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PurposeThis study investigates entrepreneurial overconfidence (EOC) levels among solo entrepreneurs at the country level. Although transitions from solo to employer entrepreneur are relatively rare, the solo self-employed have become an important source of potential job creation by virtue of the sharp increase in their numbers in the past two decades. When EOC levels are too high, job creation ambitions may be unrealistic and unrealised. Unrealised ambitions and business failure can lead not only to psychological and financial costs for the individual entrepreneurs involved, but at the societal level also to wasted government resources, and increased costs for the entrepreneurial ecosystem as a whole. Therefore, it is important to know more about the entrepreneurial overconfidence levels of solo entrepreneurs in different countries and their determinants.Design/methodology/approachUsing Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data for 71 countries over the period 2013–2016, the authors construct a new measure of entrepreneurial overconfidence of solo entrepreneurs and relate this to three recently developed indicators of national culture.FindingsThe findings indicate that EOC levels are positively related to Joy (versus Duty), and negatively related to Trust (versus Distrust). Finally, no significant relationship between entrepreneurial overconfidence and Individualism is found in the study (versus Collectivism).Research limitations/implicationsGiven the lack of literature examining the relationship between EOC levels and cultural variables hypotheses were developed using the existent body of knowledge in the area, which is at the early stage of development. The hypotheses derivation has used mostly theoretical arguments relating to the link between national culture and overconfidence of entrepreneurs in general, rather than relating specifically to solo entrepreneurs. The measure of EOC uses expectations of employment growth to proxy overconfidence, but other measures of entrepreneurial success may also be explored.Practical implicationsAs the hiring of employees can be a costly process (Coad et al., 2017), it is important that entrepreneurs have realistic expectations of what it requires to hire employees. This is especially the case for solo entrepreneurs since they do not have experience of hiring their own employees. This paper addresses such issues at an aggregate level by exploring what factors explain country differences in overconfidence levels of solo entrepreneurs.Social implicationsIt is worthwhile to distinguish between solo and employer entrepreneurs when studying their EOC levels, as the ambitions of these two types of entrepreneurs are different. Empirically, this study introduces a new measure of EOC tailored towards the solo self-employed.Originality/valueThis study contributes to entrepreneurship literature by expanding current knowledge on entrepreneurial overconfidence at the country level. Past research has studied EOC at the individual level, however limited research exists on the phenomenon of EOC from a country level perspective. This is important as unrealised entrepreneurial ambitions may not only create substantial costs for the individual entrepreneurs involved, it may also lead to substantial societal costs, including waste of government resources.

The Tunnel Contour Quality Index (TCI) is an index established by Kim and Bruland for an effective management of a tunnel contour quality. It is estimated on a basis of measurements of two contour profiles within a single blasting round, using a laser profiler. However, the representativeness of measurement results obtained that way for the assessment of a contour quality of the entire blasting round is disputable. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) technology, combined with available numerical surface modeling tools, enables development of three-dimensional models of a monitored surface. The article reports results of TCI calculations based on TLS data. The presented TLS technique is based not only on selected cross-sections of the tunnel contour but also on the description of the morphology of the tunnel contour surface. The case study concerns measurements of the “Mały Luboń” tunnel niche, located in Naprawa, Poland. The TCI values for three blasting rounds were determined in accordance with Kim and Bruland's guidelines and were compared to TCI values determined with the proposed TLS technique. On a basis of this comparison, it can be concluded that the results obtained with the TLS technique are more reliable and representative for description of the contour quality of the entire blasting round than results obtained with the laser profiling technique.

We investigate hiring plans by solo self-employed workers at the time of business start-up using a survey of solo start-up entrepreneurs. We find a negative relationship between the tertiary education of the entrepreneurs and their future plans to hire employees, reflecting that motives other than income may be relevant for highly-educated solo self-employed to start a business. We suggest that a specific form of autonomy may play a mediating role in this relationship: pursuing self-expression in work, which is best realized by operating in a solo capacity in Knowledge-Intensive Services (KIS) sectors. We thus argue that the choice to operate in these sectors can be seen as an indicator of pursuing self-expression in work. Our empirical analysis shows that the negative relationship between tertiary education and hiring plans is indeed mediated by the choice of KIS sectors. Our interpretation of this result is that pursuit of self-expression in work is the main reason for highly-educated solo entrepreneurs to refrain from hiring employees.

