Tom 57 (2021): Zeszyt 3 (September 2021)

Throughout the twentieth century, United States has been the most desirable destination for international migrants, primarily due to its economic performance and also to American values – work ethics and tolerance of ethnic diversity. This paper aims to test if selected economic indicators might influence international migration. To this end a time series analysis was performed with time series regression model, where lagged values of various macroeconomic indicators were tested for a significant impact on migration flows. This paper also cast a light on U.S. labour migration's legislation and history, as well as current migrant stock characteristics. It gives specific attention to Polish migrant population, as Polish Americans constitute the largest Polish diaspora worldwide. The results of the analysis show that U.S. immigration volumes are sensitive to American unemployment rate and American GDP growth (pull factors). However, analysing Polish migration volumes to the U.S. a significant correlation with selected American indicators was not revealed. On the contrary, Polish migration flows to the U.S. were correlated with Polish economic growth and the Polish unemployment rate fluctuations (push factors).

This study aims to identify middle-class consumers’ habits in four countries during the pandemic of 2020, with special attention to analogous consumers’ reactions to extraordinary circumstances during the recession of 2008. Furthermore, this study tried to detect the impact of the pandemic on conscious shopping. Although the consequences of the ongoing pandemic were unforeseeable, the paper opened new avenues for further research on factors responsible for conscious consumption during the unprecedented externality and its significance on the middle-class consumers in culturally diverse markets. To achieve the aforementioned goals, between June and December 2020, computer-assisted web interviews (CAWI) based on pilot stage research were conducted to answer the following questions: How did the pandemic influence the buyers’ shopping habits in terms of conscious consumption? What were the reasons for the changes in shopping habits? What kind of consumer behaviors would middle-class buyers recommend to others? One general conclusion, inter alia, should be stressed remarkably: during the pandemic, irrespective of the cultural differences, the middle-class consumers’ behaviors did not vary significantly with regards to most of the investigated variables.

This study aims to define the impact of two largest crises of 1997–1998 and 2007–2008 on changes to the models of corporate governance. In order to achieve the assumed aim, a critical analysis of specialist literature and relevant legal regulations has been applied. The analysis is focused on changes in the main models of corporate governance, namely: in the Anglo-Saxon (monistic) model and in the German (dualistic) model. Generally, they can be defined as of evolutionary nature but some deeper changes have taken place under the influence exerted by the above-mentioned crises. The latter crisis has emphasized the important role of corporate governance in banks and other financial institutions. Changes in corporate governance are largely affected by international institutions or organizations, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) or the European Commission. Their recommendations and guidelines have contributed to the dissemination of so-called good practice codes. The considerations presented below allow the author to state that in both analyzed models of corporate governance, changes occur in the same or similar direction lines (the phenomenon of convergence). It can be also observed that the first analyzed crisis has caused larger changes in the monistic model, whereas the second crisis has affected the dualistic model in a more significant way.

Financial statements reflect important information about the entity's financial position, operating performance, and cash flows and must be made available in a timely fashion to all interested factions to stimulate opportune business judgments.

Ergo, this paper examines the association of the audited annual report delay with eight entity and audit firm attributes.

The sample includes 396 observations of 99 nonfinancial firms listed on the Macedonian Stock Exchange (MSE) for the period 2014–2017. The regression results designate a statistically significant relationship between the audit opinion, company liquidity, size, and industry with the audit opinion lag. Moreover, the publication period ranges from 43 days to 374 days suggesting that timeliness may be a significant concern for Macedonian entities regarding financial reporting policy.

This is the first study to thoroughly assess the relationship between entity, auditor characteristics, and audit report timeliness on the developing Macedonian market.

Referring to economic ideals of efficiency and equity, we are comparing the state of the Swedish economy in the early 21st century to the situation in other countries, especially the other Nordic countries, the United States (US), and Poland. After presenting the basic facts about Nordic countries we examine the issue of economic efficiency. In addition to gross domestic product (GDP) we use the Human Development Index (HDI), the findings of the economics of happiness, and the number of registered triadic patent families as measures of efficiency. Then we analyze the issue of equity. We use the Gini coefficient, the extent of poverty, the level of unemployment, and the level of intergenerational mobility of earnings as measures of equity.

The analysis reveals that inhabitants of Sweden and the other Nordic countries have been achieving some of the best economic results in the world. This applies to the level of GDP per capita in these countries, to the capability of inhabitants to utilize their full potential, and to their life satisfaction. These countries’ ability to create innovation is impressive. At the same time, Nordics have successfully reduced the scale of social inequalities and ensured relatively equal opportunities for all citizens. This is evidenced by low income inequality, low unemployment, and low poverty rate in these countries.

Sweden and the other Nordic countries are superior to the US both in terms of efficiency and equity. Poland, on the other hand, lags far behind Nordics, as well as the US, in terms of efficiency, as exemplified by the relatively low GDP per capita and very low innovation in Poland. In terms of equity, however, Poland loses to Nordics but seems to win to the US.

This article reviews the use of the concept of political instability in economic research, the importance of which has been growing in recent years due to its potentially profound economic consequences. The article explores this concept by working through the definitions, dimensions, and methods of quantification. It also summarizes the results of the theoretical and empirical research on the economic implications of political instability. In contrast with the previous literature reviews, this article is not limited to the relationship between of political instability and one specific macroeconomic phenomenon but intends to summarize the findings of the research regarding its impact on a variety of economic phenomena investigated in the literature. The review covers the most influential publications in this area characterized by formulation of original research hypotheses, use of novel datasets, and development of innovative research methods. The research reviewed shows that political instability has a detrimental effect on economic growth, investment, inflation, fiscal deficits, public debt, and the functioning of financial markets.