This article analyses budgetary expenditures on agriculture and rural development in Poland in 2004–2025, i.e., after Poland’s accession to the European Union (EU). The study examines the size, real dynamics, and structure of total agricultural budget expenditures, including both national budgetary funds and EU funds allocated through the instruments of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The analysis assesses the importance of EU budget funds for the level and structure of public expenditures on agriculture and rural development in Poland and attempts to determine the relationship between national and EU funds. The study employed time series analysis, structural analysis, and an analysis of the interdependence of variables (i.e., correlation and multiple regression). It was found that during the 22 years of EU membership, budgetary expenditures on agriculture, agricultural markets, and rural development in Poland were strongly determined by the volume of European funds, which accounted for the sharp increase in Poland’s agricultural budget compared with the pre-accession period. Compared with 2003 levels, expenditure rose by an average of 162% in nominal terms and 129% in real terms. EU funds also acted as a stabilising factor for the size of this budget throughout the analysed period. The proportion of European funds in Poland’s agricultural budget (PAB) rose sharply in the early years of Poland’s EU membership (2004–2011), increasing from 20.1% to 48.7%. However, it remained relatively stable in subsequent years, averaging 47.8%. Nevertheless, the appreciation of the Polish zloty against the euro caused the real value of these expenditures to decline, a trend that became apparent from 2017 onwards. This resulted in the need to increase expenditures from the national budget and led to national funds assuming a greater share of the financial burden of supporting agriculture. Between 2017 and 2025, the share of EU funds in the PAB fell from 43% to 33.1% (averaging 40.3%). The structure of expenditures within the CAP evolved over time as a result of changes in CAP priorities, although farmers’ income support as well as assistance for the modernization and improvement of the competitiveness of Polish agriculture remained key objectives.

The purpose of this article was to examine the level and variability of budgetary expenditures directed to the Agricultural Social Insurance Fund (ASIF) in Poland in the form of subsidies to the Farmers’ Pension Fund in the period 2004–2024, i.e., after Poland’s accession to the European Union (EU). The aim of the study was also to determine the share of subsidies to the farmers’ social insurance fund in the total expenditures of the Polish agricultural budget, as well as the relationship of ASIF expenditures to state budget expenditures and GDP dynamics. The authors attempted to estimate the trend function for these time series and the degree of fit of the equations describing them. The formation of the nominal and real level of budget expenditures on the ASIF in 2004–2024 was evaluated. It was assumed that spending on the ASIF is an element of agricultural policy, realising its redistributive and social objectives, but indirectly also pro-development objectives by supporting generational change in agriculture. The research showed that the real level of spending on ASIF declined during Poland’s EU membership, as did the share of this spending in the total agricultural budget. The subsidy to the social security system also did not follow the changes in GDP and state budget expenditure proportionally, showing much less dynamism over the period studied. This means that budget support for farmers’ social security is losing its importance as an instrument of agricultural policy. It has been shown that the economic and social components of agricultural expenditure have not grown in harmony. The changes in the level of spending on the ASIF in the period 2004–2024 were also analysed in relation to demographic changes, i.e., the number of farmers insured in the ASIF and recipients of agricultural pensions. It has been shown that, despite a significant decrease in the number of farmers receiving pensions from the ASIF, there remains a large disparity between the average pension benefits of farmers and those of the general social insurance system (Social Insurance Institution—SII). The reduction in this disparity is not served by a real reduction in subsidies to the ASIF.

This article attempts to summarize the life and academic journey of a forgotten historian of the Łódź Ghetto. Drawing on preserved archival documentation, the author reconstructs the most important stages in Henryk Rubin’s biography, focusing in particular on the controversy surrounding the (non-)awarding of his doctoral degree for his groundbreaking dissertation on the history of the Holocaust of the Łódź Ghetto during World War II, in which he sought to revise the negative image of Chaim Mordechai Rumkowski.