Dilatancy understood as inelastic volume changes of rock under conditions of differential stress not only foreshadows brittle rock failure [1, 2, 3], preceding such phenomena as earthquakes or mining-induced rockbursts, but also defines the kinematics of rock deformation [4, 5]. This article shows that there is a quantitative relationship between the dilatancy occurring at different levels of rock load and the development of fracturing that accompanies the process of rock degradation. Based on the mechanical laboratory test results of Wustenzelleer fine-grained sandstone, the article presents analyses of plastic volume changes in rock samples and a certain measure of fracture development accompanying the process of their degradation. Thanks to the characteristics obtained through mechanical tests with unloading, the inelastic volumetric strain of the samples was established, and the scalar damage variable (CDM - continuum damage mechanics approach) was determined at various load levels. These results demonstrated the relationship between dilatancy and rock stiffness changes describing the development of fracturing. Three load intervals were determined, in which the nature of the analysed phenomena, i.e. dilatancy and damage describing the development of cracks, undergoes significant changes. The highest intensity of both phenomena was obtained in the post-critical load range, between the ultimate strength limit and the residual strength of the samples, in which rock samples undergo the process of degradation the most. Obtained dependencies allow the correlation to be taken into account in damage mechanics models describing the variable stiffness of rocks in the loading process.

Countries vary widely and systematically in the extent to which the ambitions of their entrepreneurs differ from their realisations. We label this discrepancy entrepreneurial overconfidence (EOC). Although a certain level of EOC may be beneficial for an economy, we provide empirical support for the argument that if entrepreneurial ambitions substantially and systematically exceed realisations, this may be at the cost of economic and societal prosperity. Therefore, we need to know more about country levels of EOC and their determinants, particularly with respect to the growth-oriented segment of entrepreneurship. Combining data on entrepreneurial ambitions from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and data on realisations from Eurostat, we construct a measure of EOC at the country level and correlate its variation across 23 European Union (EU) countries over the period 2004–2015 with a set of economic and cultural factors. Among other findings, our results show that ambitions exceed realisations in almost all countries, but that this discrepancy is significantly greater for new member countries entering the EU since 2004. Policy implications of our results are discussed, particularly for promoting ambitious entrepreneurship in countries at the intermediate development stage.

The aim of the study was to determine the economic, production and technical efficiency of family farms maintaining pigs. The research was carried out in 40 farms specializing in the production of pigs (20 farms produced fatteners in the closed cycle and 20 in the open cycle). The study was performed in 2015-2016. The economic efficiency of production was calculated based on the division of costs into direct and indirect costs. The economic categories conform with the FADN terminology. DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) model was used for the calculation of technical efficiency. It was found that on farms producing fatteners in the open cycle there was a higher income from activity per 1 kg of pork and a higher rate of relative effectiveness.

The aim of this study is to present the essence and role of local food systems in rural areas. The study has a review form and is based on secondary sources. Local food systems are an alternative to conventional systems of production, processing and distribution of food. For local food systems characteristic are short food supply chains, which enables the development of more cooperative forms of relationship between rural producers and consumers, who are looking for locally produced food with specific values of quality. The economic benefits of local food systems are manifested directly among others in increase farm income and indirectly they are visible their interaction with the whole local economy. Social benefits are manifested in social inclusion and the quality of life of local communities, while environmental benefits are a result of more sustainable and environmentally friendly farming practices. Thanks to the positive impact, the role of local food systems in revitalizing rural areas is increasingly appreciated.

In the innovation rankings, Poland scores low, and the results of research indicate that the weakest link in this field are the companies. For the companies catching up with the world’s best, the possibility to obtain specific benefits from the relative underdevelopment as a result of application of intelligent techniques and strategies is particularly important. They allow for the achievement of satisfactory results at a reasonable cost and limited risk. The article discuses selected strategies of the companies concerning implementation of the advanced technologies, which may be an alternative to the risky and capitalintensive strategy of technological leadership. They are defined as “intelligent”, because they aim at reducing the costs and risks incurred, and at the same time, they make use of the advantages resulting from the delayed integration with the global technological race. Such “resourceful strategies” include: strategy of innovation of “technological spatter hunters” and cooperative technological internationalization.

