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1. Place of crowdfunding in financing investment projects in Poland

Author:
Marcin Czugan, Michał Karwasiński, Jarosław Mizera, and Ewa Balcerowicz
Publication Date:
03-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
Crowdfunding for business ventures, commonly referred to interchangeably as investment crowdfunding or equity crowdfunding, is a young practice. It first appeared in the USA (in 2009), and is now a rapidly expanding market in developed economies. The first case of investment crowdfunding in Poland, historically the first issuance, took place in 2012, barely three years later than in the United States. Such crowdfunding is a form of raising capital from the market (from investors) for the development of companies by entrepreneurs or owners, acting as the issuers. Specialised companies (fintechs) creating so-called crowdfunding platforms for matching demand with supply – and where offerings are announced and transactions carried out – are the market’s intermediaries. The report we are releasing discusses the specifics of investment crowdfunding, or in other words how this form of raising funds differs from older forms of external financing for businesses. It also presents the potential and the role of crowdfunding for the development of the capital market in Poland, describing demand for this type of financing, the level of interest among investors, and what both demand and interest depend on. In November 2021, European regulations were introduced specifically for this new market. Our authors analyse how these regulations will affect the future of equity crowdfunding in Poland. This issue of mBank-CASE Seminar Proceedings, on crowdfunding in Poland, follows on from a seminar held in March 2022. Three guests at the seminar were experts participating directly in the development of this new component of Poland’s capital market, therefore possessing unique knowledge of the specifics of crowdfunding, and its strengths and limitations.
Topic:
Finance, Innovation, Economic Development, Private Sector, Knowledge Economy, and Crowdfunding
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

2. Our Europe: 15 Years of Poland in the European Union

Author:
Jerzy Wilkin, Joanna Konieczna-Sałamatin, Mirosława Marody, Maja Sawicka, Paweł Kaczmarczyk, Jan J. Michałek, Andrzej Halesiak, Stanisława Golinowska, Irena Topińska, Anna Fornalczyk, Richard Woodward, Grzegorz Gorzelak, Andrzej Kwieciński, Katarzyna Zawalińska, Przemysław Kowalski, Anna Malinowska, Wiesława Kozek, Magdalena Kąkol, Maciej Nowicki, Grzegorz Wiśniewski, Andrzej Cylwik, Tomasz Komornicki, Urszula Sztanderska, Jacek Liwiński, Dorota Ilczuk, Anna Karpińska, Przemysław Kowalski, Mateusz Szczurek, Stanisław Gomułka, and Paweł Wojciechowski
Publication Date:
02-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
This report is the result of the joint work of a number of experts from various fields who have been - for many years – analysing the multidimensional effects of EU institutions and cooperation with Member States pursuant to European values and mechanisms. The authors summarise the benefits of Poland’s membership in the EU based on facts; however, they do not hide their own views and reflections. They also demonstrate the barriers and challenges to further European integration. This report was prepared by CASE, one of the oldest independent think tanks in Central and Eastern Europe, utilising its nearly 30 years of experience in providing objective analyses and recommendations with respect to socioeconomic topics. It is both an expression of concern about Poland’s future in the EU, as well as the authors’ contribution to the debate on further European integration.
Topic:
Climate Change, Demographics, Energy Policy, Labor Issues, Economic Growth, Regional Integration, Social Policy, Fiscal Policy, Innovation, and Trade
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Poland