This article analyzes changes in fiscal policy in agriculture in Poland from 2004 to 2024, as captured through the prism of budget expenditures on agriculture. The analysis focused on the volume, dynamics, and structure of total agricultural budget expenditures, including national budget funds and EU funds allocated to the European budget. It was found that during the two decades of Poland’s membership in the European Union, agricultural budget expenditures were strongly influenced by the volume of European funds allocated to agriculture and rural development under the instruments of the Common Agricultural Policy. Changes in agricultural budget expenditures, were mainly due to the adjustment of the national fiscal policy towards agriculture to the structural changes taking place in the agricultural sector. They also resulted from specific state fiscal interventions aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of destabilizing agricultural markets and crises caused by natural-climatic and geopolitical factors. Poland’s agricultural budget expenditures were subject to both evolutionary changes resulting from modifications to agricultural policy, as well as changes in the government’s response to the current challenges and problems of the agricultural sector and the agricultural market.

The purpose of the article was to indicate the directions of changes that occurred in the expenditures of the Polish agricultural budget in 2010-2023 in quantitative terms. The period adopted for analysis is interesting in that it covers successive coalition governments in Poland. The subject of the study was budget expenditures on agriculture in Poland, broken down into expenditures from the national budget (excluding the Agricultural Social Insurance Fund – ASIF, and with it) and the Budget of European Measures (BEE), taking into account Poland’s total budget expenditures, as well as GDP. The source of empirical materials was data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. An analysis of the structure and dynamics of nominal volumes, as well as those adjusted for inflation (CPI, constant prices of 2023), was applied. The research shows that during the period under analysis, there was a relatively persistent trend of real decrease in the level of total agricultural budget expenditures. The reduction in these expenditures concerned both the volume of domestic and EU funds. The relationship of the agricultural budget to the total budget and GDP also deteriorated significantly. This proves the declining importance of agriculture in the hierarchy of state budget expenditures in the long term and that the agricultural sector in Poland does not benefit proportionally from the effects of GDP growth. These unfavorable trends for agriculture have been somewhat halted in the last two years. If it were not for the financial support from the WBE (which, unfortunately, is also declining), sectoral disparities in the distribution of funds from national income would have grown even more pronounced. The rank of real expenditures on ASIF in the state budget expenditures is also successively decreasing.

This article contains a theoretical proposal for classifying the agrarian economic theory as a separate school of heterodox economic thought, encompassing more than a dozen research streams. In this sense, it fills a gap in the general economic theory, in which, so far, the agrarian economic thought is not considered a separate school of economics. The study proves that for the development of agrarian economics, it is not necessary to adopt the monistic, reductive, and consolidative approach that characterises mainstream economics. We treat agricultural economics as a pluralistic science, taking into account different viewpoints and research paradigms of development, from industrial to sustainable. Raising the need to integrate agrarian thought, the study points to the designations of the substantive distinctiveness of agricultural economics, including the immobility of the land factor, the price and income specificity of food demand, and the compulsion to consume food. The considerations are supplemented by a conceptualisation of the studied issue concerning the situation in Poland, presented in the form of a case study.

Aim: The paper evaluates Poland’s budget policy towards agriculture through the prism of agricultural budget expenditure under the conditions of Poland’s membership in the European Union (EU). The volume and real dynamics of agricultural budget expenditure in relation to state budget expenditure were analyzed. An answer was sought to the question of whether the active or passive nature of budget policy toward agriculture is consist­ent with the state fiscal policy option (expansive or restrictive). Methods: The relatively long period of analysis (covering 19 years, 2004–2022) allows us to see trends in the formation of the level and structure of agricultural budget expenditure and state budget expenditure, as well as to determine their mutual relations. Simple statisti­cal methods – structure and dynamic analysis – were used. Results: It is shown that the budget policy towards agriculture is characterized by a peculiar difference and independence from the state fiscal policy, which is mainly due to the great importance of the funds of the Common Agricultural Policy for the level and structure of agricultural budget expenditure. Conclusions: It was found that the level of support for agriculture in Poland from public funds (domestic and EU) in 2004–2022 was not directly dependent on the state budget situation. During the period, there were numerous changes in the state’s fiscal policy options and changes in the budget policy options towards agriculture, with these changes going in different directions quite often.

