Editorial

Welcome to the third issue of the International Journal of Management and Economics in 2022. In this issue we offer five empirical papers, a conceptual one, and a non-research text in memoriam of Professor Ronald W. Jones. The scope of the papers lays in international economics, transition economics, general macroeconomics, finance, and human resources management. From the geographical perspective, two papers are dedicated specifically to Poland, one to Ukraine, and there are three with the European Union perspective.

The opening paper is by Krzysztof Jasiecki and it is entitled “The coronavirus and centre-peripheral relations in the economies of the European Union”. The Author argues that the economic centre-peripheral differences are structural factors of divisions within the European Union (EU) that have been significantly strengthened by the course and consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. In accordance with the theoretical approach of the dissimilarity of capitalism adopted in this paper, these divisions result mainly from the distinctiveness of institutional variants of capitalism of the member states. They also reflect the asymmetry of political influence as a product of the polarisation of economic potential.

Małgorzata Lewandowska, Marzanna Weresa, Małgorzata Rószkiewicz are authors of the second paper, entitled “Evaluating the impact of public financial support on innovation activities of European Union enterprises: Additionality approach”. The paper aims at assessing the effects of public grants for Research and Development and Innovation from the European Union (EU) budget for enhancing innovation in European enterprises, using input, output and behavioural additionality approach. The research is based on microdata of the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) 2012 – 2014, covering a sample of 98,809 enterprises from 14 EU countries. The direct and indirect relationships between the variables were investigated using path analysis. The authors come to the conclusion that the potential of EU support for R&D and innovation is not fully exploited, in particular in Central and Eastern European EU member states, suggesting that there is room for improvements with regard to policy design and implementation.

The third paper, entitled “Transformation of the economic role of local self-government in low-urbanized territories in Ukraine: Initial conditions and social perception”, is by the team of following authors: Nazar Hlynskyi, Yevhen Krykavskyy, and Yuliia Savchenko. They explore the administrative-territorial reform of decentralisation implemented recently in Ukraine and study its impact the country's socio-economic landscape, in particular in the case of administrative units with a predominantly rural population. The research aims to reveal public opinion and expectations of residents formed towards new local governments. This is done in a form of a public opinion poll of residents living in selected local communities. The results demonstrate that the decentralization of power changes the role of local government and forms new expectations of residents and their assessments of the situation at the local level. The study was conducted prior to the Russian full-scale invasion on Ukraine.

In the fourth article, entitled: “Stock Price Reaction to an Arrangement Approval in Restructuring Proceedings – The Case of Poland”, Błażej Prusak examines the reaction of stock prices to the information about the conclusion and acceptance of a debtor-creditor arrangement under restructuring proceedings of companies listed on the stock exchange in Poland. Applying the typical event-study methodology, the author assesses the informational effect of three distinctive events: the public disclosure of information about the conclusion of a debtor-creditor arrangement (event 1), its approval by the court (event 2), and the decision becoming final (event 3). The results show that event 1 leads to an above-average and statistically significant increase in stock prices on the day of the event. The same pattern was confirmed for the event 3. In contrast, no statistically significant abnormal returns could be found for the event 2. This suggests that the fact of the court approval might be anticipated by market participants after the conclusion of a debtor-creditor arrangement is already publicly known, and therefore event 2 does not constitute a new piece of information.

The next paper, “Does the IFRS 16 affect the key ratios of listed companies? Evidence from Poland”, is by Anna Jaworska-Białek, Justyna Dobroszek, and Paulina Szatkowska. The paper aims to assess the impact of adoption of International Financial Reporting Standard 16 (IFRS 16), related to disclosure of leasing contracts, on the financial analysis of enterprises in particular on lessees’ selected financial indicators. The study employs financial data for 2018−2019 of 494 companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange using the Difference-in-Differences (DID) method. The sample includes 308 financial statements prepared under IFRS and 186 applying accounting policies under the Polish Accounting Act. The results demonstrate that implementation of IFRS 16 results in a significant average increase in the debt to equity and debt to total assets ratios of lessees and a decrease in the profitability of their assets. This finding is important for better understanding of the impact of various accounting standards on interpretation of financial analysis.

The final paper of this issue, “Experience of academic staff in mentoring programs”, is by Ireneusz Zuchowski, Nunzio Casalino, Bartosz Murat. The Authors present the results of the BEGIN project entitled “Boosting the Soft Skills of Higher Education, Students and Graduates” conducted within the Erasmusplus programme. The aim of the research was to identify the experience of academic staff participating in formal and informal mentoring programs, to obtain the evaluation of these programs and recommendations allowing for improvement of such programs in the future. The research is base on 10 in-depth interviews which were conducted with academic lecturers from 3 different European countries. The selection criterion was the respondent's experience in the implementation of mentoring. The results include many guidelines on how to implement mentoring programs, their effectiveness and usefulness, and on how to measure the impact of the program on students. These findings have a practical dimension for mentoring programs at institutions of higher education.

Last but not the least, this issue includes also a text by Adam Budnikowski and Elżbieta Czarny prepared In Memory of Professor Ronald W. Jones who was a honorary Doctor of Economics at the Warsaw School of Economics, Professor Emeritus at the University of Rochester, alumni of Swarthmore College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a member of numerous international societies and the editorial boards of renowned scientific journals. The text summarizes major theoretical and empirical achievements of Prof. Jones in the field of international economics and describes his special relations with the faculty of Collegium of World Economy at the Warsaw School of Economics.