The aim of the study was to investigate the respondents' opinion about the quality of hotel services as a factor conditioning the trust of customers occupying accommodation facilities in the province of Silesia. The study was conducted in late May and June 2013 among 100 respondents. In order to establish a statistically significant correlation between the answers and the factors differentiating Chi2 test was used using Statistica software v.10.0. The strength of the correlation between responses and factors differentiating the study group established by the designation factor V Cramer. The analysis found that the preferences and behavior of guests occupying accommodations in Silesia are not dependent on gender, age, education or place of (permanent/ temporary) residence of respondents. Hotel guests occupying accommodations in Silesia are characterized by high awareness on the categorization of hotels, which is based on frequent use of hotel services for tourism, mainly accommodation of individual or group trips. The main determinants of the choice of accommodation facilities in Silesia by hotel guests proved to be the location of the property but also the price and the comfort of its rooms and the quality of services offered, including the quality of the work of the staff and the quality of additional services.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to predict future career paths of university students, distinguishing between paid employment, running one’s own independent business and running a family business. The main predictor is the students’ current mode of entrepreneurial exposure, both in terms of the students running their own business, and in terms of their parents running their own business. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a comprehensive survey held in May 2013 among 1,490 business and law students of Kozminski University in Warsaw, Poland. To predict future career expectations in ten years’ time, multinomial logit regressions were employed. Findings The authors find that, among students with a family business background, those students who are actively involved in their parents’ business are significantly more likely to pursue joining the family firm, rather than starting their own business. Practical implications In order to stimulate business succession, universities with a large proportion of students with family business background may consider launching dedicated programs promoting the interest of students in the businesses run by their parents. Originality/value The authors investigate to what extent active participation of university students in their parents’ business is associated with a higher probability to pursue a career in family business. The research has important implications in light of the increasing difficulty in Europe to find successors for family businesses.

This study examines the impact of internationalization experience and market scope strategy on the export performance of firms operating in Poland. This study uses data from 2003 to 2010, an eight-year period that includes the country's accession into the European Union in 2004. Several important findings are revealed by the research. First, a firm's export experience and performance have an inverted S-shaped relationship, i.e., performance is increasing at low and high levels but decreasing at moderate levels of experience. Second, the relationship between the growth of the number of export countries and export performance is initially positive, but becomes negative over time. Third, over time the growth of a firm's share of the main export market is found to be negatively related to export performance. Revealing the dynamism of these relationships through a longitudinal approach is of theoretical and practical importance to scholars, practitioners and governments of other emerging economies that are considering joining similar trade organizations/agreements.

Rock samples can behave brittle, transitional or ductile depending on test pressure, rate of loading and temperature. Axial stiffness and its changes, relative and absolute dilatancy, yield, and fracture thresholds, residual strength are strongly pressure dependent. In this paper the stress drop as an effect of rock sample strength loss due to failure was analyzed. Uniaxial and triaxial experiments on three types of rock were performed to investigate the stress drop phenomenon. The paper first introduces short background on rock behavior and parameters defining a failure process under uniaxial and triaxial loading conditions. Stress drop data collected with experiments are analyzed and its pressure dependence phenomenon is described. Two methods for evaluation of stress drop value are presented.

An inherent feature of Polish collieries within the Upper Silesia Coal Basin is the high level of mining induced seismicity, resulting in elevated rockburst hazard levels. One of the major causes of high-energy seismic events is that mining operations are continued in the vicinity of major faulting zones. The study summarises the results of geo-mechanical and statistical analysis of mining-induced seismic activity in the region of major faults, in a selected section within a colliery. Seismic activity assessment involves the categorisation of seismic events due to tectonic movements in the context of various face development systems with respect to the faulting zone: perpendicular (advancing towards the faulting zone or retreating) or parallel (along the faulting zone). Registered seismic activity was analysed in the context of epicenter locations and variations of seismic activity in relation to the developing face operations in the function of time and energy ratings (Gutenberg-Richter formulas). Results have demonstrated that increased levels of seismic activity in the strata can be attributable to mining operations in the vicinity of major faulting zones.

