This study addresses the challenges of measuring technical efficiency and productivity in the performing arts sector during the post-pandemic recovery period (2022–2023). Utilizing a non-radial Data Envelopment Analysis and the Global Malmquist Index, the research evaluates how human resource allocation influences performance, using 21 Polish philharmonic institutions as an empirical context. The results reveal significant performance variations and relatively low sector-wide efficiency. Notably, philharmonics supervised by regional authorities demonstrated higher efficiency and productivity compared to those under municipal governance. Furthermore, productivity growth was driven primarily by sector-wide technological progress rather than improvements in individual unit efficiency. The study identifies employment as a crucial factor, though its impact is mediated by operational scale. These findings provide broader methodological and practical insights for cultural economics and public policy, particularly regarding staffing optimization in post-crisis contexts, while filling a significant gap in the performing arts efficiency literature.

The new reality has led us to investigate the changes in productivity in public cultural institutions. The research describes the pandemic period in the theatre sector. We are investigating whether productivity changes occurred and which indicator affected them. We hypothesize that the productivity index in 2020 was most dependent on the technological change. We use the Malmiqusit index to show changes in productivity between 2011–2020. Our results seem to fully reflect the pandemic reality when the technological factor was of crucial importance. However, we would like to point out that technological growth alone does not bring satisfactory results in terms of productivity growth. Properly coordinated actions are also necessary for the broadly understood activities of the theatre. Depending on the organization, the impact of digital technologies may differ. The use of technology alone is not sufficient to achieve an increase in the productivity of the organization.

Motivation: Previous research regarding the external conditions of public cultural institutions inspired us to analyse the internal conditions of individual institutions. Aim: The purpose of the current study is to answer the question of whether and how the internal regulations pertaining to theatres based on financial, organisational, and creative autonomy affect the financial and substantive performance of public cultural institutions. In order to achieve the aim of the study and answer the research question, we analysed cultural institutions in terms of their system. Additionally, the financial and substantive situation of the studied theatres was analysed. Results: The lack of clear process and entity requirements affects the dependence of the performance of public cultural institutions on individual, internal organisational arrangements, suggesting the need to unify these processes through a reform of these institutions. Attention should be paid to the transparency of public spending, organizational culture and effectiveness of public cultural institutions. In the current legal status, the conducted showed a large discrepancy in the results of the theatres studied.

Research on the efficiency of public spending on the education sector hardly addresses the territorial distribution of educational attainment. This paper tries to fill in the gap by verifying whether the analysis of spatial differentiation of educational attainment could provide crucial information on the financial policy in this sphere and assess the impact of the socio-economic factors upon the education level evaluated through school tests. Our article aims to identify the relationship between spending on public education and the degree of educational attainment and inter-regional inequality in Poland. The research results showed that the spatial approach should not be ignored when assessing the relationship between public education expenditure and the degree of educational achievement. We note that the applied public financing of second-level education in Poland does not reduce regional disparities in education but maintains them at a constant level.

Purpose – The article’s aim is to identify the differences in the passing of the matura exams in towns and villages of individual provinces, as well as the differences in the educational productivity of general secondary schools and vocational schools. Research method – Using econometric techniques, the variables of the quality of education were assessed in the years 2011–2018. To measure the change in productivity over time and the impact of resources on secondary education in Poland, the Malmquist Total Productivity Index was calculated along with its decomposition. Results – The presented research shows that the analysis of the spatial differentiation of educational achievements can provide important information about the functioning of education, as well as about the connection of education with other cultural processes and socio-economic development. It also indicates the important role of technology in rural education. The influence of technological systems is especially visible in vocational schools in rural areas, where the productivity of education is the highest. Technology played a slightly less important role in high schools in urban areas. Originality /value / implications /recommendations – The results of the research can be helpful as regards the challenge faced by educators of rural areas.

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments worldwide established various mechanisms to facilitate the pandemic response and ensure the state’s functioning. As a consequence, the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis varies in countries, depending on the region. We are looking for answers to research questions: how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the finances of local government institutions in 2020–2021; Is it possible to distinguish the types of units where this impact was greater or smaller, and whether and how the pandemic-related legislation influenced the fiscal relations between the state and local government, especially in the context of the local government institutions’ financial independence. We have noticed that financial solutions dedicated to local government units, as well as making local government fiscal rules more flexible, allowed to maintain the potential of the local economic base. They also had a diversified impact on the Polish local government institutions’ income level.

