Financial Autonomy of Local Government Units: Evidence from Polish Rural Municipalities

Satoła, Łukasz; Standar, Aldona; Kozera, Agnieszka

doi:10.4335/17.2.321-342(2019)

Cited by 25 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Moreover, in her research [12,13], Stanny proved the existence of a positive correlation between the development level of territorial units and financial aspects. Also, empirical research by Satoła and his team [91] suggests that a relationship exists between the level of own income potential, on one side, and the development level and functional type of Polish rural municipalities. Therefore, in order to enhance their financial autonomy, the authorities of these municipalities must take measures to attract new residents or stimulate entrepreneurship.…”

Section: Discussion and Political Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Local Finance in Overcoming Socioeconomic Inequalities in Polish Rural Areas

Standar

Kozera

2019

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Section: Discussion and Political Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Local Finance in Overcoming Socioeconomic Inequalities in Polish Rural Areas

Standar

Kozera

2019

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Therefore, when analyzing the decreasing level of own incomes in total incomes, it must be benchmarked against the increasing level of own incomes per capita. The above means that the financial autonomy of basic Polish LGUs does not decline [67].…”

Section: Functioning Of Polish Rural Communesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Own incomes of Polish communes mainly include local taxes and fees (e.g., property tax, agricultural tax, forestry tax), income taxes and funds derived from the sale and lease of property. At the same time, the amount of own incomes per capita and their share in total incomes are among the main indicators of these units' financial autonomy [63][64][65][66][67].…”

Section: Functioning Of Polish Rural Communesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying the Financial Risk Factors of Excessive Indebtedness of Rural Communes in Poland

Standar

Kozera

2020

Sustainability

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The purpose of this paper is to identify the financial risk factors of excessive indebtedness of Polish rural communes. The objective of this research task is to verify the following research hypothesis: the main determinant of the risk of excessive indebtedness is the rural communes’ own income potential. To meet the objective of this research, an empirical study was carried out in three steps. The first step of the research procedure was the analysis of the operation of Polish rural communes in the context of financial management. In the second step was the analysis of indebtedness of rural communes compared to other types of Polish administrative units in 2007–2017. The evolution of the level and share of total debt in total incomes of entities studied was analyzed, and the share of overindebted rural communes was identified. In the third step, a discriminatory analysis was performed to build a model able to forecast the financial risk factors of excessive indebtedness for Polish rural communes. The problem of increasing indebtedness can be observed in a growing number of communes and on an increasing scale in Poland. The discriminant analysis showed that the share of the operating surplus and own income in total income, as well as the amount of the EU funds per capita (in zlotys), are particularly significant. The study reveals that the smaller the share of the operating surplus in total income is as well as the greater the share of own income in total income and the amount of the EU funds in zlotys per capita are, the lower the value of the estimated discriminatory function is and the higher the risk of excessive indebtedness of a rural commune is.

show abstract

“…This is also reflected by their income (property taxes, shares in income taxes, i.e., PIT and CIT). On the other hand, most of them are peripheral, with a significant share of agricultural land and a low level of entrepreneurship resulting in a limited budget income [84]. Due to the need to carry out public tasks assigned to them, they have problems with executing investment projects that would bring them up to a higher level of development [85] and the limited number of such projects negatively affects their economy [86].…”

Section: Local Investments and Their Impact On Rural Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Local Investments in Creating Rural Development in Poland

2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Poland’s rural areas are characterised by a significant degree of development diversity, especially in the case of communes—the smallest territorial units. For development to take place, the entity responsible for its creation must incur the necessary investment expenditures. By implementing the public tasks assigned to them, communes are responsible for ensuring sustainable local development, which indirectly affects regional development and shapes the development of the entire country. Therefore, this article aims to assess the level and diversity of rural commune investment activities and their impact on the development of Poland’s rural areas. The empirical research conducted was aimed at verifying the following hypothesis: “The highest investment activity can be observed primarily in rural communes located in Eastern Poland”. The Regions of Eastern Poland are characterised by their peripheral location, both in the country and all of the EU. The research covered the 2007–2018 period due to a particular increase in local investment projects thanks to such factors as obtaining EU funding, as well as others. The research included one- and multidimensional analyses of the phenomenon examined with the use of the TOPSIS method to obtain the value of the synthetic measure of the rural commune investment activity level. The designated investment activity classes were the basis for the analysis of their links with their location within the macroregion, as well as their socio-economic status. The research has shown that the most pro-investment municipalities are located primarily in the Southern and Eastern Macroregions while those spending the least on investment projects are situated in the North-Western and Northern Macroregions. Thus, the research hypothesis put forth in the article has been confirmed. This delimitation is due to additional state resources being provided to the less developed eastern areas of Poland. Citizens living in these regions can not only take advantage of the funding provided as part of the Regional Operational Programmes, but also the Eastern Poland Programme dedicated to helping them.

show abstract

Financial Autonomy of Local Government Units: Evidence from Polish Rural Municipalities

Cited by 25 publications

References 0 publications

The Role of Local Finance in Overcoming Socioeconomic Inequalities in Polish Rural Areas

The Role of Local Finance in Overcoming Socioeconomic Inequalities in Polish Rural Areas

Identifying the Financial Risk Factors of Excessive Indebtedness of Rural Communes in Poland

Role of Local Investments in Creating Rural Development in Poland

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About