Welcome to the fifth issue of the International Journal of Management and Economics in 2024. This special issue includes six papers presented at three well-recognized domestic and international conferences:
XX National Congress of Economists on “Economic Challenges of the 21st Century. Poland-European Union-World,” organized by the Department of Economics, Finance and Management of the University of Szczecin, Międzyzdroje (Poland), June 2–5, 2024;
XXVII Scientific Conference on “Problems of Economics, Economic Policy and Public Finance,” organized by the Department of Economics and Economic Policy of the Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, Karpacz (Poland), September 9–11, 2024;
X International Scientific Conference on “Paradigms in Management Sciences,” organized by the International Academy of Applied Sciences in Lomza, Tykocin (Poland), September 16–18, 2024.
The first paper by Marzena Góralczyk aims to show how the employees of enterprises perceive the management paradigm using the example of J. Penc’s approach, in relation to its individual aspects/components in the entities in which they are employed. The paper presents various approaches to management paradigms. It also reveals the results of the author’s own empirical research, which is undoubtedly an interesting approach from the practical side, for those who are not creators of the theory but function in economic reality, in the business sphere. According to the author’s findings, the vast majority of employees of the surveyed enterprises perceive that the theoretical assumptions of the analyzed paradigm find their reference in practice.
The author of the second paper, Katarzyna Wójtowicz, examines patterns of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting by European cities, focusing on how local governments disclose sustainability information in response to regulations like the Non-Financial Reporting Directive and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. This study employs manual content analysis of ESG information from 15 C40 network cities based on an ESG Disclosure Index comprising 36 items grouped into criteria covering business models, ESG indicators. Cities were scored on the disclosure presence, with normalized scores ensuring equal category weight. The results show variations in ESG reporting, with Scandinavian cities scoring highest and Southern European cities lower. Environmental disclosures dominated, while social and governance aspects were less consistently reported.
The goal of the third article written by Tomasz Nawrocki and Mariusz Zieliński is to examine the impact of selected factors on wage differentiation. The authors examine whether the efficiency of human capital and tangible fixed assets explains inter-sectoral and interindustry differences in wages in Poland. The analysis was conducted based on financial statements, management reports, and nonfinancial information reports published by companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, from 19 industries, grouped into four sectors. The results indicate that inter-sectoral and interindustry differences in wages and benefits are related to the efficiency of human capital and tangible fixed assets.
The fourth paper by Monika Osińska demonstrates how fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) can be successfully applied to assess the conditions of municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment efficiency by comparing the results with those obtained from tobit regression modeling (TRM). TRM identifies two factors significantly determining MSW treatment efficiency: R&D expenditure and educational attainment. The variables directly related to the MSW treatment process – private investment in circular economy sectors and circular material use – turn out to be insignificant. FsQCA provides more detailed insights and shows that a high level of R&D expenditure is necessary but not sufficient to achieve a high level of MSW treatment efficiency.
In the fifth article, Anna Stankiewicz-Mróz identifies the level of human resource (HR) process maturity in the surveyed companies involved in acquisitions and determines the importance of HR process maturity for the course of post-merger integration. An adapted McCormack and Johnson process maturity model was used to identify the level of HR maturity; whereas, the impact of HR process maturity on the course of integration was assessed based on a model of post-merger integration in the HR area developed by the author. This study examines 58 acquisitions of companies carried out on the public and private capital markets in Poland. The results show that the maturity level of the HR process has a significant impact on the rate of integration activities, their scope, and the nature of the changes introduced in the area of the HR function.
The sixth paper by Sylwia Cieślik and Tomasz Sosnowski aims to identify the institutional factors that shape foreign companies’ initial public offerings (IPOs) on regulated stock markets in Europe from 2010 to 2022. Using the panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) methodology, this study examines the long- and short-term relationships between institutional factors and the IPO activities of foreign companies. The findings reveal that government spending, the country’s image abroad, GDP, the tax burden, scientists’ associations, health infrastructure, and pension systems significantly influence IPO activity in European stock markets.
This issue was financed from the project “Development of SGH research potential for sustainable growth, and resilient and inclusive societies,” conducted at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics and financed by the Minister of Science under the Regional Excellence Initiative Programme (Regionalna inicjatywa doskonałości [RID]).
I hope that all papers included in the current issue of the IJME will be a good reading and a source of inspiration for our readers.
Professor Mariusz Próchniak, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Dean of Collegium of World Economy
SGH Warsaw School of Economics