Suchergebnisse

Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) is often used to illustrate differences in intensity of environmental externalities creation under various jurisdictions. From the point of view of environment exploitation those jurisdictions are usually arbitrary. As a result conclusions drawn from them may be incorrect and public policy based on them inaccurate (e.g. the territory where environmental regulations are applied does not match with the territory where they are needed). As a consequence, predictions based on statistical interpretation of EKC are unreliable and the policy based on them proves to be inefficient. Therefore, it seems that EKC should be used for predictions only for large jurisdictions or groups of jurisdictions.

In recent years the euro area has been characterised by a very low rate of economic growth (in some years there was even a real reduction in the volume of production). This has launched a debate among economists about the instruments to be applied in public policy to bolster the economy. In this article the author analysed the possible effects of fiscal and monetary policy on economic growth when economic stagnation in the euro area is accompanied by a high level of public debt as a percentage of GDP and a very low level of the interest rates set by the central bank as well as market interest rates. On the basis of economic theory the author considers whether expansionary fiscal policy will contribute to the growth of real output, or merely enlarge the public debt and increase the risk of sovereign debt default and currency crisis. The author also introduced the concept of quantitative easing as an instrument of expansionary monetary policy.

The article presents the problem of fiscal imbalance in the Russian Federation and the mechanisms of its equalization. These mechanisms are one of the key elements of budgetary relations, due to significant differences in the level of economic development of federal subjects, resulting in horizontal and vertical fiscal imbalance. The paper presents the most important mechanisms from the early 90 s. Most attention was paid to the main method of guaranteeing financial security - The Fund for Financial Support of Subjects. Until 2008 an important element of the financial system had been other special funds (eg. The Federal Fund for Regional Development, The Federal Compensation Fund), replaced by intergovernmental grants. The main principles, objectives and implications of these mechanisms were described. Part of the work was dedicated to showing federal entities' dependence on financial transfers from the federal level. The outcome was that equalization results proved to be weak, mechanisms were unstable and not always formalized so as not to be subject to current policy needs.

The activity of international holding companies has become crucial for the European economy. In particular, attention should to paid to the tax-related issues, which arise out of the cross-border activity of holding companies. Increasingly, holding companies employ aggressive tax optimisation in their strategies. While the tax policies of individual E.U. Member States have turned out to be of little effectiveness, simultaneously, the lack of a common and harmonised tax policy designed to counteract tax optimisation has become a serious problem for the European Union. Therefore, the European Commission strives to develop a fiscal concept which will - on the one hand - allow to effectively combat international tax optimisation adopted by holding companies and - on the other hand - be integral with the internal tax systems of individual Member States.

The European Union currently operates three types of competence: exclusive, shared and supporting (complementary and harmonization). For each country, it is very important autonomous power of taxation and the ensuing independence in shaping tax policy. Countries acceding to the European Union, however, have to reckon with the fact that 80 Artur Kuś Studia z Polityki Publicznej since joining will not have a kind of monopoly on the creation of a fully independent and autonomous tax regulations. EU tax law is primarily the proper functioning of the EU internal market. The aim of the tax legislation is mainly provide income for the state. Thus, the main feature of the national tax law is fiscal function and the EU's - the proper functioning of the internal market. EU tax law in the broad sense (sensu largo) is the collection of EU law (primary and secondary) concerning and affecting the tax law of the Member States. EU tax law in the strict sense (sensu stricto) is a set of rules while EU law relating to and used directly in the tax law of the Member States of the EU. In the simplest terms it can be assumed that these are the rules relating to the taxation mainly indirect taxes.

Public funds should play important role in rationalization of the social security system as they allow greater control over expenses redistribution and thus over changes in society. However, as the rule of parainsurance is not followed while creating public funds, one cannot hope for public support for fiscal burdens and for diminishing political influence on the tax collection for social expenses and social expenses itself. The lack of public support should not limit possibilities of using public funds to rationalize public finances, particularly social security.

The paper analyzes how selected budgetary governance institutions can influence the motivation and capability of public sector entities to generate, implement, and diffuse innovations in public production. Numerical fiscal rules, top-down and concentrated budgetary decision-making process, medium-term budget framework and program budgeting were identified as having positive impacts. The analysis is followed by an assessment of the central government sub-sector budgetary governance system in Poland, which showed that the existing budgetary arrangements might be classified as innovation restrictive. The concentration of public decision-making within the budgetary process and integration of the budgetary governance system with other public governance systems by means of a common programmatic architecture were recommended as prerequisites for effective stimulation of public sector innovativeness.

The purpose of the article is to analyze the current condition and development prospects for the Russian LNG sector. Taking into account the specifics of the functioning of the Russian state, the author chose the realistic paradigm (neoclassical realism), which is useful in the context of showing the relationship between internal structures and external activity of the state. The author argues that Russian expansion in the LNG sector is the result of the lobbying capacity of Novatek – the largest private gas producer in Russia. Although the state budget incurs significant costs related to the implementation of Novatek projects, in particular due to fiscal preferences, it also achieves the possibility of achieving the objectives in external and internal energy policy. Novatek's expansion increases Russia's share in external energy markets; at the same time LNG expansion, it is used for internal purposes. Novatek's dominant position in the LNG sector is confirmed by both already implemented projects and plans for further expansion. The factors favoring Russian expansion are constant state support for Novatek projects, high level of internationalization of implemented projects and favorable forecasts on energy markets. The strong competition between currently dominant LNG producers and the risk of internal competition between Russian exporters are among the key long-term challenges.