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MONETARY POLICY AND STOCK MARKET PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA

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MONETARY POLICY AND STOCK MARKET PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA

Author(s): Eghosa Lawson Igbinovia,Amenze Sandra Airhiavbere / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2022

Keywords: Nigeria; Monetary Policy; Stock market;

The study used Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) causality framework to examine the influence of Monetary Policy instruments on stock market performance in Nigeria. Monthly data ranging Jan 2010 to Jun 2019 were sourced and analyzed with the VECM methodology after the preliminary test of descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, ADF stationarity test, Johansen co-integration test and Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) were satisfied according to theoretical requirement. Findings show that Monetary Policy instruments of Broad Money Supply (BMS) and Inflation Rate (INFR) were significant determinants of stock market return (proxied by all share index) in the short run. BMS, INFR, Interest Rate (INTR), Exchange Rate (EXR) and Market Capitalization (MCAP) (controlled variable) significantly impact stock market performance in the long run. Since, all the Monetary Policy instrument variables jointly explain 53% dynamics in stock market performance and their corresponding relationship when taken together is significant as indicated by F-statistics; the study concludes that Monetary Policy instruments are significant determinants of stock market performance in Nigeria via interest rate, exchange rate and inflation transmission channel.

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THE INFLUENCE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE ON ORGANIZATIONAL PROFITABILITY

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THE INFLUENCE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE ON ORGANIZATIONAL PROFITABILITY

Author(s): Linus Izediuno Okafor,Mobolanle Adunola Ajayi,Oluchi Cynthia Tete / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2022

Keywords: Governance; Corporate; Organizational; Profitability;

The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of CEO duality, board independence, board transparency and board activity intensity respectively on organizational profitability of AIICO Insurance Plc. Data were collected by random sampling technique. 169 questionnaires were administered to employees of AIICO insurance Plc in Lagos through the close-ended structured questionnaires, 157 were correctly attended to while 12 were defective. The data were analyzed using frequency distribution tables and percentages, while Pearson’s’ product moment correlation was used to test the hypotheses. This study concluded that corporate governance is no longer a new concept worldwide but a norm of corporate behavior and performance expectations, and Nigeria cannot differ in ensuring compliance. As well, the study recommended that, to ensure adherence to corporate governance principles, the management of AIICO insurance should take the issue of board independence, transparency, accountability and disclosure more seriously. In addition, it was suggested that the management of AIICO insurance should have a small but qualitative board size that is made up of financial and legal professionals.

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CAPITAL FLIGHT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN SUB-SAHARA AFRICA

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CAPITAL FLIGHT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN SUB-SAHARA AFRICA

Author(s): Osazee Frank Ogieva,Ernest Oshodin / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2022

Keywords: Capital Flight; Economic Development; Panel Data Regression Model;

This study examined capital flight and economic development in Sub-Sahara Africa. Specifically, we ascertained the impact of foreign direct investments outflow, foreign portfolio investment outflow, remittances outflow and other development assistance outflow on economic development in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. The nature of the study necessitated the use of secondary data covering the period of 1991 through 2020. We adopted a combination of Panel Corrected Standard Error (PCSE) and the Panel Data Regression techniques in examining the impact of capital flight and economic development in Sub-Sahara Africa. The Augmented Dickey fuller (ADF) Unit root tests were used to ascertain the series properties of the variables while the Correlation analysis was conducted to ascertain the degree of relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The study revealed that Foreign Direct Investments Outflow (FDIO) exerted negative significant effect on economic development proxy (HDI) in Nigeria. This suggests that high FDIO stiffens HDI. Foreign Portfolio Investments Outflow denoted by FPIO exerted negative insignificant impact on economic development (HDI) in SSA countries throughout the study periods. Foreign Remittances Outflow denoted by REMO has a positive significant impact on economic development in SSA countries having controlled for both inflation and exchange rate. Lastly, Other Development Assistance (ODA) has a positive and insignificant impact on HDI in SSA countries in the periods under review having controlled for both inflation and exchange rate. This suggests that, a high ODA will lead to a more developed economy though weak. We therefore recommend that the government of SSA countries should ensure that all leakages attributed to foreign direct investment outflows should be closed. The Federal government in SSA countries must also shift their focus and policy directives from the oil sector to the industrial sector as this will attract the attention of foreign investors into the industrial sector.

