A Summary Assessment of Innovativeness of The New Member States of The European Union

This paper attempts to assess the level of innovativeness of the economies of the ‘new’ EU member states1 in the years 2008-2015, with particular attention paid to the position of the Polish economy. This assessment was carried out on the basis of a summary index constructed with the use of statistical methods of linear ordering. The paper also presents conclusions from the analysis of the evolution of selected factors characterizing the innovativeness of the new EU member states. In the conducted analysis, statistical data from Eurostat were used to describe the innovativeness of economies with respect to two areas: (a) science and technology; and (b) education and training. The developed ranking of innovativeness of the new EU Member States, built on the basis of a summary index, makes it possible to state that the countries with the highest level of innovativeness among 13 analyzed countries were Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Malta. Poland’s above‑average value of the summary index for these countries occupied sixth position in the ranking, which indicates a relatively low level of innovativeness of the Polish economy

Innovativeness of the Polish economy in relation to the Visegrad Group countries

In March 2017, the Warsaw Declaration was signed, establishing provisions for the strategic alliance of the Visegrad Group countries, in the framework of which innovativeness is to become a new element of the cooperation between its members. The Warsaw Declaration provides for the initiation of cooperation between governmental agencies, research institutions, universities and local governments in the V4 countries. Within the framework of the envisaged cooperation, Poland has the ambition to become the leader of innovativeness in the group. In the context of the Warsaw Declaration objectives concerning close cooperation in the field of enhancing the innovation potential of the Visegrad Group's economies, the assessment of the level of innovativeness of the Polish economy in relation to the other countries of the group is important. The aim of the paper is, therefore, to make a comparison of this potential on the basis of the summary innovation index, published in the annual report of the European Commission entitled European Innovation Scoreboard, as well as on the basis of the components of this index. In the article, there was conducted a literature review on the innovativeness of the Polish economy, a descriptive analysis, an analysis of statistical data in time and a comparative analysis. The authors proposed also the research thesis that the Polish economy shows a weaker innovation potential than those recorded for the other countries of the group. Results of the research confirm the thesis to some extent. Poland holds a dominant position only in a few areas describing the innovation potential and for most of the studied indices the Polish economy is located “in the tail” of the group

Physicochemical properties of starch-maltodextrin and starch-maltodextrin-glucose systems

Starch is a widely used food additive. The addition of other ingredients changes the physical properties of resulting systems. The aim of this study was to investigate the rheological characteristics and susceptibility to retrogradation of starch-maltodextrin and starch-maltodextrin-glucose systems. Flow curves of 5% starch - maltodextrin and starch-maltodextrin-glucose pastes were tested by using rotational rheometer. The susceptibility to retrogradation of 2% pastes starch-maltodextrin and starch-maltodextrin-glucose systems by means of turbidimetric method was evaluated. It was found that all samples (systems) were a non-Newtonian, pseudoplastic fluids, with tend to the yield stress. Moreover addition of low and high DE maltodextrins and glucose to the starch caused a decrease in the values of shear stress throughout whole shear rate range. Starch pastes with greater concentration of the maltodextrins had less tendency to retrogradation. Also addition of glucose to starch-maltodextrin systems reduce the susceptibility to retrogradation

Dochody rozporządzalne gospodarstw rolnych na tle dochodów innych grup społeczno-ekonomicznych w Polsce w latach 2003–2014

In the article the specificity of incomes in agriculture was brought forward and the grounds of the state intervention in agricultural sector were indicated. From among the extensive and complicated instrumentarium of the policy of support points, the attention was paid to the essence and effects of direct payments which are considered the most common instrument of support in agriculture, serving to stabilize farmers’ incomes. On the basis of the data of the households budgets, according to GUS (Central Statistical Office), the analysis of the level and dynamics of disposable incomes of farmers’ households against the background of the incomes of other socio-economic groups was carried out. The research period covers the years from 2003 to 2014.W artykule przybliżono specyfikę dochodów w rolnictwie oraz wskazano przesłanki interwencji państwa w sektorze rolnym. Spośród obszernego i skomplikowanego instrumentarium polityki interwencyjnej zwrócono uwagę na istotę i efekty dopłat bezpośrednich, które są uznawane za najbardziej powszechny instrument wsparcia w rolnictwie, służący stabilizacji dochodów rolników. W oparciu o dane budżetów gospodarstw domowych GUS przeprowadzono analizę poziomu i dynamiki dochodów rozporządzalnych gospodarstw domowych rolników na tle dochodów innych grup społeczno-ekonomicznych. Okres badawczy obejmuje lata 2003–2014

