The main purpose of this paper is to assess the level of and differences in financial autonomy across Polish rural municipalities. The level of rural municipalities’ financial autonomy in 2008–2017 was benchmarked against that of other types of municipalities. Also, a multidimensional assessment of financial autonomy levels was performed for the municipalities considered, and the underlying socioeconomic conditions prevailing in 2017 were identified. As shown by this study, financial autonomy varies strongly across Polish rural municipalities. Nearly 60% of them are at medium low or low levels. As a consequence, their financial standing and capacity to fulfill their own tasks depend on allocations from the national budget. This poses a considerable problem for their ability to remain financially stable.

Poland is affected not only by a persistent regional differentiation but also by an internal polarization of regional development levels, particularly in rural areas. Local government authorities, especially municipalities, play an important role in bridging inequalities in socioeconomic rural development. This is because the investment capacity depends on the efficiency and effectiveness of local public finance. Note that the fight against inequalities is related to the issues of sustainable development. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to assess the changes in the level of socioeconomic inequalities between rural municipalities and the importance of local public finance in bridging these inequalities, as illustrated by the example of Poland. The objective formulated above emanates from the research hypothesis advanced by the authors which assumes that a strong relationship exists between one’s own income and investment potential, on one side, and the socioeconomic development level of Polish rural municipalities, on the other. In the first stage of research, the levels of socioeconomic development of the municipalities surveyed were assessed with a synthetic indicator estimated using the TOPSIS method (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution). The indicator served as a basis for building the typological classes of socioeconomic development at the municipal level. Following this, selected descriptive statistics methods were used to describe the typological classes of socioeconomic development. The second stage of research consisted of assessing the quantitative relationships between the development level and the financial situation of entities surveyed. This was done using the Pearson linear correlation coefficient and the pseudo-test of differences of means. As demonstrated in the analyses, Polish rural municipalities witnessed an improvement in their socioeconomic development level and a simultaneous reduction in development disparities. Also identified were the relationships between local public finance and development levels of rural municipalities. The empirical study also allowed us to confirm the research hypothesis formulated in this paper.

Local investments for the development of renewable energy sources (RESs) constitute an important element of sustainable rural development. They are conducive to the social and economic development of the said areas, and improve the environmental values and living conditions of their inhabitants. However, such advancement in rural areas is not possible without adequate financial support, including the funds from the EU budget. Therefore, the main objective of the research is to assess the scale, scope and importance of local investments in renewable energy sources in rural areas of Poland in 2014–2020, cofinanced from EU funds. The study covered 1117 projects, whose beneficiaries were rural and urban–rural municipalities. Evaluation of the municipal investment activities in acquiring EU subsidies in the area of environmentally friendly energy was conducted using selected methods of descriptive statistics and the analysis of variance. Subsequently, with the use of logistic regression, the study identified the main socioeconomic, financial and environmental conditions of the investment activities of the local government entities in RES in rural areas. Empirical studies allowed for the positive verification of the research hypothesis, which assumed that “The highest investment activity in the field of local projects co-financed from EU funds, related to the development of RES in rural areas, may be attributed to municipalities performing primarily agricultural functions, located in Eastern Poland”. The municipalities’ own income potential and investment activity are of major importance for the acquisition of EU funds used in RES financing. Municipalities at a lower development level demonstrated a greater activity in accessing these funds. They view the development of RES as an opportunity for accelerated growth.

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Local development is a long-term process of economic transformation. To make it happen, expenditure must be incurred, especially including investments. At a local level, the financial burden involved in the transformation is mostly on local government units. Although a three-level administrative system is in place in Poland, bottom-level units (municipalities) are largely responsible for driving local development. Polish rural areas make up over 90% of the national territory, and rural municipalities alone are home to 11 million people, i.e., 30% of the total population. Poland’s accession to the European Union and the ability of local government units (LGUs) to use Union funds contributed to local development, in particular by making many rural municipalities a more attractive place to live and invest in. However, a rapid increase in debt levels was another consequence. Excessive indebtedness of LGUs threatens not only their stable operation and local development but also the stability of the whole public finance sector. The main purpose of this study was to assess the level of and differences in indebtedness of Polish rural municipalities, and to identify the key socioeconomic conditions of debt. The analysis period was 2007–2017. This article used the TOPSIS routine to develop a synthetic indicator of municipal debt levels. An ordered logit model was also employed to identify the key conditions behind municipal indebtedness in Polish rural areas. This study found that, in 2007–2009, most rural municipalities (over 50%) recorded extremely low or low levels of debt while only one-fifth were at high or extremely high levels. In turn, already in 2015–2017, more than one-third of all rural municipalities were at a high or extremely high level of debt. The study also allowed to validate the research hypothesis formulated in this paper, namely that “the key reason for the growing level and diversity of indebtedness of Polish rural municipalities is the investment activity of local authorities in seeking funds from the European Union”.