Social inequalities are a significant challenge in developing countries. Therefore, they should be treated as a leading priority in boosting socio-economic development. Such inequalities are a growing challenge for Poland. It is believed that social inequalities are behind Poland's relatively low position against other European countries in the Human Development Index ranking. Many factors influence social inequalities, one being the system of financing local government units. A critical area for considering social inequalities in the context of financial phenomena is the study of fiscal inequalities resulting from the implemented vertical division of public revenues among individual levels of public authority. The paper presents the results of research on the relationship between the fiscal capacity of local government units in Poland across voivodeships and the expenditure of government institutions, as well as the relationship of these expenses with social inequalities in voivodeships. To this end, six areas of social life were distinguished, for which the degree of inequality of transferred expenditure was determined using the Gini index. The method of the total order of objects was used to assess the impact of government institutions' expenditure on an individual's social situation across voivodeships. The conducted research showed both the weak dependence of government expenditure on individual units' fiscal capacity and its low effectiveness in eliminating inter-voivodeship social inequalities.

Institutions (theatres) evaluated in this paper are mediators of an unrepeatable interpretive art and they need funds from public resources of different government levels to ensure their activities. The aim of the present paper is to evaluate the efficiency of theatre management of 93 evaluated public theatres in the Czech Republic and Poland through 11 indicators. The evaluated weights of chosen indicators were determined by the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), in combination with the chosen objective method for determining the importance of indicators. From the results it is evident that big multi-genre theatres producing more genres of interpretive art (drama, opera, ballet, musical) with a bigger number of employees had the worst results in both states.

Motivation: The study of the problem of “cost disease” contributes to the possibility of creating a model for effective subsidy to cultural institutions operating in the field of performing arts from public funds. The study also forms a part of a broader reflection on the values of culture, the humanism of culture and the economy in general. Aim: This article is to examine the connection between productivity and labor costs in public theatres in Poland. We investigate what the level of productivity depends on. We check whether it is based on costs or the so-called income gap or another factor. We verify whether costs in PAOs in Poland increase according to the theory of Baumol’s cost disease and whether labor costs are particularly significant in total costs. Results: Labor costs should be taken into account when subsidizing performing art organizations, as productivity growth depends on having funds to cover labor costs and increasing employment.

Purpose: Our article aims to analyze the changes in the productivity of cultural institutions during the Covid -2019 pandemic.We studied how much productivity has changed and saw which indicator was targeting the influx.The number of visitors in the theatre in a given year is taken as productivity.The research period is the years 2016-2020.We hypothesize that the productivity index in 2020 depended on most on the technology change.Design/Methodology/Approach: The proper study was focused on Polish Public Theatres.The verification of the assumptions was conducted through the Malmquist index -Total Factor Productivity.Findings: As a result of the research, it was found that the hypothesis was positively verified.The value of the Malmiqusita index shows significant changes in productivity between 2020-2019 and 2019-2016.In particular, the considerable increase of the technological progress index is worth noting.In 2020-2019, the annual change regarding this index was as high as 1208.8%,while the technical efficiency decreased to 13.9% and TFP was 168.2% -the highest level over the whole period considered.Practical implications: We noticed that for individual theaters, the productivity results were different.It means that not all of the theatres studied coped with the new conditions.Depending on the organization, the effects of using digital technologies may be different.This proves that each unit should be analyzed individually.Originality/value: These results seem to fully reflect the pandemic reality in which the technological factor was of crucial importance, an innovative research to describe the pandemic in the theatre sector.

Abstract The research is part of a wider research problem, whose aim is to find an optimal financing model for cultural institutions in Poland. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the performance indicators of municipal and regional theatres in the context of accessibility to cultural public services. The study forms a verification of previously distinguished indicators of the effectiveness of cultural institutions with a general direction: how to find an optimal financing model of public dramatic theatres. The current research problem is the accessibility of public dramatic theatres in the absence of criteria for the allocation of statutory subsidies. We hypothesise that the absence of criteria for the allocation of statutory subsidies highly diversifies the accessibility of performing arts organisations. The object of study is public dramatic theatres in Poland in the period 2011–2015. We investigated the indicators having an impact on the level of accessibility of public theatres. The statistical methods used allowed us to identify criteria affecting availability. These criteria are recognized in the literature. In addition, we indicate the level of diversification of accessibility by individual public theatres.

The problem is finding the optimal and efficient model of public funding. The development of an objective theatre funding model is a major challenge for both the entities developing as well implementing the cultural policy. The aim of this article is to identify the criteria/measures having the potential effect on the increase of the audience numbers in individual theatres in Poland. This aim is implemented using Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), the result of which is to achieve full distribution of a set of variants (individual theatres) in accordance with the monitored criteria (audience numbers in a theatre). Our research found the important role of both financial and non-financial indicators among which technical indicators are essential. On this basis, the need to develop optimal allocation of public funds between theatres in terms of their technical capabilities or infrastructure should be considered

Planning pertains to any functioning unit of both the public and the private sector. Such planning forces the search for newer and newer forecasting techniques and optimal presentation of data. Public finance sector institutions actively use the instruments and tools specific to private sector entities. For that purpose, in all local self-government units Multiannual Financial Forecast is developed. Using it, the authorities of local self-government units should design the content of future budgets, anticipate their result, specify the exact level of certain expenditure categories and consequently the spending limits for projects. The objective of this article is to assess the quality of county budget income planning in the context of MAFF functioning. The author is of the opinion that any realistic estimate of potential income determines the possibilities for a more effective implementation of public tasks. The quality of income planning is a starting point for the long-term planning in a given self-government unit. The study has shown that in the period of the MAFF operation, the accuracy of forecasts in the respective rural counties improved.