Widespread in Polish hard coal mining, cable bolts are used to reinforce the arch yielding support of roadways. This article attempts to prove that change in approach to long bolting technology can bring significant benefits in terms of improving the stability of roadways, including limiting the development of the fracturing zone in the roof, and ultimately also increasing the frame spacing of arch yielding support. The article contains the results of numerical calculations using the finite element method showing the effect of pre-tensioning on the work of cable bolts installed in a situation when a zone of a fractured rock mass appeared in a roof excavation. As a result of the calculations, the dependence of the final vertical displacements of the roadways roof on different pre-tensioning variants of the cable bolts was presented. The second part of the article presents the practical aspects of the use of cable bolts with pre-tensioning in reinforcing the rock mass and arch yielding support of roadways. In addition, the article identifies the developments in bolting technology which could lead to an increase in work safety and reduce the costs of arch yielding support.

The paper presents the results of analyses on tendency of bedded rock mass towards rockburst, carried out on the basis of laboratory tests of rock samples and determined indices, as well as by means of numerical calculations. The first part of the paper discusses selected parameters evaluating the tendency of rocks towards burst, on the basis of which the analysis was carried out in order to assess rockburst hazard in selected complexes of strata in Upper Silesian Coal Basin. Rockburst hazard in bedded rock mass is also analyzed with the use of numerical methods and the results of calculations of rock damage development in the exploitation front during coal deposit extraction are presented. Burst hazard of rock mass is studied through the changes of intensiveness of damage process in the area of exploitation front.

This article concerns numerical modeling of the impact of mining operations on fault behavior, carried out on the basis of a calculation program based on the finite element method. The calculations and their graphic results related to the reactions of vertical discontinuity on the mining operations that run along its boundary under changing operating parameters, such as geometry of the field and direction of mining with respect to the fault, as well as the method of liquidation of the caving zone. The behavior of the fault was analyzed based on distributions in the plane of shear stress and slip, together with their range and energy dissipated due to friction. The results of numerical calculations made it possible to draw conclusions on the impact of faults and the impact of operating conditions of mining in their vicinity on the level of seismic hazard.

The paper presents results of laboratory investigation and analysis of crack initiation threshold identification of dolomite samples. First, selected methods for determining crack initiation thresholds are briefly described with special attention paid to four methods: crack volume strain method [14], change in Poisson’s ratio [8], lateral strain response method [16], and dilatancy method [4]. The investigation performed on dolomite samples shows that for the uniaxial and conventional triaxial compression tests, the above mentioned methods give quite similar values, except for the crack volume strain method. Crack initiation threshold determined by this method has a distinctively lower value than that obtained by the other methods. The aim of the present paper was to review and assess these methods for identifying crack initiation threshold based on laboratory tests of dolomite samples.

The article presents the results of microscopic analyses of shear bands of carbonate rocks subjected to triaxial compression. Strength tests were performed in axisymmetric loading conditions, at various confining pressures and strain rates. The layout and nature of phenomena occurring in shear bands at various strain rate loading conditions were analysed under the microscope on thin rock sections of damaged samples. The principal part of the study involves identification of damage types in shear bands, which mainly depend on the rock deformation rate and petrography. Also, quantitative analysis of particular types of damage in shear bands was performed and their dependence on the mechanical tests conditions. The last item discussed in this article is the quantitative analysis of the width of shear bands at various loading conditions.

The article is based on the results of uniaxial and triaxial compression tests, performed on Wustenzeller sandstone. An overview of the possible definitions of damage variable describing the process of damage development on the basis of various hypotheses has been presented in the first part of the article. In the main part of the article the author has presented the results of laboratory investigations, where the state of damage and its changes in rock samples under uniaxial and triaxial compression conditions were being observed. Using a modified procedure of triaxial tests, a definition of damage variable, determined on the basis of changes of volumetric stiffness of an examined rock, has been developed. Damage variable defined this way, in relation to a variable determined on the basis of axial stiffness changes, points to some anisotropy effects of damage phenomenon. The results obtained from both methods have been compared whereas the relations determining the evolution of damage variable in the loading process have been established.

Kozminski University (KU) is a Polish private business and law school established in 1993. It has 5300 students and a leading position in management education in Poland as well as Central and Eastern Europe. KU offers curricular EE for Bachelor, Master and PhD degrees. Most offers are for BA students in Management with a Major in Entrepreneurship. While KU had been offering entrepreneurship courses since its early years, since 2004 the University has embarked on promoting ambitious entrepreneurship among students. This proved to be a fruitful direction but necessitated reshaping minds and attitudes of students and teachers, shifting their focus away from small-scale establishments to business ventures with growth ambitions. Such a shift turned out to be challenging: the pool of students with the right mindset for ambitious entrepreneurship was so far found to be limited at KU itself. However, KU established links with students from other universities in the region and country and from non-business academic disciplines in extra-curricular activities. In these activities it was particularly fruitful for the quality of business projects to mix students from various disciplines like business management, engineering, agriculture and arts. KU also initiated a programme for training entrepreneurship lecturers from other higher education institutions who in turn introduced entrepreneurship courses in 40 non-business universities in Poland. KU’s experiences in EE and lessons learned may be particularly relevant for “catching up” higher education institutions with limited prior experience in teaching entrepreneurship. It may be important for the transferability of such experiences that a substantial part of teaching materials is already available in written form.

