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Operational Cyber risk in the differing business model of Insurance Companies: the example of Poland

Author(s): Aleksandra Hęćka-Sadowska,Krzysztof Łyskawa / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: cyber risk; operational risk; insurance company; risk management; cyber insurance

Cybersecurity has become one of the greatest challenges in today’s post pandemic, digital and intercon- nected world, and also a subject of strategic importance for the insurance industry. There is no doubt that the advance of technology and the increased use of big data and cloud computing have set up an op- portunity for insurance business, but they also expanded insurance companies’ vulnerabilities towards cyber risk. As insurers collect a large amount of confidential data, including protected personal sensitive information, they are a natural target for cyber-attacks. On the one hand, the aim of the article is to indi- cate how the risks associated with digitalisation affect the day-to-day operations in selected business areas of an insurance company, and which methods may be used to manage them, on the other. After a general review of cyber risk based on recent branch reports and survey results, the authors identified its global economic impact with particular regard to financial institutions, and also insurers’ exposure and perception of cyber risk and cybersecurity spending. Moreover, administrative decisions issued by the President of the Personal Data Protection Office in Poland, selected jurisdictions and loss scenarios for insurance companies were examined with a deeper dive into underwriting, selling, administration and claims handling processes. The results of the literature study show that cyber risk is recognized to be one of the most significant non-financial risks (in terms of the source, not result of the risk) for insurers and that many proactive security measures can be implemented. However, due to the high vulnerability to leaks of confidential personal and financial data or unauthorized system access, which may cause not only financial loss, but also business interruptions and reputational damage, in the au- thors’ opinion, loss prevention and reduction are insufficient. Thus, both insurance and non-insurance methods of external financing cyber risk results were indicated. On this basis, the cyber insuranceis considered by the authors to be the best tool providing both prevention and financial compensation in case of cyber incidents, also in insurance companies.

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Green products in the insurance market

Author(s): Lyubov Klapkiv,Ülgen Faruk / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: green finance; insurance products; sustainability

The decarbonization of economy and, more specifically, the widespread deployment of systems that produce energy from renewable sources require substantial insurance cover, as such a transition pro- cess contains the seeds of new individual and systemic risks. The new regulations in Europe, aimed at creating incentives for transition to green economy, with the changes in consumer preferences, sup- port the demand for insurance products tied to the sector of renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable mobility. They are seeking at building up an appropriate institutional environment to push the demand for green insurance products. Faced with this challenge, the purpose of this article is to present green insurance products, review the legislative foundations and summarize the weaknesses that have emerged in the creation and management of such innovative products.

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Income elasticity of demand for agricultural insurance in Poland in 2006–2020

Author(s): Monika Kaczała / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: agricultural insurance; income elasticity; risk management; crop insurance; demand for insurance

Knowledge of income elasticity of demand for individual products is necessary to forecast the volume and structure of demand. The purpose of this article is to estimate the income elasticity of different types of agricultural insurance in Poland and to indicate the consequences for future demand for this insurance. According to the results of the analysis carried out for the years 2000–2020, premium from crop insurance to the greatest extent – compared to other types of agricultural insurance – depends on both GDP and dis- posable income (per farmer’s household or per person in the household). Income elasticity – respectively 3.05 in relation to GDP for compulsory crop insurance and 2.07 for voluntary crop insurance – indicates that these kinds of insurance should be classified as superior goods. Other types of agricultural insurance – farmer’s liability insurance (income elasticity 0.78) and insurance of agricultural buildings (0.65) are normal goods. This means that with an increase in income, ceteris paribus, the share of farmers’ expenditure on crop insurance in the budget allocated by them for the purchase of agricultural insurance will increase.

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"The salon of nature" by Boris Christov and Milko Bozkov: Intermediality. Intertexts. Interpretation

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"The salon of nature" by Boris Christov and Milko Bozkov: Intermediality. Intertexts. Interpretation

Author(s): Tetiana M. Riazantseva / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2023

Keywords: emblematic poetry; intertext; media-combination

The artistic collaboration of Boris Christov and Milko Bozkov has resulted in a verbal-visual project entitled “The Salon of Nature” which exists in two formats: the book and the exhibition. In its book version B. Christov’s poems are combined with M. Bozkov’s paintings and drawings reproduced along with the texts.This study considers “The Salon of Nature” in the intermedial perspective and uses the close reading approach to outline the formal, constructive, functional and content features of the text-image interactions in the published version of the project. The article also demonstrates its main intertexts which could be grouped as mythological, neo-mythological and religious (Christian). As a result “The Salon of Nature” could be deﬁned as an example of emblematic poetry in its modern version. It is a cyclically arranged intermedial work of art based on the iterative, hierarchic media-combination where the visual part performs the explanatory, though not merely illustrative function.