3. EuroPACE Market Analysis

Author:
Grzegorz Poniatowski, Izabela Styczynska, Karolina Beaumont, and Karolina Zubel
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
EuroPACE is an innovative tool designed to make home renovation simple, affordable and reliable for all Europeans by combining affordable financing with people-centric technical assistance. EuroPACE offers 100% up-front financing that can be repaid over a long term of up to 25 years. The innovation lies in the collection and repayment mechanism – financing is attached to the property and is repaid regularly with charges linked to a property. Homeowners are offered logistical and technical support throughout the process and access to trained and qualified con-tractors. Thus, EuroPACE overcomes the main barriers to home renovation – lack of financing, technical knowledge and complexity of the works. The concept of EuroPACE is inspired by the success of a financing model called Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), launched in California in 2008. In the United States (US), the PACE market reached over USD 6 billion in funded projects, including the retrofit of over 220,000 homes, which resulted in more than 50,000 new local jobs and the creation of hundreds new companies.EuroPACE combines the best practices from the US PACE market with project partners’ substantial experience in improving energy efficiency in European buildings. EuroPACE is a three-year project that intends to assess market readiness, deploy a pilot programme in Spain and scale across Europe to four leader cities. A two-phase research (firstly – legal & fiscal readiness, and secondly – market demand) has been carried to assess the overall readiness for adaptation of this model across the European Union (EU). This document is the second phase of the EuroPACE readiness assessment developed to identify European countries most suited for EuroPACE implementation. It complements the legal and fiscal assessment by focusing on the “demand dimension” by analysing local needs for energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy sources (RES) in residential building renovation of seven selected countries. Based on the results of legal and fiscal analysis of the EU28 MS, in October 2018 the Steering Committee Group of the EuroPACE Horizon2020 (H2020) project chose seven countries: Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Romania, for the second phase of evaluation. These countries were selected based on the scoring outlined in D2.1 and two additional considerations developed by the Steering Committee Group. First, a diverse geo-graphical distribution of the countries was an important element for the selection of these seven countries. Secondly, the knowledge and expertise of the Steering Committee Group about the national potential market opportunity was taken into consideration during the selection process. While in Austria a similar mechanism has already been tested but was unsuccessful, the country still has been chosen for further analysis. In Belgium, despite being a federal state, there is a strong local and regional interest in new financial mechanisms designed to upscale residential retrofits across the country. In the Netherlands, asset-based financial instruments are currently being discussed at the national level, which opens a window of opportunity for EuroPACE to be tested in the country. As for Italy, although the property-taxation system is far from stable, potential synergies with successful programmes like Ecobonus or Sismabonus should be explored. In Poland, nearly 70% of the 6-million residential buildings need significant energy efficiency overhaul; these buildings contribute to some of the worst air quality across the EU leading to approximately 47 thousand premature deaths annually. Portugal, given its Mediterranean climate, proves a great potential not only for EE, but also prosumer RES development, given that current incentives are far from sufficient. Romania has been chosen mainly because of its highest home-ownership rate across the EU and the most institutionalised property-related taxation, possibly setting a stable base for EuroPACE being collected alongside existing charges.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Fiscal Policy, and Innovation
Political Geography:
Europe, Poland, Belgium, Romania, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Austria, and European Union

4. EU28 legal and fiscal readiness for the adoption of an on-tax financing mechanism - EuroPACE

Author:
Izabela Styczynska and Karolina Zubel
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
EuroPACE is an innovative financial mechanism inspired by an American building improvement initiative called Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE). The innovative character of the EuroPACE mechanism is that financing through EuroPACE is linked to the taxes paid on a property. In other words, the financing lent by a private investor is repaid through property taxes and other charges related to the buildings. EuroPACE is therefore in line with the EC’s objectives of (1) putting EE first, (2) contributing to the EU’s global leadership, and (3) empowering consumers to enable MS to reach their energy and climate targets for 2030. Last but not least, EuroPACE could contribute to the democratisation of the energy supply by offering cash-flow positive, decentralised EE solutions. The EuroPACE mechanism engages several stakeholders in the process: local government, investors, equipment installers, and homeowners. To establish the EuroPACE programme, several conditions must be satisfied, each of which are relevant for different stakeholder at different stages of the implementation. For the purpose of this report, we divided these criteria into two categories: key criteria, which make the implementation possible, and complementary criteria, which make the implementation easier. For the time being, it is a pure hypothesis to be tested with potential EuroPACE implementation. One ought to remember that residential on-tax financing is a concept in its infancy in the EU. Therefore, the methodology to evaluate the readiness of a country to implement on-tax financing is complex and consists of six stages:Identification of fiscal and regulatory conditions; Data collection; Weighting; Grading; Country SWOT analysis; Qualitative assessment.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Economy, Tax Systems, and Innovation
Political Geography:
Europe, Poland, and European Union

5. Study and Reports on the VAT Gap in the EU-28 Member States: 2016 Final Report

Author:
Grzegorz Poniatowski, Mikhail Bonch-Osmolovsky, and Misha V. Belkindas
Publication Date:
09-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
The analysis serves as the Final Report for the DG TAXUD Project 2015/CC/131, “Study and Reports on the VAT Gap in the EU-28 Member States”, which is a follow up to the reports published in 2013, 2014, and 2015. In this report, estimates of the VAT Gap and the Policy Gap for the year 2014 are presented, as well as revised estimates for the years 2010–2013 “due to the transmission” of Eurostat national accounts from the ESA95 to the ESA10. This update covers Croatia, which was not included in the previous updates. While it was hoped that the update would also cover Cyprus, it has not been possible due to incomplete national accounts data. The VAT Gap is a measure of VAT compliance and enforcement that provides an estimate of revenue loss due to fraud and evasion, tax avoidance, bankruptcies, financial insolvencies, as well as miscalculations. It is defined as the difference between the amount of VAT collected and the VAT Total Tax Liability (VTTL), which is expressed in the report in bothabsolute and relative terms. The VTTL is the theoretical tax liability according to tax law, and is estimated using a “top-down” approach.
Topic:
Economic Growth, Tax Systems, Macroeconomics, Fiscal Policy, Innovation, VAT, and Trade
Political Geography:
Europe, Poland, Croatia, and European Union