In this chapter, entrepreneurship policy is discussed in the context of emerging economies with particular focus on three major issues. First is the rationale for the state’s intervention in the enterprise sector. Second, the goals that public authorities intend to achieve by implementing a variety of entrepreneurship policy instruments. As evidenced by experience, these objectives are disparate and form various relationships: synergetic, neutral and—sometimes—competitive. Third, a holistic concept of a National Entrepreneurship System (NES) will be presented. The NES concept is rooted in the institutional context of socioeconomic policy, based on the notion that effectiveness in policymaking is determined not only by specific instruments and programmes, but also by a set of rules and standards, as well as the functioning of business support organizations, which should operate in a co-ordinated manner, thus forming a coherent system.

Entrepreneurship is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon. Despite extensive research having been conducted since the early 18th century, controversy and debate persist among researchers in relation to fundamental issues, such as the definition of an entrepreneur and the role of entrepreneurship in the economic and social development. Most vividly debated issues include the distinction between “true” entrepreneurs and small business owners, stage of company development and entrepreneurship, overlapping between entrepreneurship, innovation and management, whether one can be entrepreneurial outside the business sector and to what extent entrepreneurial success depends on the personal traits or relevant know-how and skills can be learned. The concept of ambitious entrepreneurship deserves particular attention of policymakers in emerging economies.

The principal characteristic of entrepreneurship as a socioeconomic phenomenon is its immanent diversity, which, arguably, poses a challenge for researchers. In turn, it is crucial that policymakers recognize the internal diversity of business establishments and their leaders, as it allows them to influence more effectively—with the use of various instruments—the pace and the directions of development within the enterprise sector. A total of 24 facets of entrepreneurship have been conventionally divided into three main groups. The first one is the segment of small business. The second group features entrepreneurship facets reflecting the renaissance of entrepreneurship at the turn of the 21st century. The third group encompasses diverse manifestations of entrepreneurial attitudes outside the business sector.

Entrepreneurship is defined in a variety of ways both in research and for the purpose of determining the objectives and instruments of entrepreneurship policy. This creates some confusion and adversely affects the level of public debate about the nature, scale and role of entrepreneurship in socioeconomic development. Opposing views are represented not only by journalists, but also members of the academic community and politicians. Representatives of these divergent views cite data and indicators from various sources, which are constructed in different manners. It is, therefore, virtually impossible to settle the dispute and see a clear picture of the existing trends and patterns in entrepreneurship. In this chapter, an attempt will be made to clarify basic concepts and methods of measuring entrepreneurship to allow comparative analysis of the level of entrepreneurial activity worldwide and in Europe, with particular emphasis on lessons that can be learnt from such comparisons by the policymakers from emerging economies.

The significant contribution of smaller firms to employment and particularly, the creation of new jobs was, next to their crucial role in innovation, a key argument for rejecting the notion that the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) plays a peripheral role in the economy, thus calling for a new paradigm on the entrepreneurship renaissance that took place at the turn of the 21st century. The promotion of entrepreneurial activity for the purpose of countering unemployment remains at the centre of attention for policymakers. The recipe seems simple. Let’s encourage people, including the unemployed, to set up their own business: they will employ themselves and, in the future, might also give work to other job-seekers. In reality, however, the situation is much more complex. In order to use the entrepreneurial lever to fight unemployment effectively, one needs to have a thorough understanding of the trends prevailing in the business sector in order to identify categories of business establishments and the forms of entrepreneurial activity that generate new jobs. Equally important is the quality of jobs in the small business versus the corporate sector.