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FOREIGN PORTFOLIO INVESTMENT, FINANCIAL OPENNESS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN LOW AND HIGH INCOME COUNTRIES

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FOREIGN PORTFOLIO INVESTMENT, FINANCIAL OPENNESS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN LOW AND HIGH INCOME COUNTRIES

Author(s): Bencharles Osasere,George Kokumo-Oyakhire / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2022

Keywords: Financial openness; foreign portfolio investment; economic growth; FMOLS; NARDL; ARDL;

This study was conducted to investigate the impact of foreign portfolio investment and financial openness on economic growth in low and high income countries. Time series data spanning 1970-2020 was analyzed using the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) while other econometric techniques such as the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) and Non-Linear Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (NARDL) were used to enhance the robustness of study findings. Findings showed that foreign portfolio investment (FPI) had no significant relationship with economic growth in low/middle income countries while a significant positive relationship was found for high income countries. Result findings also found that financial openness (FOP) had no significant impact on the economic growth of any of the income classes. The interaction of FPI and FOP was found to be insignificant for low/middle countries while significant for high income countries. Robustness check revealed the presence of short –run asymmetric effect of FPI on economic growth in low/middle income countries while the same relationship was found between FOP and economic growth for high income countries. The study therefore concluded that foreign portfolio investment and financial openness have no joint or independent impact on economic growth in low income countries and foreign portfolio investment has a significant independent and joint impact on economic growth in high income countries.

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GADGETS, SCREENS, WELL-BEING, AND EFFECTIVENESS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Author(s): Iulia Răşcanu / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: digitalization; static; flowing; visuals; higher education; well-being;

”The king is dead. God save the king!” Is the RAM the new king of storage in favour of the old paper’? Is it the new leader in the kingdom of learn and knowledge? Students and teachers alike tend to use digitalization and its functions with the purpose of updating and streamlining study materials in the current era (especially after the pandemic). The belief that information and formal higher education are supported by static tools in order to create the idea of materiality and ‘staying put’ is heavily being challenged by the idea of moving and ‘flowing’. This case study is meant to quantify and analyse students’ familiarity and preference of various gadgets and screens in their study. It is also partially seeking to observe their effect on health/well-being in relationship with data-and-knowledge-storage (DKS).

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THE FRAMEWORK OF ACADEMIC ESSAYS SEEN THROUGH A SWALESIAN ‘CARS’ LENS

Author(s): Alina-Roxana Dulgheru (Goldan) / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: EAP; Academic writing; Genre Analysis; ‘Move’ structure; Argumentative essays;

This paper reflects my endeavor of applying the insights derived from literature review to the analysis of academic essays produced in the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) context. As a subgenre of academic writing, to my knowledge, at least, they seem to be less researched from a genre perspective, as compared to other EAP genres. This study is based on Swales’ (1990) ‘CaRS’ (“Creating a Research Space”) model of analysis, with the main focus on identifying genre characteristics at macro-level in argumentative essays. The centrepiece of this research is, thus, the macro-level analysis of a corpus of IELTS essays, selected from various sources, designed to provide models for students who want to achieve a Band 7 (or above) score. Thus, I have based my analysis on the organizational structure of 109 IELTS Writing Task 2 essays, which were divided into five categories: Opinion essays, Discussion essays, Problem and Solution essays, Advantages and Disadvantages essays and Opinion and-Problems and Solution essays. These essays were analysed in terms of their structure indicating the ‘moves’ and ‘steps’ displayed by each of them. The resulting macro-level structures were then compared, in order to identify similarities and differences. Building on Swales’ (1990) CaRS model of analysis and having the main focus on identifying the genre characteristics at macro-level in argumentative essays, the findings of this paper may provide relevant insights both for EAP teachers and for students aiming to improve their academic writing competences.

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IDENTITIES IN ACADEMIC WRITING

Author(s): Alina STRUGARU / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: academic writing; foreign language acquisition;

This article deals with the difficulties encountered by students in academic writing as they struggle to find the means of producing high-quality texts. Studies show that regardless of the discipline, students must create a new identity both as (novice) writers and as competent members of a disciplinary community. When writing in a foreign language, the hindrances increase in number. The article identifies several of the factors which influence the quality of academic texts, which derive from the identity crises faced not only by students but also by professional writers, such as the practices of academic writing, cultural differences specific to academic communities and the challenges brought about by the particularities of writing in native and foreign languages.