6. The impact of pension system reform on projected old-age income: the case of Poland

Author:
Elena Jarocinska and Anna Ruzik-Sierdzińska
Publication Date:
05-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
This paper analyses the distributional effects of the Polish old-age pension reform introduced in 1999. Following a benchmark Mincer earnings equation, and using a newly developed microsimulation model we project future pension benefits for males born in years 1969–1979. We find that inequality of predicted first pension benefits measured by the Gini coefficient increases from 0.119 to 0.165 for cohorts of men retiring between 2036 and 2046. The observed increased inequality of pension benefits is due to the decreasing share of initial capital that is based on a more generous DB formula in the total accumulated pension capital. At the same time, inequality in replacements rates decreases due to a stronger link between contributions paid through the entire working life and pension benefits.
Topic:
Demographics, Economics, Labor Issues, Inequality, Social Policy, Public Policy, Innovation, and Aging
Political Geography:
Europe, Poland, and European Union

7. The condition of and prospects for the private equity funds market in Poland

Author:
Barbara Nowakowska, Piotr Noceń, Michał Surowski, and Michał Popiołek
Publication Date:
02-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
In the publication, Barabara Nowakowska and Piotr Noceń discuss 'Poland’s Private Equity Market: Current Conditions and Development Prospects', and Michał Surowski and Michał Popiołek describe 'Private Equity From a Bank’s Perspective'.
Topic:
Development, Markets, Financial Markets, Economic Growth, Banks, Innovation, and Trade
Political Geography:
Europe, Poland, and European Union

8. The impact of living and working longer on pension income in five European countries: Estonia, Finland, Hungary, the Netherlands and Poland

Author:
Andres Võrk, Anna Ruzik-Sierdzińska, Elena Jarocinska, Niku Määttänen, Robert Gál, and Theo Nijman
Publication Date:
05-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
Life expectancies are rapidly increasing and uncertain in all countries in Europe. To keep pension systems affordable, policy reforms are to be implemented which will encourage individuals to work longer. In this paper we analyze the impact of working and living longer on pension incomes in five European countries and assess the impact of these policy reforms on the financial well-being of the elderly. The paper shows the diversity of the policy measures taken in these countries. Furthermore, we analyze the financial incentives for working longer and postponing claiming pension benefits and we assess the attractiveness of these options. Lastly, we study how increases in life expectancies and survival probabilities affect pension incomes.
Topic:
Demographics, Labor Issues, Social Policy, Labor Policies, Public Policy, Innovation, and Aging
Political Geography:
Europe, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Hungary, Netherlands, and European Union

9. Post-privatisation Corporate Performance in Poland. Evidence from Companies Privatized in 2008-2011

Author:
Barbara Błaszczyk and Wiktor Patena
Publication Date:
11-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
The study concerns the effects of Polish privatisation program conducted in the years 2008-2011. After drawing a broad picture of this process we investigate the performance of 59 privatised companies, and finally focus on a deeper analysis of three companies, which is the core part of our study. We test the hypotheses that privatisation increases a company's profitability, labour productivity, capital investment spending, plow-back ratio and leverage. In case studies, we additionally explore the effect of privatization on each company’s value. The outcomes concerning the larger group of companies are partly ambiguous (with four hypotheses confirmed and four rejected). Profitability has been not visibly improved, although a number of positive initiatives and improvements in performance occurred. By contrast, the three case studies showed a significant improvement of profitability and all other performance indicators observed, as well as a considerable increase of company value. Our results show that privatisation works, though its full effects need time to occur.
Topic:
Privatization, Financial Markets, Economy, Economic Growth, State, Innovation, and Trade
Political Geography:
Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, Eastern Europe, and Poland

10. Innovation and the Growth of Service Firms: The Polish Case

Author:
Krzysztof Szczygielski, Richard Woodward, and Wojciech Grabowski
Publication Date:
05-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
Differences in the growth of firms remain a major topic in economics and strategy research. In this paper we investigated the link between innovation performance and employment growth. First we discuss the problem from the theoretical point of view and then we analyze the relationship between innovation performance and the dynamics of employment in the Polish service firms in 2004-2009. Firms that introduced new services or marketing techniques experienced stronger growth. Process innovations contributed to employment reduction. Tellingly, this effect could only be observed in 2008-2009, a subperiod which saw the lowest levels of aggregate demand. This conclusion yields support to the presumption formulated by Pianta (2005) that the impact of innovation on employment growth depends on the macroeconomic situation.
Topic:
Development, Economy, Macroeconomics, Innovation, and Private Sector
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

