The Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchain in True Cost Accounting for Energy Transition in Europe

The current energy prices do not include the environmental, social, and economic short and long-term external effects. There is a gap in the literature on the decision-making model for the energy transition. True Cost Accounting (TCA) is an accounting management model supporting the decision-making process. This study investigates the challenges and explores how big data, AI, or blockchain could ease the TCA calculation and indirectly contribute to the transition towards more sustainable energy production. The research question addressed is: How can IT help TCA applications in the energy sector in Europe? The study uses qualitative interpretive methodology and is performed in the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland. The findings indicate the technical feasibilities of a big data infrastructure to cope with TCA challenges. The study contributes to the literature by identifying the challenges in TCA application for energy production, showing the readiness potential for big data, AI, and blockchain to tackle them, revealing the need for cooperation between accounting and technical disciplines to enable the energy transition

Consumer behavior of rural residents regarding the choice of food purchase places : the case of Poland

Purpose: The purpose of the article was to assess the consumer behavior of rural residents regarding the choice of food purchase places and the possibility of self-producing food. Design/Methodology/Approach: The conducted analysis was based on own research with the use of a questionnaire among 302 rural households in Poland. To determine whether there is a correlation between the types of rural households and the frequency of food purchases, the Kruskal–Wallis test by ranks and the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient were used. Findings: Research has shown a large variation between the forms of satisfying food needs by the inhabitants of rural areas, some of them try to produce food themselves as part of their households, or supplement it with purchases mainly from local producers. Inhabitants of villages not related to agriculture most often shop in large-format stores. Practical Implications: The assessment of consumer behavior of rural residents should be extended to research on consumer awareness of the quality of consumed food, the benefits of purchasing from local producers. Originality/value: In the case of Poland, there is a lack of research and knowledge about the preferences of rural residents regarding places to buy food and information on whether they, as rural residents, undertake food production as part of their household.peer-reviewe

Direct payments to farmers in Poland and EU member states

The article looks at the changes in the system of direct payments in the EU. The first section briefly examines the history of direct payments and models of payments in the EU. In the second section, the author presents the level of financing of direct payments and examines disparities in terms of average payments per hectare among the EU member states. In the final section of the article, the main focus is placed on the new system of direct payments in Poland. This new regulation introduces better targeted and equally distributed scheme and imposes environmental requirements on the farms

Ocena zmian płatności bezpośrednich Wspólnej Polityki Rolnej Unii Europejskiej

The aim of this paper was to analyze the changes of direct payments of the CAP. During the last 15 years the CAP has changed in response to pressures from the European society and its evolving economy. The 2003 reform marked a new phase in this process, introducing decoupled direct payments, via the Single Payment Scheme, in most sectors of the first pillar of CAP and strengthening Rural Development policy in the second pillar. In the direct aid system we need to seek ways to make the system simpler and more efficient for farmers. To do so, Member States will be given the opportunity to change their implementation models by moving towards a flatter rate of aid. The linkage between the payments that farmers receive and the farmers' obligations in the areas of environmental protection, human, animal and plant health as well as animal welfare has also to be made clearer for farmers. / W artykule dokonano przeglądu Wspólnej Polityki Rolnej Unii Europejskiej, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem płatności bezpośrednich. Autorka podjęła próbę oceny proponowanych zmian na lata 2013-2020 z punktu widzenia Polski. Obecnie w krajach członkowskich UE toczy się dyskusja w zakresie zmian budżetu UE, zmniejszenia wydatków na pierwszy filar WPR, a także zwiększenia wydatków na rozwój obszarów wiejskich (II filar). Ważną kwestią poddaną dyskusji są zasady współzależności i modulacji, a także koncepcja refinansowania części wydatków na płatności bezpośrednie z budżetów krajowych poszczególnych państw członkowskich

Financing the Objectives of the European Union in the Context of the New Financial Framework 2014-2020

In the paper, there were presented reasons for the EU policy in the context of operations financing by the EU budget. There were displayed principles in the field of introduction of a new source of EU income in a form of a tax on financial transactions as well as a simplification in the VAT calculation. The author presented also an assessment of budget changes concerning possibilities of realization of the objectives for the period 2014-2020

Motywy zakupu ziemi przez rolników na przykładzie województwa mazowieckiego

The objective of this paper was to present the reasons of the land purches on the basis of an example of Mazowsze Region. The paper is based on theoretical and empirical approaches. Firstly, importance of land factor in economic theory was presented. Research covered 703 respondents, managing farms in territory of 58 rural and urban-rural communities from the Mazowsze region. Farmers covered by research increased area of their farms as additional land allowed them to increase production potential, having access to increased direct payments and as capital investment. Respondents were aware of growing up of land price in Poland after Polish accession to EU

Struktura obszarowa gospodarstw i produktywność pracy w polskim rolnictwie na tle innych krajów Unii Europejskiej

Celem artykułu było przedstawienie struktury obszarowej gospodarstw w Polsce na tle innych państw członkowskich Unii Europejskiej. W opracowaniu pokazano zmiany struktury obszarowej gospodarstw w latach 2010–2013; ze względu na zmiany w metodologii gospodarstw w UE nie zastosowano wcześniejszych porównań. W analizie wykorzystano wskaźnik Giniego pokazujący poziom koncentracji użytków rolnych i liczby gospodarstw w poszczególnych grupach obszarowych. Poza tym przedstawiono wysokość nakładów siły roboczej (AWU na 100 ha UR), a także wydajność pracy w SO/AWU. Wyniki badań pokazały, iż największe nakłady siły roboczej można zauważyć w rolnictwie nowych krajów UE, czyli na Malcie, w Słowenii, na Cyprze, w Rumunii. AWU/100 ha UR wyniósł w 2013 r. w Polsce 13,3, podczas gdy w 28 państwach członkowskich 7,45. Świadczy to o znacznie większym zatrudnieniu w rolnictwie w Polsce niż w innych krajach UE. Średnia wydajność pracy w rolnictwie polskim wyrażona wskaźnikiem SO/AWU wynosiła z kolei ponad 11 tys. euro, co stanowiło trzykrotnie niższą wartość niż w 28 państwach UE (34,8 tys. euro/AWU). W analizach wykorzystano dane Eurostatu obejmujące 28 państw członkowskich UE

Goods provision through agriculture in the new financial framework of the European Union

The paper aims to explain funding European public goods from the EU budget. The author characterises categories of goods and refers to the current EU financial perspective. Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) offers a range of measures to support the types of farming, management practices needed for the provision of public goods, both environmental and social. In addition to biodiversity and landscape, agriculture can also help to provide other environmental public goods, such as high quality air, soil and water and a stable climate as well as improve the resilience of land to natural disasters. Agriculture also plays an essential role in delivering other public goods, including food security and rural vitality

Development of NGO Sector within the Context of EU Driven Public Policies Implementation in Poland

The objective of the paper is to carry out preliminary review of project management approach introduced into the sphere of public management in Poland by the EU programming policy. One of driving forces of this new approach as a result of the EU infl uence was to develop new culture within the Polish public management system. Key element of  the new culture is delegating part of public policies delivery for the NGO sector on project basis. Our review indicates quite complex picture with some key features of particular importance: a) project approach enforced trends for professionalization and growing up of size/budgets of some NGOs through high procedural and fi nancial requirement to be met by NGOs to apply and successfully implement projects; b) however, the same  equirement created a formal institutional wall for smaller organizations; c) it seems that some concerns related to overdependence of NGOs to donors at the expense of bottom-up identifi ed areas of interventions proved to be to overdue. Programmes provides really wide spectrum of “translation” of local needs into EU programmes languages