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The role of the special teacher in the formation of motivation for educational activities of students with intellectual disabilities

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The role of the special teacher in the formation of motivation for educational activities of students with intellectual disabilities

Author(s): Svitlana Mykhalska,Natalia Myronova,Tetiana Dokuchyna,Maryana Buinyak / Language(s): English / Issue: 6/2023

Keywords: special teacher; motivation; educational activity; students with intellectual disabilities; distance learning; teacher’s personality

Motivation for learning activities of students with intellectual disabilities is one of the factors of their success and development. Especially relevant is the motivation of students during distance learning, which is due to their psychophysical features. The study shows that special teachers understand the importance of motivation in achieving academic performance of students with intellectual disabilities, forming their skills to overcome difficulties, and developing their personality. Students with intellectual disabilities are motivated to learn differently from their peers with typical development. These features require from the correctional teacher much greater efforts in stimulating students to assimilate knowledge and skills; constant support of cognitive interests of students, overcoming their passivity, developing skills of independence, forming of initiative. It is established that the role of the special teacher in the formation of motivation of educational activity of students with intellectual disabilities is decisive, in particular through such features of students as: low level of cognitive activity, inertia of nervous processes, lack of formation of logical connections. The prospects of scientific research are the development of an integral system of correctional and developmental work, which will ensure the formation of all types of motivation of educational activities for this category of students.

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Main Current Problems of Education for Democratic Citizenship in Two EU Countries – the Netherlands and Bulgaria

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Main Current Problems of Education for Democratic Citizenship in Two EU Countries – the Netherlands and Bulgaria

Author(s): Anna Jonkers,Tsetska Kolarova / Language(s): English / Issue: 6/2023

Keywords: education for democratic citizenship (EDC); formal education; studies; democracy; constitutionalism

This publication is a result of the joint work of an Erasmus student from the Netherlands and a lecturer at Sofia University in Bulgaria as a host country. The present article investigates the main current problems of education for democratic citizenship (EDC) in two EU countries – The Netherlands and Bulgaria, from the point of view of: 1. the brief background of the tradition of democracy, constitutionalism and democratic citizenship in the two EU countries; 2. the structure of EDC in formal education, the most significant studies and the main requirements of the current legislation in each of two countries of EU. These points of view created the general framework for interpreting the state of the EDC in two countries. The summary from this research can be made that despite the different historical past and the different degree of democratization of the different national communities, today the two EU countries have similar goals and take similar state actions through the legislation for the development of the educational systems towards the sustainability of democratic values for civil society and the rule of law.

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"Children's rights in pandemic times?" Germany's Handling of Children's Rights during the Pandemic Put to the Test

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"Children's rights in pandemic times?" Germany's Handling of Children's Rights during the Pandemic Put to the Test

Author(s): Maike Nadar / Language(s): English / Issue: 6/2023

Keywords: children; youth; children's rights; child poverty; children's policy; Corona pandemic; government action; participation; Germany; social work

Children are the age group least at risk of getting infected with COVID-19. However, children are (or have been) the hardest hit by almost all Corona public health measures. This article examines how in Germany, since the beginning of the Corona pandemic, there have been serious human rights violations concerning children and young people in areas such as, elementary protection, care and participation rights. Furthermore, various (omitted) government measures have contributed to the increase in child poverty.

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“For Us, It Was a New and Difficult Task”: Czechoslovak Embassy Buildings in the 1918–1939 Period and the Construction of State Representation

Author(s): Petr Klíma / Language(s): English / Issue: 1-2/2023

Keywords: inter-war period; First Czechoslovak Republic; architecture of embassies; political representation; state identity

After 1918, the cultural construction of Czechoslovak identity and the search for forms of state representation in architecture also imprinted itself on the preparation and realization of buildings abroad. The embassy buildings – in addition to the pavilions and expositions at international exhibitions – were to petrify the shared idea about the advanced character of Czechoslovak culture, architecture and art industry. In the first half of the 1920s, architects looking for contemporary solutions for this typology were given the opportunity to implement them. More often, however, the “universal” internationally comprehensible morphology prevailed. More than the formal aspects of the objects, though, this study focuses on the instrumentalization of architecture for political goals, on the analysis of the mechanisms and processes leading to the provision of their designs and realizations, and on the rendering of an environment with often contradictory interests of the actors.