Lucjan Dobroszycki (1925–1995) – a Forgotten Historian (Not Only) of the HolocaustThe article aims to sketch the biography of a person who significantly contributed to the development of research on the history of the occupation in Poland, including the Holocaust, and who is wrongly marginalized in the Polish reflection on the evolution of this discipline. The text is based on the analysis of broadly understood historiographic sources. I focus primarily on the following problems: Dobroszycki’s intellectual biography; theoretical frameworks of his scientific work; his input to research on World War II and the Holocaust; last but not least Dobroszycki’s role in Polish-Jewish scientific dialogue.

The article analyses the dynamics and structure of agricultural expenditure in Polish state budgets in 1995-2020, which is the basis for considerations on the relationship between budget expenditure on agriculture and the dynamics of GDP and the dynamics of the state budget. The analysis concerned both nominal values and values adjusted by the CPI inflation index. In the pre-accession period (1995-2003) real spending on agriculture, excluding subsidies to ASIF, showed a downward trend. The situation changed after Poland's accession to the European Union. In 2004-2009, there was a rapid increase in the total agricultural budget (including national and EU funds) and a change in its structure towards pro-development goals. At the same time, agricultural budget expenditure became largely dependent on European funds. Since 2009, a stabilisation of real spending on agriculture can be observed, and between 2015 and 2019 even a slight downward trend, with a renewed increase in redistributive objectives in the spending on agriculture and rural areas. The Polish agriculture benefited unevenly from the effects of economic growth recorded between 1995 and 2020. However, taking into account only development expenditure on agriculture (excluding social expenditure, or ASIF), above-average benefits of the analysed sector are observed. Moreover, the average growth rate of total agricultural budget expenditure (including domestic and EU funds), was slightly higher than the growth rate of state budget expenditure.

Celem artykułu było określenie poziomu wydatków budżetu rolnego Polski oraz wydatków na Kasę Rolniczego Ubezpieczenia Społecznego (KRUS) z uwzględnieniem udziału krajowego budżetu rolnego oraz budżetu środków europejskich (BŚE) w długim okresie (25 lat). Autorzy podjęli próbę oszacowania funkcji trendu dla tych szeregów czasowych oraz stopnia dopasowania opisujących je równań. Pozwoliło to ocenić udziały wydatków na KRUS w krajowym budżecie rolnym oraz w ogólnym budżecie rolnym (tj. środki krajowe oraz europejskie). Kolejnym krokiem było odniesienie obu budżetów rolnych (krajowego i powiększonego o środki europejskie) do udziału w dochodzie narodowym (PKB) oraz budżecie państwa. Zabiegi te pozwoliły wskazać, jak w długim okresie zmieniła się pozycja KRUS w wydatkach budżetowych w formule udziałowej i w relacji do dochodu narodowego oraz wydatków ogólnego budżetu rolnego. Pozwoliły również stwierdzić, czy zmiany w udziałach wydatków w budżecie rolnym ogółem i krajowym podążały proporcjonalnie za zmianami PKB i wydatkami ogólnego budżetu państwa. Starano się także dociec, czy rolnictwo w Polsce, w tym KRUS, korzystało za pośrednictwem wydatków budżetowych i w sposób zrównoważony z owoców wzrostu gospodarczego kraju. We wnioskach stwierdzono, że przed integracją Polski z Unią Europejską (UE), tj. do 2004 roku rolnictwo nie było w jakimkolwiek stopniu preferowane, a wydatki budżetowe kształtowały się realnie na stabilnym, ale bardzo niskim poziomie, niepozwalającym na jego restrukturyzację. Po 2004 roku, tj. po integracji z UE, sytuacja uległa zmianie ilościowej i jakościowej, a wydatki na rolnictwo, rozwój wsi i rynki rolne realnie wzrosły, stabilizując się na około 2,5-krotnie wyższym poziomie, aniżeli w okresie przedakcesyjnym. Zauważono, że przed integracją cele prorozwojowe były wyraźnie niedowartościowane w budżetach rolnych, m.in. ze względu na wysoką konkurencyjność celu socjalnego w postaci wydatków na KRUS. Po 2004 roku początkowo zahamowano tendencję do socjalizacji wydatków w krajowym budżecie rolnym na rzecz wzrostu wydatków modernizacyjnych, głównie ze środków UE. W następnych latach nastąpiła stabilizacja tego trendu. Udział wydatków na KRUS w ogóle wydatków budżetowych państwa zmniejszył się o blisko połowę w okresie 2003–2020 (18 lat). Niemniej w ostatnich latach 2016–2020 socjalizacja krajowego budżetu rolnego przyspieszyła, a udział KRUS w nim wzrasta. Słowa kluczowe: budżet państwa, budżet rolny, interwencja państwa, PKB, wydatki na KRUS.