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THE ROLE OF GENDER IN ENGLISH SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ROMANIAN AND ITALIAN MILITARY STUDENTS

Author(s): Adela CATANĂ / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: second language acquisition; gender; cultural background; military students; motivation;

The teaching of English to military students has been set as a major priority in the Italian and Romanian academic curricula ever since these countries became NATO state members. Speaking English fluently is vital for future officers and enlisted personnel who intend to enhance their professional and academic development and pursue a successful military career in the Italian as well as in the Romanian armed forces. Along with other factors such as motivation and cultural background, gender plays an important role in shaping second language acquisition (SLA). This paper aims to provide a theoretical framework concerning the impact of gender on the process of English acquisition. Likewise, it analyses a selection of data collected during a 2022 multilevel survey that engaged forty Italian and Romanian military students aged 18-20. Participants were divided into two equal groups of twenty members based on their gender and invited to answer twenty-five questions in English. The information obtained reveals the similitudes and differences that occur between female and male military students in terms of English learning, attitudes, motivation and social interaction. This study is not meant to support single-sex education, which has been enforced in the Italian and Romanian military schools and academies for so many years, nor to rationalize gender-specific teaching methods. Its goal is to raise academic awareness concerning the way in which gender influences the language learning styles of military students - a special group whose linguistic needs are rarely addressed at a national and international level.

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RUDYARD KIPLING’S THE JUNGLE BOOK AND SOLDIERS THREE IN FRANCOIST SPAIN AND COMMUNIST ROMANIA

Author(s): Cristina Zimbroianu / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: reception; Kipling; Francoism; communism; Spain; Romania;

The famous British writer Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) reached readers throughout Europe with his novels, poems and short stories aimed at children. Kipling lived in India, England, and the United States. There, New Yorker associate editor Charles McGrath noted that Kipling had been variously labelled “a colonialist, a jingoist, a racist, an anti-Semite, a misogynist, and a right-wing imperialist warmonger” (cited in Poetry Foundation, 2022, n. pag.) Despite this labelling, his works were successful mainly in Europe, more specifically in Spain and Romania. Censorship prevailed in these countries for several years when the Francoist (1938-1975) and Communist (1947-1989) regimes were in power. Nevertheless, most of Kipling's works, especially in Spain, were published in a translated version during and after the Franco era. In Romania during communism, The Jungle Book and Soldiers Three were published in French and German versions, which were censored in the 1950s. This paper therefore uses reception theories such as the pragmatic text theory introduced by Martyn Thompson (2009) to examine the reception of Rudyard Kipling’s works, such as The Jungle Book and Soldiers Three, in Spain and Romania focusing on the censorship files of Kipling’s works, which show that his works were viewed positively, especially by the Spanish censors.

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TRICKSTER’S SOCIAL FUNCTIONS AND THE LANGUAGE PARADOXES: THE ROMANIAN PĂCALĂ AMONG THE TRICKSTERS IN MYTHOLOGY AND FOLKLORE

Author(s): Ana R. Chelariu / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: mythic language; symbols; metaphors; mythic metaphors; image metaphor; revelation metaphor; radical metaphor; visual metaphor; collapsed metaphors; Trickster; European folklore; Romanian Păcală;

Language, the essential instrument of communicating social traditions, is an intrinsic part of any discussion on cultural heritage, such as myths and folktales. Myth manifests itself through language, and through its many figurative forms of expression, metonymy, synecdoche, or irony, the most important ones being symbols and metaphors. Often symbol is regarded as the primary vehicle of mythical images, yet metaphor goes beyond being simply a figure of speech, it manifests itself in speech as part of the process of conceptualizing a mental realm by another. To understand the complexities of archaic socio-cultural expressions with a contemporary set of concepts and imagery should be evaluated in the proper framework. The archaic metaphors in time lose their initial mythic connotations and, borrowing a concept from physics, collapse into a new ‘reality’, as for example the story of Păcală selling his cow to the tree. The Trickster, with special functions in the Indo-European social-cultural context is present from classic mythology to the current European folklore: as mythic characters, Hermes or Mercury in the Greek and Roman mythologies, Loki in the Norse sagas, Bricriu in the Irish songs, Pekulis/Patullos in the Baltic heritage, or Varuna in Hinduism, and as the popular trickster in each European cultural complex: Tyl Ulenspiegel in German culture, Peik in Scandinavia, Pooca/Puca in Ireland, Velnius in the Baltic region, the old Russian Veles, or Volos, and Păcală in the Romanian tradition. The names of these European folk tricksters, Pekulis, Patulos, Pooka, Pooc, Peik, Puc, Păcală, could have their origin in the Indo-European root *pek- (Pokorny, 1959, IEW 797) ‘livestock, domestic animal, cattle’, testifying the incredible vitality of this character. In this paper I will attempt to unveil the main characteristics and social functions that contributed to the everlasting presence of the Trickster in folklore.