11. External vs Internal Determinants of Firm Technology Strategy: Evidence from the Polish Services Sector

Author:
Krzysztof Szczygielski, Richard Woodward, and Wojciech Grabowski
Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
The authors use the insights from strategy research and innovation studies to address two principal questions regarding the technology strategy of a firm: what are the distinct elements of technology strategy and what are the strategy determinants? Equipped with Zahra’s (1996) concept of measuring technology strategy, we analyze data from two runs of the Community Innovation Survey for Polish service firms. They propose a set of indicators reflecting four principal fields of technology strategy: pioneer-posture, R&D efforts, technology portfolio, and monitoring activities. Interactions between the strategic variables are analyzed and their determinants are assessed. The results suggest that technology strategies are determined by both factors external to the firm, and by the hitherto less stressed in the CIS-based empirical literature, internal factors. The role of internal factors increases with the macroeconomic environment becoming less favourable.
Topic:
Development, Science and Technology, Innovation, and Private Sector
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

12. Does Government Support for Private Innovation Matter? Firm-Level Evidence from Turkey and Poland

Author:
Krzysztof Szczygielski, M. Teoman Pamukcu, Sinan Tandogan, and Wojciech Grabowski
Publication Date:
08-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
The aim of the project is to analyze government support for innovation in a comparative perspective by first examining the main existing instruments of financial support for innovation in Turkey and Poland, and secondly to assess their effectiveness by applying recent econometric techniques to firm-level data for both countries obtained from the Community Innovation Survey (CIS). Comparing Turkey to Poland is both meaningful and promising from a policy-analysis point of view. Both countries are comparable in terms of levels of economic development and technological capabilities, i.e. the ability of their economies to create knowledge and exploit it commercially. Both have undergone deep market-oriented reforms in the last decades – Turkey since 1980, Poland since 1989 – resulting in a significant catching-up of their economies. However, as the possibilities for further growth based on structural change and eliminating obstacles to business.
Topic:
Economics, Government, Markets, and Innovation
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Poland, and Mediterranean

13. Does Government Support for Private Innovation Matter? Firm Level Evidence from Turkey and Poland

Author:
Krzysztof Szczygielski, M. Teoman Pamukcu, Sinan Tandogan, and Wojciech Grabowski
Publication Date:
08-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
Mediterranean and EU member countries consider enhancing innovation and R&D an important policy objective. In order to improve economic competitiveness and increase their citizens’ welfare, these countries have been formulating and implementing innovation policies. In recent years, the volume of resources allocated to such policies has considerably increased and the number of instruments used in this framework has widened. Nevertheless, a relatively limited number of studies have been conducted to assess the effectiveness of innovation policies in these countries and formulate proposals for those aspects of policies that are in contradiction with the aims.
Topic:
Government, Economy, Social Policy, and Innovation
Political Geography:
Europe, Central Asia, Turkey, Poland, Mediterranean, and European Union

14. Innovation Systems and Knowledge-Intensive Enterpreneurship: a Country Case Study of Poland

Author:
Elzbieta Wojnicka, Richard Woodward, and Wojciech Pander
Publication Date:
10-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
This study surveys the current state of affairs in Poland with regard to the development of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship (KIE), or new firm creation in industries considered to be science-based or to use research and development (R&D) intensively. We place KIE in Poland in the larger institutional context, outlining the key features of the country’s National Innovation System, and then focus on KIE itself. Our findings are perhaps more optimistic than many previous studies of knowledge-based economy development in Poland. We observe significant progress due to Polish access to the European Union. The frequency with which universities are playing a significant role as partners for firms in the innovation process has increased significantly; moreover, we observe a significant degree of internationalization of innovation-related cooperation. Another optimistic development is that the level of activity of venture capitalists seems to be fairly high in Poland considering the relatively low degree of development of capital markets offering VC investors exit opportunities. Moreover, after almost two decades of decline in the share of R&D spending in GDP, there are signs that this is beginning to rise, and that businesses are beginning to spend more on R&D. While demand-side problems continue to be significant barriers for the development of KIE, due to the relatively low level of education and GDP per capita in the country, the trends here are optimistic, with high rates of economic growth and improvements in the level of education of younger generations. Significant improvement is still needed in the area of intellectual property protection.
Topic:
Development, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Knowledge Economy
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

15. Innovation Strategies and Productivity in the Polish Services Sector in the light of CIS 2008

Author:
Krzysztof Szczygielski and Wojciech Grabowski
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
Industry - and firm-level research into both innovations and productivity has long been limited to manufacturing. With this paper, we aim to contribute to the stream of literature that aims at extending the scope of such investigations to the services industry. To this end we analyze the innovation strategies in several service sectors in Poland in 2008 and examine their relationship to productivity. Our results show that service firms differ considerably in their innovation strategies, but that most of those strategies lead to productivity gains.
Topic:
Development, Innovation, Private Sector, and Knowledge Economy
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland