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Purpose: The article aims to analyze the impact of selected factors on the level of financial leverage in stock exchanges listed companies of the Visegrad Group, and to determine whether the direction of this impact is consistent with the assumptions of the trade-off theory or the pecking order theory. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis covered 259 non-financial companies listed in the years 1998-2020 on the stock exchanges in the Visegrad Group countries. The results of the dynamic panel econometric model estimates were verified via appropriate statistical tests. The calculations were carried out using the Gretl package. The subject of the analysis entailed the impact of profitability, liquidity, growth opportunities, company size and asset structure on the capital structure of the entities under examination. Findings: Taking the country-specific effect into account, it has been demonstrated that the company capital structure decisions are consistent with the pecking order theory. Considering the companies surveyed as separate panels, in distribution by each individual country, a negative, a statistically significant correlation has been confirmed between debt and profitability only. Relative to other factors, divergent results were obtained for individual Visegrad Group countries, which does not negate the validity of the statement that the capital structure decisions of the companies analyzed are consistent with the pecking order theory. The dynamic nature of capital structure was confirmed for all Visegrad Group companies, considered collectively and individually, except for Poland. Research limitations/implications: The research takes into account only quoted companies, so its results do not explain capital structure behavior of other companies. The research is a contribution to further analyses of the capital structure, which covers all types of enterprises. Practical implications: Knowing the characteristics describing the activities of a given company and the country in which the company operates, analysts can determine on the basis of estimated models what capital structure is typical for a given company. In addition, the analyst is able to identify the effect of the country, i.e. compare companies in terms of capital structure. Originality/value: The study takes into account the impact of ‘country factor’. It made possible to identify main internal factors characterizing capital structure of the enterprises operating in different economic conditions. Moreover, dynamic nature of capital structure was taken into account. The results can be generalized for all V4’s companies listed on the stock exchange. The conducted research may be addressed to analysts, investors and managers of companies as well as researchers conducting research in this area. Keywords: capital structure, pecking order theory, trade-off theory, panel modeling, Visegrad Group countries. Category of the paper: Research paper.

The interest rate curve is often viewed as the leading indicator of economic prosperity in a broad sense. This paper studies the ability of the slope of the yield curve in the term structure of interest rates to impact the sectoral indices on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, using daily data covering the period from 1 January 2001 to 30 September 2020. The results of the research indicate an ambiguous dependence of the logarithmic rates of return of sub-indices on the change of the interbank interest rate curve. The only sectors showing a clear relationship of this type is energy and pharmaceuticals.

During the years 2000-2018, the number of enterprises conducting research and development activity in Poland was increasing systematically, thus the expenditures on research and development were increasing as well. The impact of R&D activity on the level of innovation of both enterprises and entire economies is related to objective and subjective structure of these expenditures which means that is not connected only with the value of the expenditures for its financing. The purpose of this paper is to present the level of expenditures on R&D in the business enterprise sector in Poland, in comparison to Eurozone countries and to analyze the convergence of value of these expenditures in Poland. The authors of the article used description and analysis of the statistical data obtained from the EUROSTAT and the GUS (General Statistical Office in Poland) statistics and estimation of econometric models and testing the occurrence of sigma and beta convergence. Based on the results we state that the key issue is to further activate Polish enterprises within the sphere of research and development, because Poland, in comparison with Eurozone countries, ranks within the group of countries with low expenditures on research and development and with structures characteristic of less prosperous economies. The study allowed determination of occurrence of sigma and beta convergence in Poland, in comparison with the Eurozone countries.

Financial-sector companies differ significantly from other enterprises in terms of the business activity carried out, which mainly consists in provision of financial services and consultancy with regard to financial products. Financial institutions, similarly to other companies, issue shares that are traded on the stock exchange in order to obtain additional capital. The purpose of the paper is to indicate which financial ratios significantly affect the rates of return of the shares issued by the financial institutions analyzed. The empirical analysis involves financial institutions operating on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in the years 2000–2018. The source data adopted for the analysis result from financial statements that are compliant with the applicable regulations regarding financial reporting, in particular with the International Financial Reporting Standards. Financial reports constitute the basis for analyses and evaluations of the activity of a given financial institution as well as are the source of relevant information that is used by depositors and investors in decision-making processes. The results of the unbalanced panel estimation, carried out using appropriate diagnostic tests, indicated a financial ratio, such as return on assets, that proved to be significant. Moreover, effects were indicated that are specific for particular sectors. The banking sector should be analyzed separately from other financial-sector companies.

Banks constitute a specific sector of stock-exchange-listed companies. The main factors affecting their rates of return are financial indicators. The aim of this paper is to identify these factors. Using annual data from 1998 to 2018, an unbalanced panel was created, covering 13 banks listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The model proposed has been estimated for selected financial indicators. Next, factor analysis was used, by the means of which the latent factors were calculated. The results of the research allowed identification of the impact the latent factors have on the rates of return and showed that the main indicators determining the rate-of-return level were the operating profit margin, the return on equity, the equity ratio and the share of the operating expenses in the income on core operations.