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FROM PALM SUNDAY (URBEPÄEV) TO ST. KNUT’S DAY: LIVING BRANCHES

Author(s): Mare Kõiva / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: Palm Sunday; mumming and masking; living branches; magical actions; ritual visits;

This paper examines customs relating to Palm Sunday (palmipuudepüha, urbepäev) as part of the local identity, and the use of archaic customs in Estonian society. One of the most common practices in the past was the whipping of another person with willow (birch or other tree) twigs, a gesture which represented the transfer of health and strength from the branches to the family members and animals. Early in the morning, sleepers were awakened by being whipped with the willow twigs and family members wishing them health, or repeating phrases such as “Cheer up, brighten up!”. It was customary to keep willow branches in a vase until Easter. Along with willow branches, alder, birch, hazel and other budding branches were also kept in the home. In some places, willow branches were taken to graves. In the Orthodox Church, willow branches were consecrated and later used in magical actions. For example, when driving the herd off to pasture, the shepherd used to whip the animals with them, to keep the cattle healthy and strong. The cattle were also whipped immediately after the willow branches were brought home, for the same purpose. Taking willow branches to the field was believed to ensure a good crop, while sticking them into an anthill would ensure the safety of the herd. At the same time, whipping animals and family members with branches, twigs or ‘whisks’ was also part of annual traditions, such as the autumn and winter masking holidays. The purpose of this article is to provide a first overview of the tradition of ritual calendric visits, on which people used living branches or twigs.

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VISUAL COMMUNICATION THROUGH THE SPECIAL COSTUMES OF THE RITUAL YEAR IN A TRANSYLVANIAN VILLAGE AND ELEMENTS OF THESE COSTUMES IN THE RITUAL TEXTS

Author(s): Maria Șpan / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: traditional costume; visual communication; ritual year; Gura Râului; Transylvania;

Visual communication through clothing is a very important aspect of the ritual year in the Transylvanian village of Gura Râului. The village is located in a multi-ethnic region that has preserved its traditions very well over time, in an attempt to preserve its identity. Following the same line of thought, the preservation of local identity, at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the ASTRA Association from Sibiu proposed a so-called ‘national costume’. This costume, made of black and white garments, was adopted by several villages in the Sibiu area. This explains why the traditional costume in black and white has become specific to this region, within which the simplest costume belongs to the village of Gura Râului. The most beautiful costumes are worn during the most important moments of the ritual year. This article highlights a series of aspects of visual communication through clothing: from wearing ‘Romanian clothes’ on Sundays and during holidays, to the differences between the costumes of an unmarried woman, of a married woman and an elderly woman, to the costumes worn, in the past, to the Sunday dance, during the Great Lent or fasting periods, to the rites of passage, and during the great Feasts of the călușari, the juni and the crai. The research methods used during fieldwork were: observation, participant observation, interviews and document/artifact analysis. Additional ritual texts, collected orally and containing descriptions of costumes, as well as photos from the author’s and the villagers’ personal archives, were used to illustrate and reinforce the idea of a simple costume, but one that communicates countless messages about those who wear it.

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PRAGMATIC LOVE: LESSONS TAUGHT BY ROBOTS

Author(s): Maria Grajdian / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: live-action cinema; animation; future/reality co-creation; robots versus humans; multidimensional species;

The current analysis centers on the concept of “pragmatic love” and its three core characteristics – compassion, courage, commitment – as encompassed in three cinema productions belonging to the science fiction genre: Blade Runner (1982, director Ridley Scott), Baymax: Big Hero 6 (2014, directors Don Hall and Chris Williams) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017, director Denis Villeneuve). The analytical protocol pursues a two-step procedure: the definition of each of the three dimensions and its subsequent integration within the mediatic phenomenological experience. The three movies were selected due to their subtle, but convincing blending of Japanese and US-American elements (the former two) and the dissolution of these elements into a continuum of futuristic neo-noir aesthetics transcending conventional prerequisites of the prequel-sequel concatenation (the latter one). The conclusion outlines further potentialities of the concept of “pragmatic love” in everyday encounters as well as its ideological extensions into “awe” as both a necessity to action and a state of mind.