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Architecting Nature: The Pastoral Genre in Art Museum Design

Author(s): Meri Batakoja,Karin Šerman / Language(s): English / Issue: 1-2/2023

Keywords: modernity; art museum; Renaissance; transcoding; pastoral; diaeta; leisure; architectural imagination

How often do we get conscious of the fact that the function of art in general, and in relation to architectural space in particular, was dramatically changing throughout the course of history? And how is the consciousness of this historical transformative process relevant for the cultural and architectural discourse on museums and their architecture today? These are the main questions addressed in this paper, approached through a focus on the notion of leisure as a philosophy of good, or rather, healthy way of living and how it was embedded within the Renaissance spatial concept of diaeta, as a decisive element of the pastoral genre. Yet, as opposed to the pastoral genre in art and literature, where it was fully assessed and researched as a set of formal and operational means for expressing that particular philosophy, pastoral genre in architecture has not been sufficiently theorised. This paper provides a theoretical and historical inquiry into the pastoral genre as a promising topic of reconciling the perennial art-nature antithesis as practice of good, healthy life. The paper investigates the capacities of architecture to use such potent concepts from the broader cultural field and translate, or better transcode them into its own specific disciplinary language. In the end, it examines whether, and how, the concept of the pastoral survived at the onset of Modernity and whether it has both relevance and a future in the architectural and museum’s world today.

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Architecture Without Architects. Informal Redevelopment of Late-Modern Prefabricated Housing in Tbilisi, Georgia

Author(s): Daniela Majzlanová / Language(s): English / Issue: 1-2/2023

Keywords: planning; self-build architecture; prefabricated housing; humanization; kamikaze loggia

Unplanned architecture was a phenomenon that occurred in the former Eastern Bloc Countries, particularly in Georgia, Armenia, and Ukraine, mainly in the 1980s. The term describes self-build architecture and additional extensions to existing buildings, created by the inhabitants themselves as non-architects. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the lack of social housing and regulations resulted in “do-it-yourself” solutions to provide the necessary spaces for living. Similarly, in the former Czechoslovakia, urban planners began to imagine the “humanization” of the country’s prefabricated housing estates. Currently, the self-regulated urban system is approaching the point where history repeats itself, now in the tragic destruction of Ukraine, not only its inhabitants but also its cities.

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Who Formed the Architectural Appearance of Trnava in the Years 1918 – 1945?

Author(s): Linda Osyková / Language(s): English / Issue: 1-2/2023

Keywords: housing; Trnava; inter-war Czechoslovak republic; health care; school building

The appearance of modern Trnava is the joint work of many important Czech, Moravian, and Slovak architects. The building of the District Health Insurance office is a national heritage monument also listed in the DOCOMOMO register, and there are many more buildings constructed in Trnava in the 1918 – 1945 period that deserve national heritage status. Proof for this contention is the quality of the designs from the architects then active in Trnava, many of whom are credited with realisations in other Slovak towns that are already under national heritage protection. No less impressive work was rendered by the contractors and their workers, as confirmed by the inspection reports and indeed the users of the buildings. However, a major share of the credit for the completion of this exceptional array of publicly beneficial buildings should be assigned to the activities of the management in the era’s medical facilities, schools, public offices, organisational supervisors, national governmental bodies, and others who made the decisions and allotted state aid for construction. And in turn, the state itself assisted this development through the passing of various laws on construction and financial support. The archival documents confirm enormous efforts by certain institutional heads and public officials who worked hard to improve health care, schooling, and housing in the city. These efforts extended to the adherence to legally set construction deadlines, and to the creation of buildings of undeniable architectural and technical quality, many of which serve their original function even today.

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(Re)vision of Monument Care?

Author(s): Martina Jelínková / Language(s): English / Issue: 1-2/2023

Keywords: reviews;

The review of: PAVLA MELKOVÁ (ED.), JORGE OTERO-PAILOS, ROSTISLAV ŠVÁCHA, EDITH JEŘÁBKOVÁ, NORBERT SCHMIDT, PETR HÁJEK, ET AL.: ŽIVÁ PAMÁTKA. Prague: The Prague Institute of Planning and Development, 2022. ISBN 978-80-88377-41-2

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Architecture and Czech Politics after 1989

Author(s): Karel Maier / Language(s): English / Issue: 1-2/2023

Keywords: reviews;