Beginning in 2017, stock-exchange-listed companies in Poland have been obliged to publish non-financial information. This is due to the implementation of Directive 2014/95/EU in Polish law, which requires the dis- closure of extended non-financial information on the part of specified large public-interest companies and capi- tal groups. Taking the above into consideration, the aim of this article is to answer the following questions: 1) What is the state of the non-financial disclosures made by stock-exchange-listed companies in Poland? 2) What are the differences in reporting non-financial information by companies from various industries? 3) What factors affect the disclosure of non-financial information? In total, 53 companies were researched. The results obtained indicate that the form of the disclosures varies. Most commonly, non-financial information was presented in management commentaries. The scope of the information presented was diverse. The most non-financial disclosures were made by companies from the chemical and the energy sectors. The following factors influenced the publication of this type of information: the entity’s size, its market value and the industry to which a given company belongs. In contrast, no positive associations between the economic performance of a company and non-financial disclosure, nor between the financial leverage of a company and non-financial disclosure have been found, with the exception of companies from the low-profile sector. The studies involved content analysis and the Tobit regression model. Existing results of research on non-financial reporting made by stock-exchange-listed companies in Poland did not en- compass the last reporting period prior to the introduction of the changes to the Act on Accounting. Therefore, the results obtained allow us to determine the degree of preparation on the part of the researched companies belonging to various sectors (of larger and smaller environmental nuisance).

Celem artykulu jest ocena poziomu ryzyka inwestowania w akcje spolek budowlanych notowanych na GPW w Warszawie w kontekście koniunktury w budownictwie. Do ekstrakcji cyklu koniunkturalnego w budownictwie zastosowano metode Bry-Boschan. Oceny ryzyka dokonano za pomocą ekonometrycznych modeli wyceny kapitalowej, tj. modeli Sharpe’a oraz CAPM. Poprawnośc oszacowanych modeli zweryfikowano za pomocą odpowiednich testow statystycznych. Cykl koniunkturalny w budownictwie zostal wyodrebniony na podstawie danych miesiecznych pochodzących z testow koniunktury. Do oszacowania ryzyka wykorzystano miesieczne ceny akcji spolek budowlanych notowanych na GPW w Warszawie w latach 2000–2015. Poziom ryzyka spolek budowlanych notowanych na GPW reagowal na zmiany koniunktury w budownictwie w latach 2000–2015. W wiekszości badanych podmiotow zaobserwowano, ze w trakcie trwania dekoniunktury wartości parametru beta byly wyzsze niz w okresach ozywienia i prosperity.

The aim of the article is to examine the dependence of investment risk level on selected fundamental features of funds. The analysis was carried out on 136 Polish equity funds, during the years 2014–2017. The study involved two different approaches to investment risk. The risk has been expressed symmetrically (by a standard deviation of the return rates) and asymmetrically (by a semi-standard deviation). The fundamental fund features were as follows: the size, the age and the capital inflow. As a result of applying the panel-data least squares method and fixed effects models, it was determined that the level of the semi-standard deviation is statistically significantly dependent on selected fund features. Contrastingly, in the case of the standard deviation, only two characteristics have statistically significant impact: lnAge and Fund Flow. The second part of the analysis focuses on checking whether there is a relationship between the size of the funds and the level of risk. The estimation results of linear panel-data regression models indicate existence of a statistically significant, positive relation of the funds whose net asset value (NAV) is below the median within the researched group of funds. Contrarily, in terms of such funds with the NAV above the median, no such relation was observed.

Dividend smoothing is a well-known empirical fact in developed countries. It is influenced by many factors. In this paper we analyse the relevance of dividend smoothing in the construction companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2000-2014. It is assumed that it is possible to estimate the level of dividend smoothing and to identify the factors determining this level. The implementation of the purpose and verification of the hypotheses required applying econometric models. The findings suggest that the Lintner model can be applied for construction companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange because the smoothing effect was statistically significant in most cases. However, it was not possible to identify statistically significant smoothing factors, although these factors can be useful in order to estimate the logit model which is used to predict whether the company will pay a dividend or not

The aim of the article is to assess the impact of the sector environment and of selected internal factors on the profitability level of the companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 1998-2016. An increase in the financial leverage, financial liquidity, non-debt tax shield and enterprise size cause a drop in the ROA. An increase in the ratio of fixed assets to the total assets results in an increase in the ROA. Similar results were obtained for the models estimated for the ROE. It means, that profitability of the examined companies results from the decisions made by the managers and from the impact of the sector environment.