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Periods of unusually high or low temperatures have a significant impact on both nature and society at all times of the year. A possible change in frequency or persistence of such events would impact the wildlife as well as the economy and people’s everyday life. In Norway, a major factor determining temperature anomalies is the large-scale atmospheric circulation. It is therefore of interest to examine frequency and length of both cold/warm spells and certain circulation patterns in order to find a possible connection between trends. In the following study, it is done by analyzing daily minimum and maximum temperature from 1979 to 2018 measured at selected stations owned by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and applying different classification methods included in cost733class software on daily mean sea level pressure from ERA5 global reanalysis for the same time period. The results show that both frequency and length of cold and warm spells during winter (October to March) and summer (April to September), defined as a number of consecutive days with minimum/maximum temperature below the 25th/above the 75th percentile, have changed during the last four decades at all locations, with an overall increase in both measures for warm spells during both seasons and an overall decrease in both measures for cold spells during both seasons, with exception of the length of cold spells in winter which are varying between locations. By looking at relative frequency of different circulation types during cold and warm spells, as well as average temperatures measured during each circulation type, circulation types associated with these spells are identified. Warm spells are generally associated with air flow from southerly directions, while cold spells are associated with air flow from northerly directions. Air masses of continental origin in the east contribute to warm spells in summer and cold spells in winter, while the opposite is true for maritime air masses to the west. Further analysis indicates that circulation types responsible for cold spells have got slightly less frequent, while circulation types resulting in warm spells have got slightly more frequent, which would contribute to the change in frequency of observed cold and warm spells. Still, the magnitude of change is larger for the actual spells than for the atmospheric circulation, so a dominating factor would be that the temperature has increased everywhere for almost every circulation type, increasing the probability of the occurrence of warm spells and lowering it for cold spells.

The aim of the paper is a discussion on the economic aspect of a political transition analysed with the use of tools available in institutional economics. The last two decades have witnessed a revival of institutional economics in many different forms. That interest was caused, inter alia, by the political changes which were initiated in Poland over 20 years ago and have been subsequently followed by other East European states. The first part of the paper contains brief characteristics of contemporary institutionalism as understood from the point of view of its two major components: traditional institutionalism and new institutional economics. The second part, which refers to the findings and assumptions of institutional economics in its both forms, is an analysis of those phenomena which the author believes to have played a decisive role in the process and led to the transformation of the system, and those which prove that the process has not been quite completed yet. The final part is a brief account of the participation of the states in transition in the EU integration process.

Joseph E. Stiglitz, Globalizacja, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa 2004, ss. 233.

The Author is occupied with motivations and possibilities of changes concerning functioning of infra-structural components of national economy. He stresses the need for non ideological approach to privatisation problems; in case of infra-structural links of the economy the choice consists not in opposing a good market to a „bad State” but it is often reduced to declare itself for a deceptive market, anyway, or for equally deceptive State. When making a choice between less or more market solutions one can not make no mention of extra-economic circumstances or of premises of social order. Next the Author states that all postulates relating to privatisation and deregulation affect mainly the sphere of exploitation of the infrastructure and to a less extent - the infrastructure itself. For instance, the idea, otherwise proper, of deregulation of the transportation is not to be automatically identified with a postulate to abandon public regulation of developing the transportation infrastructure. So, a deregulation of infra-structural components of the economy does mean to a great measure a transition to other form of regulation; it is important on this opportunity to separate the States’ role as a regulator from possible assuming by this State of a role of the owner. Finally, the Author indicates a necessity of distinguishing a regulation aimed at establishing who and what are supposed to be done (the so-called structural regulation resolving itself into a reglamentation) from a regulation which aims at shaping the functioning of firms (the so-called regulation of the behaviour). The first one should be restricted to a maximum whereas the second one - consolidated and developed.

The main threads of the debate on importance of infrastructure as a condition for growth and development processes have been, presented in the article - starting from the idea of the so-called „big push” and ending with the theory o f endogeneous growth. Especially the last mentioned conception seems to be of particular importance not only from the point of view of originality of viewing mechanisms o f economic growth but also in what concerns some essential implications for economic politics. Taking into consideration different conceptions we must state that there is no doubts at all that an infrastructure is necessarily needed for the processes of growth and development could ever take place. It does not however mean that it is possible to consider the infrastructure and adequate public financial allocations as being a factor sufficient for to initiate and then maintain growth processes or even a factor guaranteeing increased activity of private sector. Also it is not possible to univocally determine the direction of casualness in the relationship between economic growth and infrastructure. An interdependence occurs in this case, however it could be very hard to treat univocally one o f the variables as being independent. A lack of simple casualness between the infrastructure and economic growth can not nevertheless be identified with marginal character o f the meaning of changes in infrastructure for the results of economic activity. A long lasting infrastructural indigence and consequently - poor services rendered - do weaken or even in extreme situation can render it impossible to achieve some positive results of economic growth and development.