Entrepreneurship revival at the turn of the 21st century has also been reflected in international business operations. Smaller companies, taking advantage of the new opportunities engendered by modern information and communication technologies (ICT) and progress in international economic integration, sought to conquer international markets. The latter trends coincided with a strategic direction observed in emerging economies that strive to achieve long-term development goals through deeper integration with global capital and product markets. It has translated into several policy directions. Firstly, it has been recognized that the expansion in international markets can accelerate the growth of domestic firms, particularly in manufacturing and modern service sectors. In the case of high-tech start-ups from emerging economies, their success is practically impossible without co-operative links and a direct presence in key global technology centres. Secondly, the widespread criticism of the negative role played by multinational corporations in developing host countries has been gradually replaced with a more balanced approach. It has been acknowledged that foreign direct investment brings both negative and positive effects and that the overall balance of gains and losses can be improved by effective policy measures vis-a-vis transnational corporations. The third direction has been based on the notion that emerging economies need to develop the upper echelon of domestic companies that will operate as truly global players, thus strengthening the position of a given country in the global economy.

In this research were investigated the three most frequently studied characteristics of entrepreneurs – motivation, self-efficacy, and risk attitudes. We divided the sample of entrepreneurs into two subgroups: opportunity-driven vs. necessity-driven. In agreement with findings of research performed in countries with developed market economies, we found that the need for independence and the need for achievement were of higher importance to the entrepreneurs than to the non-entrepreneurs. However, this was only true of the opportunity-driven subgroup of entrepreneurs, while not of those categorized as necessity-driven. In contrast, the most important motive in the group of non-entrepreneurs and as well as the necessity-driven subgroup of entrepreneurs was job security. In accordance with Knight's claim, we found that opportunity-driven (but not necessity-driven) entrepreneurs revealed higher levels of self-confidence than the group of employees. We did not find support for the claim that entrepreneurs are more risk-prone than wage earners. On the other hand, entrepreneurs (both opportunity- and necessity-driven) reported more everyday risky investment activities than wage earners did. We interpret this observation in terms of the necessity of entrepreneurs for risk-taking, rather than personal preference and liking.

After the collapse of the communist system, multinational corporations (MNCs) embarked on direct investments in Poland and launched export operations through their subsidiaries at astonishing speed, in spite of the initially weak institutional environment. These developments challenge the explanatory power of institutional theories explaining the patterns of MNC expansion into Central and Eastern Europe after 1989. We propose an alternative theoretical framework based on a stream of organizational research that focuses specifically on strategic responses to radical changes in external operating environments. The analysis is based on a dataset covering 4,000 subsidiaries operating in the Polish manufacturing sector during the transition period 1989–2003.

Artykuł prezentuje wyniki badań historycznych dotyczących działalności w Polsce międzywojennej brytyjskiej firmy księgowej Whinney, Murray & Co – poprzedniczki Ernst & Young. Z dostępnych autorowi danych wynika, że była to jedyna zagraniczna firma księgowa aktywna w Polsce w tym okresie. Podążając za swoimi klientami, brytyjskie firmy księgowe już na przełomie XIX i XX wieku rozpoczęły ekspansję zagraniczną. W latach 20. i 30. XX wieku, gdy liczba zleceń audytorskich w wiodących krajach europejskich rosła, zaczęły one tworzyć oddziały (biura) w metropoliach i ośrodkach przemysłowych. Decyzja o utworzeniu biura przez Whinney, Murray & Co w Warszawie w 1932 r. wynikała z dogodnej lokalizacji, umożliwiającej obsługę projektów audytorskich w całej Europie ŚrodkowoWschodniej. Warszawskie biuro obsługiwało zagranicznych klientów, ale także polskie elektrownie oraz uczestniczyło w programie elektryfikacji polskich kolei z udziałem brytyjskich inwestorów. Whinney, Murray & Co miała także istotny wkład w rozwój polsko-brytyjskiej współpracy gospodarczej przed drugą wojną światową, a założyciel biura w Warszawie był członkiem założycielem utworzonej w 1933 r. Polsko-Brytyjskiej Izby Handlowej.

We investigate developments in private sector activity as proxied by business ownership (BO) rates in four Central and East European (CEE) transition economies (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic) and compare them with similar developments in other OECD countries in the period 1989–2008. Our analysis reveals that BO rates in the four CEE countries have been converging rapidly towards the levels of other OECD countries, and these CEE countries were able to rebuild their private sectors in a relatively short period of transition. We also find sizable differences among the four CEE countries under study in the level and dynamics of change of BO since 1989.