Controversial experience tourism in the eyes of generation Y representatives

This paper was written to contribute to the discussion on the perspectives of the development of selected forms of controversial tourism by means of: 1) surveying opinions of Generation Y representatives on how familiar they are with individual forms; 2) determining the responders’ impressions on acceptance of these forms; 3) gathering opinions on the perspectives of development of these forms. The starting point for the discussion is to approach the motives for such travels from the perspective of the concept of experience economy and to limit the research to tourism forms developing in response to the need of novelty, sensations and experiences. The demand factor connected with the need to maximize sensations shaped a specific form of tourism, described in this study as controversial experience tourism. It comprises sex tourism, drug tourism, disaster tourism, extreme tourism, thanatourism, esoteric tourism, urban exploring and poorism. The study was carried out with the help of the CAWI technique between February and May 2018 and involved 407 participants aged 18–26. The obtained results suggest relatively low future interest in forms of tourism that are perceived as strongly controversial. The thirst for new experiences and sensations is fully satisfied by these forms of extreme tourism that are positively perceived and do not arouse ethical controversies.Celem pracy jest włączenie się w dyskusję nad perspektywami rozwoju wybranych form turystyki kontrowersyjnej poprzez: 1) zbadanie opinii przedstawicieli pokolenia Y na temat oceny stopnia znajomości poszczególnych form, 2) określenie odczuć respondentów na temat ich akceptacji, 3) zebranie opinii na temat perspektyw rozwojowych wskazanych form. Punktem wyjścia do dyskusji jest spojrzenie na motywy podejmowanych podróży z perspektywy koncepcji tzw. ekonomii doświadczeń oraz ograniczenie zakresu problemowego do form turystyki rozwijających się pod wpływem potrzeby poszukiwania nowości, wrażeń, doświadczeń. Czynnik popytu związany z potrzebą maksymalizacji wrażeń ukształtował pewną specyficzną grupę form turystyki, określoną na potrzeby analizy jako kontrowersyjna turystyka wrażeń. W jej zakres włączono: turystykę seksualną, narkoturystykę, turystykę katastrof, ekstremalną, tanatoturystykę, turystykę ezoteryczną, urban exploring i poorism. Badanie wykonano z zastosowaniem techniki CAWI, w okresie od lutego do maja 2018 roku z udziałem 407 respondentów w przedziale wiekowym 18–26 lat. Uzyskane wyniki sugerują stosunkowo niewielkie zainteresowanie w przyszłości formami turystyki, które kojarzone są jako silnie kontrowersyjne. Potrzebę zdobywania nowych doświadczeń i wrażeń w pełni zapewniają formy turystyki ekstremalnej, które postrzegane są pozytywnie i nie wywołują kontrowersji natury etycznej

Preface

Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 zostało dofinansowane ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę

The Innovation Gap of National Innovation Systems in the European Union

The main aim of the paper is to assess the innovation gap between the national innovation systems (NIS) of the European Union (EU) and the average level of innovation of EU economies. The study takes into account NIS identified in the literature, i.e., (a) developed systems and (b) developing systems. In the theoretical part of the paper, the literature in the fields of NIS and the innovation gap is reviewed, the definitions and selected classifications of NIS around the world are presented, and the concept of the innovation gap between countries is defined. In the empirical part, the level of innovation in EU economies is assessed using Hellwig’s synthetic development indicator. In order to measure the level of innovation in individual NISs, arithmetic means of national values of the synthetic measure of development (innovation) are used. The innovation gap is calculated as the quotient between the level of innovation of individual NISs analyzed in the study and the average level of innovation in EU economies. The study covered 2010 and 2021. The paper formulates the following research hypothesis: the level of innovation in EU economies is determined by the type of NIS. Consequently, developing system countries are less innovative and, thus, are characterized by an innovation gap in relation to the EU average. The results of the study confirm the hypothesis. The relationship between the innovation level of the EU economies and the type of NIS, as well as the assessment of the innovation gap between the national innovation systems of the EU and the average level of innovation of the EU economies, constitute the value‑added of the paper

Rozważania nad kierunkami rozwoju turystyki kulturowej

The main aim of the work is to analyse the students’ opinions about selected new forms of cultural tourism. The subject of the research was: poorism, urbex, esoteric tourism, questing, thanatotourism and geocaching. The level of their knowledge was systematically examined and information about their perception was collected. In order to collect information that allowed to assess the level of knowledge and participation in these forms of tourism, the CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interviews) technique was used, thus reaching the student community of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun. The research was conducted from April to July 2018. It was considered important to determine whether these currently niche varieties of cultural tourism may in the future have an impact on its shape. The collected opinions, in accordance with the adopted assumption, may be a prognosis of the future direction of cultural tourism development as one of the forms of tourism that has an impact on the maintenance of cultural heritage. The study found that fi eld games, such as geocaching and questing, are perceived by respondents as very interesting and useful forms, both for tourists and for the promotion of the region. As an attractive students considered the urbex, which provides much stronger emotions than the game competition. Due to its exploratory and often external nature, this form is considered by the respondents as the nearest to authenticity tourism. However as a least developed forms of tourism during the survey students pointed poorism and esoteric tourism.Celem pracy jest analiza opinii studentów na temat wybranych nowych form turystyki kulturowej. Przedmiotem badania były: poorism, urbex, turystyka ezoteryczna, questing, tanatoturystyka i geocaching. Konsekwentnie zbadano stopień ich znajomości i zebrano informacje na temat ich postrzegania. W celu zebrania informacji, które pozwoliły na dokonanie oceny stopnia znajomości oraz uczestnictwa we wspomnianych formach turystyki, posłużono się techniką CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interviews), docierając tym samym do społeczności studenckiej Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu. Badania przeprowadzono w okresie od kwietnia do lipca 2018 r. Za istotne uznano ustalenie, czy te, obecnie niszowe, odmiany turystyki kulturowej mogą w przyszłości mieć wpływ na jej kształt. Zebrane opinie, zgodnie z przyjętym założeniem, mogą stanowić prognostyk przyszłego kierunku rozwoju turystyki kulturowej jako jednej z form turystyki mającej wpływ na podtrzymanie dziedzictwa kulturowego. W badaniu ustalono, że gry terenowe, jak geocaching oraz questing, postrzegane są przez respondentów jako formy bardzo ciekawe i pożyteczne, zarówno dla turystów, jak i dla promocji regionu. Za atrakcyjny jest też uważany urbex, który dostarcza znacznie silniejszych emocji niż rywalizacja podczas gry. Ze względu na swój eksploracyjny oraz nierzadko zewnętrzny charakter forma ta uważana jest przez respondentów za najbliższą turystyce autentyczności. Natomiast za najmniej rozwojowe formy ankietowani uznali poorism i turystykę ezoteryczną

Pro Libris: Lubuskie Pismo Literacko-Kulturalne, nr 4 (2010)

145 s. : il., portr.