Indications exist that supply limitations are present in the labor market in Poland. As a result, even individuals with minimum work experience or limited formal managerial education (e. g. graduates of language studies who completed a one year post-graduate study in management) have, so far, good chance to get a managerial job without any substantial difficulty. Change of jobs has not been difficult either. The ease of finding a job is often connected with high expectations regarding remuneration (relative to the average salary in the national economy). Managers expect that their salaries be only a part of their real work income since they expect it to be supplemented by various in-kind fringe benefits and other (preferably) tax-free considerations. Managers expect their salary to inrease quicker than inflation. This does not mean, however, that the remuneration is the only motivator for them. They are prone to attribute more motivating effect to the nature of the work they perform (i. e. such factors like, degree of autonomy, level work monotony or career development opportunities). Managers do not see any link between effects of their performance and their remuneration. Such a phenomenon is caused by various factors. Some managers are employed in companies which do not use individualized salary schedules. The main reason of the lack of connection between remuneration and performance can, noneless, be attributed to deficiency in the system of work performance evaluation systems. Quite possibly, this can be also explained by lack of such system altogether. Managers do not always understand criteria of evaluation of their performance. Such a lack of understanding is often associated with manager's considerably critical opinion of their immediate superiors. The superiors are often perceived as those people who do not know what exactly they want or have a tendency to depersonalize their relationships with suordinates. Opinions collected in the survey indicate clear deficiency of the human resources management in many Polish enterprises, both with, and without foreign participation. Digitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/2016

The general aim of the paper is a systenatization of concepts and also an analysis of some aspects of the process of forming institutional infrastructure in Europe after the collapse of centrally managed economic system. Characteristic feature of such transformations is that they concern mainly the sphere of non-material components of economic subjects' surrouding. This involves difficulties in monitoring them and in interpreting them in a strict way. Europe needs a transformation of all the elements of its institutional infrastructure. In teh case of such institutions-organizations as European Union or NATO - an evolution is expected towards their more universal character. Within the institutions of codified principles the developing of European political infrastructure (i.e. agreements serving increased co-operation of all States of the region) is more particularly desirable. The element that unites transformations of institutions-organizations and institutions-formali zed principles is the fact that both of them are undertaken fully consciously. Also changes within institutions-non-formalized principles are of much importance for the process of European integration. The changes are the result of very complex and time consuming economic and social developments. The need for such changes involves more particularly the societies of former Eastern Europe which, under specific conditions of centrally planned economy, have developped institutional system quite difficult to adept it to the market economy. Digitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/2016

The paper deals with a description of institutionalism and focuses on its contemporary form - the so-called neo-institutionalism. The main three parts relate to: (1) characteristics and criticism of neo-institutionalism; (2) the relationship between neo-institutionalism and the mainstream economics; (3) the relationship between neo-institutionalism and the new institutional economics. In the authors opinion neither neo-institutionalism nor the new institutional economics should be seen as alternatives to the mainstream economics. Instead, an attempt should be made to combine their strengths and achievements in order to provide a better explantation of the market economy mechanisms In conclusion, attention is paid to the applicability of neo-institutionalism and of the new institutional economics to the analysis of transition from a centrally planned to a free market economy. Many of the related phenomena (inertia and slow evolution of institutions as obstacles to the economic transition) are best explicable on the level of institutional analysis. In this context neo-institutionalism seems more useful for macroeconomists, whereas the new institutional economics can be of help both to mezo- and microeconomists Digitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/2016

The study elaborates essentials, in the author's opinion, of the answer to the following query formulated at the outset: is the formation and the development of contemporary crisis phenomena related, and to what extent, to the present policies of infrastructure developement and to its attained level. A decision to elaborate this subject can be justified, on the one hand with prevalent disturbances of the economic developement in European States and on the other, with the weight attributed to infrastructure as a substantial determinant of economic changes. Relations between infrastructure and a developement of capitalist states can be characterized by means of presentation of three crucial moments. The first one incidental to the 19 c. industrial revolution, the second, resulting from Keynsian assumptions and the third one, started, in the author's opinion, in 1973 along with the oil crisis and a process of the EEC extension. As far as the socialist States are concerned, the author indicates at the significant reasons of apparent tendencies in economic practice in those States, they are rooted in the views on understanding a socialist economy, still vivid in the theory and present in the practice of economic life (e.g. identifying it with one giant enterprise), on principles and conditions of development (e.g. a tendency to allow a preferential treatment to accumulation in a distribution of national income), as well as on a practical interpretation of goals of socialist economy. Many conclusions and theses could be illustrated on account of a wide employment of statistical data on a state and a pace of transformations of economic infrastructure of the 20 European states, on utilization of infrastructure services in relation to the gained effect of GNP and on assessment of interactions between a level of infrastructure developement and a general stage of developement. Digitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/2016