanding of the essence and meaning of sustainable development by opinion leaders representing various scientific disciplines determines transformations in particular sectors of the economy, especially in the energy sector. Economics, which considers the relationship between the economy and the environment, seems to have a special role with regard to this issue. Models and concepts of managing limited environmental resources are considered based on this science. Thus, economists have a kind of greater responsibility for the shape and direction of development, and especially for whether it will be durable and balanced. With these issues in mind, the aim of this paper is to review and systematize the opinions of Polish experts on the concept of sustainable development and to indicate the most important parameters that define it. The paper presents the results of an opinion survey of 105 experts affiliated with a wide variety of institutions. Respondents represented economic, technical, social, and natural sciences.

Local development is a long-term process of economic transformation. To make it happen, expenditure must be incurred, especially including investments. At a local level, the financial burden involved in the transformation is mostly on local government units. Although a three-level administrative system is in place in Poland, bottom-level units (municipalities) are largely responsible for driving local development. Polish rural areas make up over 90% of the national territory, and rural municipalities alone are home to 11 million people, i.e., 30% of the total population. Poland’s accession to the European Union and the ability of local government units (LGUs) to use Union funds contributed to local development, in particular by making many rural municipalities a more attractive place to live and invest in. However, a rapid increase in debt levels was another consequence. Excessive indebtedness of LGUs threatens not only their stable operation and local development but also the stability of the whole public finance sector. The main purpose of this study was to assess the level of and differences in indebtedness of Polish rural municipalities, and to identify the key socioeconomic conditions of debt. The analysis period was 2007–2017. This article used the TOPSIS routine to develop a synthetic indicator of municipal debt levels. An ordered logit model was also employed to identify the key conditions behind municipal indebtedness in Polish rural areas. This study found that, in 2007–2009, most rural municipalities (over 50%) recorded extremely low or low levels of debt while only one-fifth were at high or extremely high levels. In turn, already in 2015–2017, more than one-third of all rural municipalities were at a high or extremely high level of debt. The study also allowed to validate the research hypothesis formulated in this paper, namely that “the key reason for the growing level and diversity of indebtedness of Polish rural municipalities is the investment activity of local authorities in seeking funds from the European Union”.

The last three years have been a period of many challenges related to the dynamically changing conditions of the economic environment. Among these many changes, some of the most important for the further functioning of private and public entities are those related to the instability of the energy market. Rapidly rising energy prices increase the costs of implementing public tasks. They also greatly increase the search for innovative, energy-saving and environmentally friendly ways of performing municipal tasks. The main aim of the article is to present the concept of a smart village as an instrument for the implementation of public tasks in rural areas. The theoretical basis of the smart village concept is the basic point of reference. The implementation of the assumptions of the smart village concept in Poland gives municipalities the possibility of an innovative approach to the implementation of local public services. In addition, examples of good practices implemented by rural local communities that can act as models for other groups of residents are also included. It was essential, from the point of view of measurable effects, to identify potential limitations and hazards in the implementation of the smart village concept, which may be identified in the outermost regions. Analysis and critical literature review were used to achieve the article’s goals. These methods are characteristic for review publications. At the beginning, we presented the theoretical foundations of the smart village concept. Secondly, we indicated how the smart village concept contributes to the improvement in public service delivery in rural areas. The authors demonstrated that there is no universal model for each unit. A smart village will implement solutions tailored to economic, social, cultural, and natural conditions.