The aim of the presented study is the diagnosis of the effects of the operational activity of regional cultural organizations in the context of accessibility. The diagnosis is also a study of the condition of the public finance sector and an attempt to find indicators (variables) determining the most effective financing methods for an operational activity of cultural organizations. For this purpose, the authors developed indicators determining an efficient activity of regional theatres as public culture organizations. Identification of variables, which may be the basis for objective procedures for subsidizing cultural organizations in Poland, was set as the supporting purpose in this article. The authors share the view, that accessibility is the primary factor determining the efficiency of public cultural services. Hellwig's method of the capacity of indicators information and development was used to identify efficiency drivers for public Theaters as performing art organizations. Ranking based on financial and operational metrics led to best organizations' exemplar that can play a model role. The study showed the most impactful indicators like the subsidy to the theater-goer, number of performances, and the number of citizens for each seat in the auditorium. The use of Hellwig's method, the selection of variables and the creation of a ranking of the theaters were our original contribution. Further research will focus on exploring other concepts of accessibility testing and expanding data with qualitative metrics.

The aim of the presented study is a comparison of the effects of the operational activity of city and regional cultural organizations in the context of accessibility.The studies are also an attempt to find indicators (variables) determining the most effective financing methods for operational activity of cultural organizations.For this purpose, determining indicators were identified, which drive the efficient activity of theaters.The authors share the view that accessibility is the main factor determining the effectiveness of public cultural services.Hellwig's method of the capacity of indicators' information and development was used to identify efficiency drivers for cultural institutions.Classification based on financial and operational metrics led to the best organizations that can play a model role.

The aim of this article is the efficiency evaluation of statutory subsidies granted to cultural institutions. From the economic point of view, the financial analysis of cultural institutions shows economic inefficiency of all institutions. Most of them are institutions that are sustained by subsidies of the organizer, generating low own revenue in relation to incurred costs. This situation might be caused by a lack of adequate incentives to increase own revenue due to organizer's (local government's) subsidies ensuring, at least theoretically, coverage of costs of facility maintenance and the costs of their activities.

Cultural institutions are organizations whose scope of core business comprises activities in the area of broadly understood culture. The aim of this article is to evaluate the financial stability of voivodeship cultural institutions, like theaters and music institutions, in the light of direct subsidies to those institutions from organizers. The hypothesis is that subsidized cultural institutions in Poland have a stable financial situation. Due to the fact that revenues and operational costs are unbalanced, it is actually the subsidy that should let those institutions continue operational activity in a stable environment with independence in operational and financial decisions. In the context of the financial stability definition adopted in this article, the observation is that the level of subsidies for voivodeship cultural institutions does not guarantee the completion of statutory tasks in all examined institutions.

Motivation: The authors are interested in the problem of financing of theatres as cultural institutions also because of the arising conflict between the objectives set by the organizers of the institutions, and those managers and artists consider the most important in the public cultural institutions. Aim: The aim of this article is the efficiency evaluation of statutory subsidies granted to cultural institutions in the context of subsidizing rules of these institutions. Results: The system of financing municipal cultural institutions is predominantly based on statutory subsidies from the organizer's budget. Therefore, statutory grants play an important role of creating income and of stabilizing finances of cultural institutions. Their share in the total amount of revenue of the examined cultural institutions persisted at a high level throughout subsequent years of the study period. Although statutory subsidies significantly improve the financial situation of cultural institutions. Those which are using subsidies to a lesser degree, and those whose important source of financing their activities were their own revenues, are characterized by higher efficiency. Unfortunately, the analysis of the data indicates that there is a very small group of institutions characterized by a high indicator of financing.

Cultural institutions are organizations whose scope of core business comprises activities in the area of broadly understood culture. The aim of this article is to evaluate the financial stability of voivodeship cultural institutions, like theaters and music institutions, in the light of direct subsidies to those institutions from organizers. The hypothesis is that subsidized cultural institutions in Poland have a stable financial situation. Due to the fact that revenues and operational costs are unbalanced, it is actually the subsidy that should let those institutions continue operational activity in a stable environment with independence in operational and financial decisions. In the context of the financial stability definition adopted in this article, the observation is that the level of subsidies for voivodeship cultural institutions does not guarantee the completion of statutory tasks in all examined institutions.