The review of: CYRIL ŘÍHA (ED.), ELENA FIALKOVÁ, JAN GALETA, MARCELA HANÁČKOVÁ, ANNA HEJMOVÁ, VENDULA HNÍDKOVÁ, KAROLINA JIRKALOVÁ, LENKA KERDOVÁ, PETR KLÍMA, VOJTĚCH MÄRC: ZTRACENÁ VLÁDA VĚCÍ TVÝCH SE K TOBĚ NAVRÁTÍ: ARCHITEKTURA A ČESKÁ POLITIKA PO ROCE 1989. Prague: UMPRUM – Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, 2022. ISBN 978-80-88308-57-7

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The Numerical Scoring Analysis Predecessors

Author(s): Tuvya T. Amsel / Language(s): English / Issue: 1 (57)/2023

Keywords: Chart analysis; Clinical approach; Global analysis; Numerical scoring

In polygraph history, Cleve Backster’s “numerical scoring chart analysis” is considered as revolutionizing the manner of polygraph charts analysis. Yet, earlier history of chart analysis, as being reviewed in this publication, lead to the conclusion that the “numerical scoring chart analysis” was more evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

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How Racial Diversity and Gender Diversity in Job Positions Affect the Economy?

Author(s): Li Zheng / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: demographic economics; racial diversity; gender diversity; total employment; GDP;

Gender and racial discrimination at work have gradually gained more attention from the public in the recent years. With social movements such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, people start to reach the consensus that there should be more equality in society; more perspectives from different genders and different races are beneficial to society. This paper focuses on employment in the general workforce and studies how race and gender diversity in different job positions affect the economy. This paper explores to empirically explain why race and gender diversity in the workforce can have an impact on the economy. Using data from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and from the Federal Reserve for the years of 1996 - 2018, this paper finds that race and gender diversity at work are positively associated with the economy. Also, this dataset sup- ports the conjecture that race and gender diversity increases total employment, which further increases the economy. This dataset also supports the possibility that race and gender diversity may increase the capacity of different perspectives, which further increases the economy. Moreover, race and gender diversity both increased during these years: from 11.783% to 23.339% and from 31.683% to 38.735% in the executive and managerial positions. This study has significant contributions to current research and practice.

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Assessment of Agricultural Sustainability: Case Study of Baltic States

Author(s): Dalia Streimikiene,Asta Mikalauskienė / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: sustainability; agriculture; MCDA; Baltic States;

The agri-food sector is the world’s largest economic sector having the biggest impact on environment. Ac- cording to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), sustainable agriculture must meet the needs of present and future generations while ensuring profitability, environmental health and so- cial and economic equity. Therefore, agricultural systems need transition to become more sustainable. The use of renewables in agriculture allows to reduce energy costs and GHG emissions and implement cyclic economy principles. Sustainability assessment of agriculture can be done by applying various sets of indicators. The sustainability assessment of agriculture can be performed on country and micro level. The paper presents assessment of agricultural sustainability of Baltic States based on indicators framework and applies MCDA tool for ranking of Baltic States in terms of agriculture sustainability.

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Channels for the Impact of the War in Ukraine on the Commercial Banking Sector in Poland – First Results of the Study

Author(s): Michał Bernardelli,Zbigniew Korzeb,Paweł Niedziółka,Krzysztof Waliszewski / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: banking sector; banking crisis; war; credit portfolio; capital market; liquidity;

The outbreak of war in Ukraine raises questions about its impact on the economies and financial systems of countries directly and indirectly involved in the war, but also on the economies of non-participating countries. The article aims to identify the channels through which the war in Ukraine has affected commercial banking in Poland. The original contribution of this paper to the literature dedicated to the impact of the outbreak of war on financial sector consists in the identification of channels of direct and indirect effects of war on commercial bank performance, adoption of unique empirical strategy to point out features of banks determining their sensitivity to the materialisation of geopolitical risk as well as groups of banks whose shares move along similar trajectories during the war. The conclusions emphasize that the long-term negative indirect effects of the war outweigh the short-term indirect ones. The policy implications consist in the benefits of introduction of new reporting standards for banks that focus on the exposure of their clients to the geopolitical risk, augmentation of scope of risks to be covered by regulatory capital by geopolitical risk as well as creation scenarios of stress tests that would include geopolitical risk. Facing war, the implications for commercial banks’ managers come down to the necessity to prioritize cyber risk management and implement a new paradigm of credit and market risk assessment, taking into account the impact of geopolitical factors.