Celem przeprowadzonych analiz było wskazanie na zmianyilościowe i jakościowe, jakie zaszły w wydatkach zapisanych w ustawiebudżetowej na 2017 rok w działach dotyczących rolnictwa, rozwoju wsi,rynków rolnych w aspekcie trzech agencji interwencyjnych w sektorzerolnym – Agencji Nieruchomości Rolnych, Agencji Rynku Rolnego orazAgencji Restrukturyzacji i Modernizacji Rolnictwa w stosunku dopoprzedniego roku. Porównanie takowe jest o tyle zasadne, że po szeregu latprowadzenia względnie konsekwentnej krajowej polityki rolnej zauważalnejest odmienne podejście ustawodawcy do finansowania wielu obszarówsektora rolnego. W artykule podjęto próbę oceny zmian stopniazanieczyszczenie środowiska na poziomie województw w latach 2004-2014.Ocenę tą przeprowadzono przy pomocy budowy rankingów województw.Rankingi te utworzono na podstawie zmiennych syntetycznych powstałychw wyniku normalizacji zmiennych metodą unitaryzacji zerowanej orazprzekształcenia ilorazowego. Zwrócono również uwagę na problemobserwacji odstających. Okazuje się, że w zależności od podejścia do tegoproblemu, można uzyskać znacząco rózniące się wyniki dotyczącegrupowania wojwództw w klasy

Wokół strategii rozwoju rolnictwa w Polsce (na marginesie książki

W artykule podjęto próbę identyfikacji zależności między wydatkami budżetowymi na rolnictwo a dynamiką PKB i budżetu państwa w latach 1995–2020. Celem badań było także wskazanie determinant dynamiki wydatków budżetowych na rolnictwo, zarówno endo-, jak i egzogenicznych, biorąc również pod uwagę ich oddziaływanie odroczone w czasie. Źródłem materiałów empirycznych na temat wydatków budżetu rolnego Polski były przede wszystkim dane Ministerstwa Rolnictwa i Rozwoju Wsi. Dane wykorzystane w analizach zostały wystandaryzowane i urealnione, ponadto posłużono się addytywnym modelem tendencji rozwojowej oraz funkcją regresji wielorakiej. Wyniki badań wskazują, że budżet rolny był dodatnio powiązany z dynamiką PKB i dynamiką wydatków budżetu państwa. W całym badanym okresie, poza latami 2004–2008, wydatki budżetu rolnego rosły jednak wolniej od PKB. Wzrost budżetu rolnego był przede wszystkim uzależniony od wzrostu wydatków budżetu państwa oraz poziomu środków europejskich kierowanych do tego sektora w ramach instrumentów Wspólnej Polityki Rolnej. Wykazano ponadto, że koniunktura w rolnictwie mierzona indeksem nożyc cen oraz zmiany poziomu i struktury dochodów gospodarstw domowych rolników wpływały częściowo na wydatki budżetu rolnego Polski, ale z rocznym opóźnieniem.

