Abstract:In developed countries, the first studies on forecasting bankruptcy date to the early 20th century. In Central and Eastern Europe, due to, among other factors, the geopolitical situation and the introduced economic system, this issue became the subject of researcher interest only in the 1990s. Therefore, it is worthwhile to analyze whether these countries conduct bankruptcy risk assessments and what their level of advancement is. The main objective of the article is the review and assessment of the level of advancement of bankruptcy prediction research in countries of the former Eastern Bloc, in comparison to the latest global research trends in this area. For this purpose, the method of analyzing scientific literature was applied. The publications chosen as the basis for the research were mainly based on information from the Google Scholar and ResearchGate databases during the period Q4 2016-Q3 2017. According to the author's knowledge, this is the first such large-scale study involving the countries of the former Eastern Bloc-which includes the following states: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Hungary, Russia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, and Belarus. The results show that the most advanced research in this area is conducted in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Estonia, Russia, and Hungary. Belarus Bulgaria and Latvia are on the other end. In the remaining countries, traditional approaches to predicting business insolvency are generally used.

Purpose: The objective of this paper is to propose the new indicator of bankruptcy law severity for debtors (BLSI-Bankruptcy Law Severity Index). On the basis of this index we conducted comparative analysis of debtor/creditor friendliness of bankruptcy laws among 27 selected countries. Design/Methodology/Approach: In the research the following methods were used: analysis of legal acts, literature review and expert method. Findings: The empirical results show that the most debtor-friendly bankruptcy and restructuring laws are those of the USA, Ireland and Canada. At the opposite pole were Slovenia, Australia and Austria. It can also be noted that many EU countries have a similar level of BLSI measure, which is most likely a consequence of harmonisation activities undertaken within the Community. Practical Implications: The conducted research enables us to propose the direction of changes in bankruptcy and restructuring laws in the next stage. Originality/value: On the basis of proposed BLSI, we will be able to examine the relationship between the severity of bankruptcy law and innovation, entrepreneurship and the level of development of financial markets in the studied countries.

The main aim of this article is to examine the accuracy of different methods of share valuation used by Polish analysts in reports prepared in order to issue recommendations for companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. In the literature on the subject, the view which prevails is that the more sophisticated methods, i.e. those taking into account the discounting process, are characterised by higher valuation accuracy. However, the results of the present analysis show that Polish analysts achieve more accurate valuations using the market approach than the DCF model. Nevertheless, the highest level of accuracy is achieved by the target price, which in most cases is the value of the weighted average of valuations obtained via a market valuation and discounting methods. In terms of the multiples which are taken into account in this research, the highest accuracy is achieved with the use of EV/EBIT, although there are no statistically significant differences between the valuations calculated using this multiple and the results obtained with the P/E and EV/EBITDA multiples. Valuations prepared with the use of individual multiples usually generate greater errors compared to the DCF model and the market approach, which uses the weighted average of the valuations achieved with individual multiples.

The aim of this article is to supplement the Law and Economics area of science with regard to the scope of the ex ante effectiveness of bankruptcy law using the example of Poland. Bankruptcy law is effective in the ex ante stage when it eliminates from the market insolvent entrepreneurs who cannot even afford to cover the costs of bankruptcy proceedings. In these cases, the bankruptcy court should dismiss the petition for bankruptcy because of “poverty” of the insolvent estate. As a result, the insolvent debtor should be liquidated and deleted from the register of companies. This paper investigates entities whose bankruptcy petition has been rejected due to “poverty” of the insolvent estate. The study shows that, after the filing has been dismissed, the majority of these entities are not liquidated. To determine who is responsible for this state of affairs, the article identifies the stakeholders at the time that applications are filed for bankruptcy proceedings and also after the bankruptcy petition has been rejected. The article highlights stakeholders' diverging interests, strengths, and weaknesses to assess their potential impact on bankruptcy procedures that should be dismissed due to “poverty” of the insolvent estate.

The literature review indicates that bankruptcy law may play an important role in and be one of the factors influencing the development of entrepreneurship, innovation, and thus economic growth, among other things. In previous studies, the analysis of the impact of bankruptcy law on individual variables has been conducted independently. Our aim was to conduct a holistic analysis, taking several factors into account simultaneously. Therefore, a descriptive model was proposed, based on which the following research hypothesis was formulated: In countries characterised by an effective legal system and at the same time debtor-friendly bankruptcy law, the level of risk acceptance among entrepreneurs is higher, which is reflected in higher levels of entrepreneurship and innovation. Based on the selected variables, a cross-sectional analysis was conducted using linear models estimated on the basis of the least-squares method. Additionally, to strengthen the conclusions drawn, the models were assessed in such a way enabling the analysis of causality as defined by Granger based on the two-step process. The results obtained allowed us to confirm the research hypothesis: in countries characterised by an efficient legal system and at the same time debtor-friendly bankruptcy law, the level of risk acceptance among entrepreneurs is higher, which is reflected in higher levels of entrepreneurship and innovation. The research results are particularly important from the point of view of legislators who are responsible for drafting amendments to bankruptcy law. Including certain debtor-friendly provisions may, in the long run, lead to increased entrepreneurship and innovation, and thus economic development.