Although consumption is one of the most important elements of any economy, including those that are developing, excessive consumerism is becoming increasingly common today, often resulting in the phenomenon of food waste. Food waste is a multi-aspect issue. It is a topical problem of varying nature and intensity, particularly for the environment, the economy, and society. In this context, efforts were made to emphasize the importance of the idea of a circular economy, due to the fact that the positive effects of its implementation and correct application may be the minimization of the problem of food waste, which can be seen from an economic, social, or environmental point of view. To obtain this goal, consumer research was conducted among the inhabitants of Eastern Poland. Their principal task was to define social attitudes and explain a problem known as household food waste. The results were subjected to the cluster analysis method and correspondence analysis, and the corresponding calculations and figures made it possible to draw conclusions from the research. Consumers seem to be aware of the dilemma of excessive food discarding in their households. They also recognize their active role in preventing this socio-economic problem. Despite the concerns expressed by consumers, food waste is still very high. This may most likely be because of a declarative approach rather than to the actual attitudes of respondents.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant slowdown in the development of almost all economies in the world. In this context, the main goal of this research is to try to present changes in the value of fiscal, investment and export multipliers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was conducted in selected European Union countries. They are France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain. This research is based on the theory of effective demand. The values of feeds and leakages of total demand in the period from 2015 to 2020 were examined and calculated. On this basis, the individual multipliers of autonomous spending were analyzed and their changes in the first period of the COVID-19 pandemic were presented. The analyses led to a surprising conclusion: it found that the autonomous spending multipliers in some economies increased. This means that they have become ‘security buffers’ for the health of economies. This means that the increase in their value weakened the negative effects of changes in autonomous expenditure on gross domestic product.

The paper aims to answer two main questions. Is it possible to calculate and analyze fiscal, investment and export multipliers in the short term? The classic approach is mainly based on the input–output balances, which are most often published every 5 years. Is it possible to determine the impact of autonomous expenditure on the growth rate of gross value added? Research and analysis are based primarily on the principle of aggregate demand and the main assumptions of the economic Keynesian model. In the paper, I present theoretical considerations to answer research questions. I have verified the proposed method for calculating the multipliers of autonomous expenditure and the relationship between autonomous expenditure and gross value added in empirical studies. To this end, I have chosen the three economies of the Weimar Group countries. It has emerged that the proposed method allows us to examine the growth rate of value added relative to GDP in the short term, while using the fiscal, investment and export multipliers mechanism.

The paper presents the results of empirical studies of the energy sector in Poland in the period 2005–2020. The main research problem was the impact of gross savings of changes in gross investment levels in this sector. To this end, we used a formula determining the value of private investments from the theory of the economic dynamism of M. Kalecki. First, we checked its adjustment to the economic reality of the energy sector and analysed the impact of individual independent variables on gross investment levels. We calculated linear regression and correlation coefficients in two variants due to delays between investments and investment decisions. The results of the studies justified the hypothesis. According to it, gross investments in the Polish energy sector are determined by the level of gross savings of companies.

Modern companies, operating in a dynamically changing environment, are subject to the permanent determinism of the institution. On the other hand, companies are more and more often perceived as complex networks of interpersonal relations in often dispersed organizational structures. Rela- tionships seem to play the role of a link between human activities. The latter, being dependent on the level of his/her opportunism, limited rationality, uncertainty and defined costs of transaction execution within the company, take actions consistent with the company's goal. Man-made activ- ities seem to be more and more often characterised by market transactions concluded within the frames of a company. The whole mechanism of company functioning cohabits under the influence of institutional determinism.Such a context of social and economic reality observed within the frame of the company has become a contribution to the emergence of the question which inspires the author's scientific work within the scope of the new institutional economics. What are the reasons for the existence of various forms of transaction organization and ways of their implementation within the company? The following article is an attempt to answer such a question in the context of the theory of institutions. The presented considerations, through the theoretical meanders of neo-institutionalism, ultimately lead to the localization of institutional determinism, which shapes the way transactions are carried out within the company.