In the article was analyzed the structure and dynamics of budget expenditure on agriculture in Poland in 2015-2022. It was the basis for considering the relationship between agricultural budget expenditure and the dynamics of GDP and the dynamics of the state budget. The source of empirical materials was the data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Both nominal and CPI-adjusted values were analyzed. It has been shown that in 2015-2022, the real decline in the level of expenditure in the total agricultural budget, i.e. including national and EU funds, continued to decline. There was also a decline in the relation of the agricultural budget to GDP. The share of agricultural expenditures in the state budget expenditures also gradually decreased, which proves the diminishing importance of agriculture in the hierarchy of state budget expenditures in the long run. These negative trends for agriculture slowed down somewhat in 2020-2022, and especially in 2022. The increase in spending on agriculture in these years was mainly dictated by the need to support this sector and protect agricultural producers from the negative effects of climate disasters, infectious diseases and rising inflation. As a result, the structure of budgetary expenditure on agriculture has also changed, with expenditure related to the stabilization of agricultural markets, farmers’ incomes and risk reduction in agriculture gaining importance.

The aim of this study is to identify the correlation between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, added value from agriculture and economic growth in the Visegrad Group countries. Four countries of Central Europe were studied the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia in 2008–2019. Due to the objectives of the article, it was decided to use the panel model. The temporal scope of the research covers the years 2008–2019, i.e., two economic periods: 2008–2014 (a downward trend, including agriculture), and 2015–2019 (an upward trend). Greenhouse gas emissions are positively correlated with value added from agriculture and economic growth. The increase in the level of these variables stimulates of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the countries of the Visegrad Group. The analysis of the eco-efficiency of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture, in relation to the gross added value produced, shows that the country with the least pollution of this value was Hungary, followed by Slovakia. The Czech Republic was third, and Poland was the last. The results of the research can be treated as a premise for a strategy for the development of agriculture, limiting the negative effects of its industrial development for more sustainable development.

Kwartalnik Historii Nauki i Techniki » 2022 » Issue 1 » Słowo od redaktorów A A A

Rural areas are where many environmental and cultural public goods occur, creating a country landscape. Their agro-ecological infrastructure delivers things people directly value, such as food, fibre and energy, but the market fails when it comes to the valuation of public goods. For this purpose, indirect valuation methods are used, but these encounter many methodological problems. The aim of this study is to create a conceptual framework for the economic rent valuation (ERV) method, which estimates the economic rent resulting from the random endogenous influences of public goods on production factors in rural areas. The ERV method attempts to reduce the biases of the market-based and contingent valuation methods that result from the model misspecification and unrevealed preferences, and advocates for adoption of the variance component model. The article also presents an illustrative application of ERV based on the case of the West Pomeranian region of Poland, which reveals the potential advantages of ERV.

The article aims to critically reflect on the latest projects commemorating the tragic history of the so-called Youth Camp for Polish children, organized by the Germans during World War II in occupied Łódź. The proposed analysis focuses on two main research problems. The first one is the issue of the history of the camp being entangled in current political climate of Poland, both during the communist regime and after the political transformation of 1989. The second problem is the tension between the communicative memory of the camp victims and the needs of mnemonic actors who shape the social image of Polenjugendverwahrlager in Litzmannstadt (PJVL). The author is interested in finding an answer to the question of to what extent Polish collective memory can absorb the full spectrum of experiences of young victims of the PJVL.

The aim of this article is to indicate the rationale for the development of the bioeconomy in selected EU countries depending on their overall level of economic development. The research was based on four highly developed countries, i.e., Germany, France, Finland and Denmark, and four medium-developed countries, i.e., Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovakia for the period 2001–2018. Renewable energy consumption, biomass and agricultural production were analysed as determinants of the bioeconomy development. The question was also answered whether differences in terms of measures determining the level of bioeconomy development between countries with different levels of economic development during the studied period are decreasing or increasing, using sigma (σ)-convergence coefficients. It is shown that the development of the bioeconomy of the studied countries is related to their level of economic development. In the middle economically developed countries, real opportunities for the development of the bioeconomy are noted, through a high share of agriculture in national income; and in highly developed countries—high spending on research and development and the growth of eco-innovation, which contributes to maintaining a development advantage between these groups of countries.