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THE BROTHERHOOD BETWEEN SAINTS AND WOLVES IN “THE BOOK OF SAINTS AND FRIENDLY BEASTS” BY ABBIE FARWELL BROWN

Author(s): Monica Alina Toma / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: saint; wolf; miraculous; beast; legend;

This paper aims to examine the miraculous encounters between various saints and wolves which were described in the medieval legends retold by Abbie Farwell Brown in “The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts”(1900). The article analyzes the texts brought into discussion starting from the presentation of two medieval symbols: the saint and the wolf. The paper will show that the frightning wolf that appears in the writings is a necessary disruptive element meant to reveal the purity of the holy man and to trigger the manifestation of the divine love and order in the material universe. By taming the wild, ferocious wolf, the saint restores the harmony of Paradise to the natural world.

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THE GEOMETRY, THE SPIRAL ‘AL-HALAZUN’ AND THE GLORIFICATION OF NATURE FOR DIVINE LOVE

LA GÉOMETRIE, LA SPIRALE ‘AL-HALAZUN’ ET LA GLORIFICATION DE LA NATURE POUR L’AMOUR DIVIN

Author(s): Sofia TABARI / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: nature; spiral; geometry; garden; divine love;

Without orthogonality and without visible axiality, in appearance the garden of Algiers of the Ottoman period does not follow any geometry, it presents itself on a sloping ground with grass, flowers and fruit trees following the logic of the cultivator who has respected the movement of the sun, the cultivation techniques and the irrigation system. It seems like a natural landscape whose vegetable, ornamental and medicinal plants, coexist by means of highly developed cultivation techniques. The absence of apparent geometry certainly gives a natural character to the garden and a great feeling of pleasure. However, it is on the basis of a circular and spiral geometry that a spatial hierarchy of the garden is ordered to give a spiritual and mystical meaning to the garden. Thus, it is from the forest towards the orchard, then towards the courtyard and finally towards the patio that the passage from nature to culture is felt. This garden, described as picturesque by historians, travelers and painters of the modern era, tells of the love of man for his creator, a relationship that the poets and painters of medieval and modern Islamic times have admirably represented. This paper contains a cross-reading of the medieval Islamic painting and of the architecture of the Ottoman Garden of Algiers, which represent depictions of the love of man towards his creator through the geometry of the spiral, a geometry that is both cultural and natural.

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TRANSLATIONS IN INTENSIVE CARE

Author(s): Raluca Ghențulescu / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: infodemic; translation; interpretation; terminology; infographics;

During the two-year pandemic, translators, interpreters and terminologists had a difficult mission, as they had to keep up with all the changes at the lexical level and, at the same time, to cope with a huge workload and with the physical and psychological pressure imposed by such a crisis. Scientific papers, medical letters, clinical trial reports, technical manuals and reviews of medical literature had to be translated in record time, whereas patients’ dialogues with foreign doctors, international conference speeches and television shows required the presence of medical interpreters. The purpose of this article is to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic from the viewpoint of translation, interpretation and terminology and to analyse the emotional context behind the actual communication. The main research directions are the phenomenon of infodemic, with its consequences on re-shaping communication, the impact of the pandemic on terminology and the new tendencies in medical translation and interpretation, implying the use of machine translation and infographics. The theoretical framework has been provided by some Chinese psycholinguists, J. Xu, C. Liu and X. Luo, who analysed the effects of the pandemic at the linguistic level, and by a famous Romanian linguist, R. Zafiu, who emphasized the changes that the pandemic brought to our language. The results of my research have shown that people from various countries adapted to the crisis not only from the medical or social viewpoint, but also from the linguistic perspective, taking “intensive care” of the message they transmitted on social networks, in mass media or in translated texts.

