W artykule przeanalizowano wpływ płacy minimalnej na polską gospodarkę. Artykuł składa się z trzech części. Część pierwsza zawiera krótki przegląd literatury ekonomicznej dotyczącej płacy minimalnej oraz rezultaty badań na ten temat. Nie ma jednoznacznej konkluzji i zgodności na temat wpływu płacy minimalnej na gospodarkę, co sprawia, że potrzebne są dalsze badania i analizy dotyczące skutków wzrostu płacy minimalnej w Polsce. W części drugiej nacisk położono na analizę korelacji między poziomem płacy minimalnej i tempem jej wzrostu w latach 1992-2016 oraz podstawowymi danymi makroekonomicznymi, takimi jak: poziom i tempo wzrostu płac przeciętnych, PKB, wydajność pracy, inflacja, stopa bezrobocia. Do badania tych zależności wykorzystano współczynniki korelacji rang Spearmana. W trzeciej części skoncentrowano się na analizie potencjalnych skutków podniesienia płacy minimalnej w 2017 r. do 2000 zł oraz wprowadzenia minimalnej stawki godzinowej w wysokości 13 zł za godzinę. Nacisk położono na ocenę skutków tych decyzji na rynku pracy w Polsce. Wskazano korzyści i niebezpieczeństwa związane z wprowadzeniem minimalnej stawki godzinowej. Zarówno dane statystyczne, obejmujące 25 lat, jak i analiza rynku pracy w 2017 r., nie dają podstaw do negatywnej oceny wpływu płacy minimalnej na polską gospodarkę.

The basic goal of this document is to research the changes in work efficiency level, as well as labor costs and evaluation of their relation in Poland in comparison to other EU countries. Research period embraced the years 2000–2016. Desired research objective was achieved with the use of review of the literature method, deduction, description and simple statistical and visualization technics (Eurostat, GUS). The analysis of changes and proportions between unit labor costs and labor productivity is essential element of labor market researches. Sustainable and monochromic growth of both factors is important if competitiveness’s improvement ought to be due to technology development not to low-wages politic. Polish production is based on low and middle technology, and until now low labor costs. This system can turn out negative and embed unfavorable economy structure. The level of unit labor costs in Poland in comparison to European Union is low, so as the level of work productivity is. On the other hand the pace of labor productivity is high. Until now the pace of wage growth was lower than labor efficiency, and the balance between two variables was kept.

Labor costs in Poland are relatively low in comparison to other European Union (EU) countries. After long period of functioning Poland in closed economy, conditions significantly weakened the level of its competitiveness in the international market. When the boards were opened in 1989, it became clear that cheap work force was one of the most important factors to attract foreign investments. At the same time, globalization and internationalization of production created opportunity for entrepreneurs to establish global value chains. Participation in global value chain (GVC) of Poland can extend international trade and increase gross domestic product (GDP). On the other hand, low wages attract investments in low-technology industries and, moreover, place Poland in the middle of value chains, where semi-products are assembled and new value added is exiguous. The aim of the article is: 1) to present polish participation in global value chain, 2) to analyze how much low labor costs contribute to degree of share in global value chain, and 3) to show how level of labor costs contribute to position in value chain and how does it influence on benefits from participating in GVC. In the article, the quantitative and qualitative assessment of Eurostat (European statistic) and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) statistics data and research on labor costs carried out in Poland were analyzed. The research tools include a critical analysis of literature and descriptive analytical method. More than 50% of polish exports takes place within the global value chains. Low labor costs attract investors to allocate part of their production in Poland. Nevertheless, great part of export constitutes semi-products that do not create new value added so benefits from participation in GVC are not so considerable as expected. It is desirable to shift Poland toward beginning or the end of value chains, where profits are higher.