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Supporting Environmentally Conscious Consumer Sales Law by Life-cycle Thinking

Author(s): Katarzyna Klimkiewicz,Anna Dubel,Katarzyna Południak-Gierz / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: circular economy; life cycle assessment; consumer sales law; legislation process; remedies for non-conformity;

The circular economy is a core approach driving innovative economic solutions. Although the legal system should support the development of such an economy, scientific methods to assess the environmental impact of legal rules are lacking. Legislators and scholars have highlighted consumer law as an area requiring ecologi- cally efficient solutions. This research aims to design a method to calculate environmental costs related to the exercise of remedies for nonconforming goods under a consumer sales contract.Various environmental impact assessment approaches are reviewed to identify those which can be used when designing a method for calculating the environmental impact of legislative provisions. The Life Cycle Thinking is applied and the Life Cycle Assessment method is chosen and used to compare different remedy-scenarios, that is, when the consumer chooses repair, replacement, price reduction or termination. A formula is devised to determine which remedies should be prioritized and whether it is possible to design an eco-friendly hier- archy of remedies in consumer sales law. Though it proved impossible to design a rigid hierarchy of remedies, which would be optimal in every scenario from the perspective of environmental costs generated as a result of the consumer exercising the rights for non-conforming goods, the environmental costs of exercising each of the rights under the remedies available to the consumer can be assessed not only in concreto but also in abstracto allowing for formulation of specific recommendations for legislator.

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Taxation of Revenue Derived from Activities Carried out by Farmers in Poland

Author(s): Wojciech Maruchin / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: agricultural activity; agricultural tax; value added tax; tax on goods and services; harmonization of Polish tax law with EU law; Polish tax law; EU tax law;

The main aim of this study is to present the basic principles of taxing revenue derived from activities carried out by farmers in Poland, resulting from the regulations of tax law in Poland, and propose solutions concerning that law as it should stand. These are revenues derived from agricultural activities as defined in the provisions of the Polish Act on Agricultural Tax as well as in the provisions of the Polish Act on Goods and Services Tax, regardless of whether they are carried out by farmers acting as individuals or utilizing agricultural cooperatives with legal personality or commercial law companies without legal personality for their activities. This revenue is not subject to either forestry tax or income tax (only revenue from special sections of agricultural production may be subject to income tax, but this is treated as revenue generated by farmers). The rationale for the study stems from the scarcity of scientific publications on the subject - probably due to low interest among the enti- ties conducting this type of activity. The method adopted involved the analysis of legal material and the views presented in the legal scholarship and in the case-law of administrative courts. Comparative analysis of Polish and EU law was applied. Moreover, currently applicable law was analyzed by employing a method of interpre- tation of both Polish and EU regulations, to the extent necessary to conduct comparative legal investigation. The particular nature of agricultural activity in Poland, dating back to the previous economic system, has in- fluenced the decision to perform research on two levels. The first consists of the provisions of the agricultural tax law in Poland, dating back to 1984. The second level is the EU acquis, consisting in both EU legislation and Court of Justice of the European Union case-law relating to this type of activity in connection with its inclusion in the scope of value-added tax regulations. Each Member State, including Poland, is obliged to harmonize its law with the EU law in the examined scope. The results of the conducted comparative analyses indicate that identified deficiencies in the construction of the agricultural tax need to be amended.

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Determinants of Factors Affecting the Financial Performance of Indian General Insurance Firm: Panel Data Evidence

Author(s): V. K. Ranjith,Soumya Sasidharan,Sunitha Prabhuram / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: financial performance; financial leverage; general insurance; premium growth; panel data regression;

The researchers aim to examine the firm-specific variables that impact the financial performance of general insurance firms in India. The study’s scope is limited to India’s insurance industries from 2010-2011 to 2019-2020. The research considers 21 insurance firms in India out of 35 general insur- ers. We obtain statistical data from the financial statements of insurance companies. The research used correlation analysis and panel data regression to evaluate financial performance and its im- pacts. Panel data techniques were employed in the analysis to study the impact of eleven micro factors on the monetary performance of general insurers in India. The influence of micro (internal) variables such as capital adequacy ratio, firm size, age of the firm, retention, liquidity, loss ratio, investment ratio, reinsurance dependence, financial leverage, tangibility, and premium growth rate on the financial performance has been determined using econometric findings in this research. The fixed-effect model results reveal that firm’s age, loss ratio, size, premium growth, and retention ratio are vital in affecting the financial performance of Indian general insurance firms. On the other hand, liquidity and financial leverage are insignificant in determining the financial performance of general insurance firms in India.

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