This paper presents the results of a survey carried out in 2017. The research was focused on the behaviour of Polish local and regional formal institutions (L.G.U.s) in support of the development of local and regional entrepreneurship. The main aim was to determine which institutions are crucial for the support of the development of entrepreneurship, but, more importantly, to find why some L.G.U.s obeyed the rules of the entrepreneurship game even if the state monitoring and enforcement mechanisms were lacking. Statistical tools of correlation analysis and factor analysis were used in the research. The factor analysis added empirical evidence on the discussion on how L.G.U.s may affect development of entrepreneurship. Based on the statistically processed data obtained from research, the authors came to the conclusion that geographic location, political power, level of unemployment, size of the territory or level of debt had no impact on the behaviour of L.G.U.s in their support of the development of entrepreneurship. What mattered for the support of entrepreneurship by L.G.U.s was the model of management, type of L.G.U., and the number of enterprises within the territory governed by L.G.U.s. Moreover, only provinces fully succeeded in supporting the development of entrepreneurship, while rural municipalities failed.

Formal and informal institutions matter in the context of the innovation performance of Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs). The purpose of the research was to investigate whether the interplay between formal and informal institutions has a positive, negative or neutral impact on the innovation performance of CEECs, and if formal or informal institutions alone also have a positive, negative or neutral influence on the innovation performance of CEECs. The research is based on informal institutions of CEECs such as trust, traditions, customs, creativity or cooperation, and formal institutions of CEECs such as law, formal rules, or science, technology and innovation policy (STIP). The research methodology focuses on secondary statistical data from 18,808 surveys from the European Social Survey Round 9 (2018) edition 2.0 for informal institutions and from 1090 innovation policies of European Commission and OECD STIP Compass and 414,073 notices of awarded tenders of the European Union Tenders Electronic Daily for formal institutions. Innovation performance was measured by the Summary Innovation Index (SII) of the European Innovation Scoreboard 2019. The findings show that informal institutions such as trust in others, trust in the legal system, the importance of following traditions and customs or cooperation among citizens of CEECs, as well as interplay between informal institutions such as trust in the legal system and formal institutions such as obedience to rules among citizens of CEECs have a negative impact on the innovation performance of the national economies of CEECs. Meanwhile, the variety of policy theme areas and creativity among citizens of CEECs have a positive impact on the innovation performance of the national economies of CEECs.

The central point of this paper is to present the results of comparative case study research concerning the impact of the interplay between formal and informal institutions in the corporate governance systems (CGS) of Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC). Particular focus was put on the values of the corporate governance codes (CGC) of CEECs, as well as on transparent ownership structures, transactions with related parties, the protection of minority shareholders, independent members of supervisory boards, and separation between the CEO position and the chairman of the board of directors. The main subject of interest concerns two research areas: the character of the relationship between formal and informal institutions, as well as whether the interplay between them is relevant to the CGSs of CEECs. Moreover, the author investigates whether the CGCs of CEECs consist of regulations that are compatible with the values set up in preambles using research methods such as individual case study or deductive reasoning. The conclusion presented in the paper was drawn on the basis of a review of the literature and research on national and European corporate governance regulations, as well as the CGC of CEECs. The primary contribution this article makes is to advance the stream of research beyond any single country setting, and to link the literature on the interplay between formal and informal institutions related to CGSs in a broad range of economies in transition (‘catch up’ countries) like CEECs. This paper provides an understanding of how the interplay between formal and informal institutions may influence the CGCs of CEECs.

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Motivation: Institutional and Entrepreneurship theory pays attention to institutions and their influence on productive, unproductive and destructive entrepreneurship in transition economies. However, according to the literature, it is not only institutions that matter for productive entrepreneurship, but also the interaction between formal and informal institutions. Moreover, transition economies needs the productive entrepreneurship 'to catch-up' with world leaders. Aim: The aim of this paper is to advance institutional research through the development of a better understanding of the relation between formal and informal institutions and their influence on productive entrepreneurship in transition economies like CEECs. Results: The paper demonstrates that strong formal and informal institutions, the 'invisible hand' of the state, as well as the complementary and accommodating relations between formal and informal institutions are necessary for productive entrepreneurship in transition economies.