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THE INTERNATIONALISATION OF POLISH FIRMS UNDER COVID‑19 CONDITIONS – RESULTS OF AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

Author(s): Piotr Trąpczyński,Marian Gorynia / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2022

Keywords: firm internationalisation; export; COVID -19 pandemic

Goal – The present paper addresses the research question as to how previous firm internationalisation leads to sustained commitment to further internationalisation under the conditions of the COVID‑‑19 crisis. Research methodology – The study uses descriptive statistics based on a quantitative survey of 120 Polish exporters from manufacturing sectors. Score – The authors have found some evidence which partly contradicts previous expectations that firms with stronger previous involvement in internationalisation are more likely to sustain or increase their internationalisation commitment during the pandemic and in the postpandemic landscape. Originality / value / implications / recommendations – The authors have explored the boundary conditions under which internationalised firms sustain or extend their internationalisation commitment under pandemic conditions.

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DIGITAL COMMUNICATION CHANNELS IN EXPORT TRANSACTIONS OF POLISH ENTERPRISES IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE COVID‑19 PANDEMIC

DIGITAL COMMUNICATION CHANNELS IN EXPORT TRANSACTIONS OF POLISH ENTERPRISES IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Author(s): Tomasz Napiórkowski / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2022

Keywords: international transactions; digitalization; communication channels; exports; COVID-19 pandemic; Polish enterprises.

Purpose – The article aims to identify the relationship between the communication shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the digitalization of communication channels in the transaction process, and the exports of Polish enterprises.Research method – The following methods are used: descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and non-parametric one-way analysis of variance (Kruskal-Wallis test) based on data from a diagnostic survey conducted on a representative sample of Polish exporters.Results – The communication shock caused by the restriction of face-to-face meetings with foreign counterparties had, among many factors, the most negative impact on Polish enterprises’ export transaction opportunities during the pandemic. However, hypotheses that there are relationships between export performance, export opportunities and the use of digital communication channels, and the digitalization of communication under pandemic conditions were rejected. The absence of such relationships refers to Solow’s paradox of the lack of efficiency effects of digital technologies implementation.Originality / value / implications / recommendations – Conclusions enhance knowledge of the digitalization of international economic transactions, and in particular, the efficiency of the utilization of digital communication channels in export transactions under pandemic conditions.

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OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS OF SHARING ECONOMY

Author(s): Monika Pasternak-Malicka,Tomasz Dębowski / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2022

Keywords: sharing economy; personal finance; public finance

Purpose – The aim of this article is an attempt to identify the benefits and threats of the sharing economy based on author’s own research carried out in the area of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship.Research method – The implementation of the aim required the use of the direct me thod – questionnaire. The results of empirical studies from the years 2016–2022 are presented, but in 2021 the studies were not carried out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Results – The publication describes the essence of the sharing economy, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the new consumer trend, which is the sharing economy. Parts of author’s own survey research from the years 2016–2022 on the issue under study are also presented.Originality / value / implications / recommendations – The obtained results of author’s research and data taken from reports of other research centres do not give a clear answer to the question whether transactions made within the sharing economy are a only positive or only a negative phenomenon. In the future, it is necessary to continue research in the marked area.

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COMPETENCES AND SKILLS OF SMES FOR INDUSTRY 4.0 – CASE STUDIES OF SELECTED EUROPEAN INITIATIVES

Author(s): Ludmiła Walaszczyk / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2022

Keywords: competences; skills; Industry 4.0; development of SMEs.

Purpose – SMEs tend to have an intuitive approach when it comes to management, which means that, contrary to bigger companies, they frequently lack sufficient competences and expertise needed to implement the Industry 4.0 concept. The article identifies and analyses case studies of selected state-funded European initiatives (from Poland, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, and Finland), which help SMEs prepare for the implementation of Industry 4.0 through the acquisition of adequate competences and skills.Research method – With the use of the case study method, the author has performed the analysis of selected national public initiatives focused on the development of competences and skills of enterprises needed to implement the Industry 4.0 concept. The initiatives were deeply analysed during the implementation of the Interreg Europe SMARTY project (Smart SMEs for Industry 4.0).Results – Based on the results of the case study analysis performed, the author identifies competences and skills SMEs need to successfully implement Industry 4.0.Originality / value / implications / recommendations – The competences and skills identified as part of the case study analysis seem to be required for effective implementation of the Indus-try 4.0 concept in SMEs and they could also serve as recommendations for policy makers as regards the development and organisation of Industry 4.0-related training courses for SMEs.

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