Cynicism Starts Young: Age and Entrepreneurship over Transition

Studies of self-employment determinants in developed market economies comprise the effects of business cycle, changing social structures or legal framework, industrial organization regulations and government policies. This paper contributes to the literature by analysing the cyclical patterns of self-employment determinants taking into account both the trends associated with the transition and the variability induced by economic and labour market fluctuations. We construct a consistent panel of entrepreneurship choice models based on consecutive quarterly labour force surveys for Poland - a country with nearly highest self-employment rates in CEECs and the EU - across the time span 1995q1-2008q4 and trace changes in the marginal effects estimators. We find that the notion of self-employment as survival strategy emphasised previously in the literature exhibits stronger in the periods of the labour market contraction. We also demonstrate that young university graduates prefer wage employment to entrepreneurship.self-employment, transition, cyclicality, selection models

E-learning i szkolenia tradycyjne - usługi komplementarne czy substytucyjne?

One of the ways of deepening and updating employees' knowledge is e-learning. It can be applied as an independent training method, as a support for traditional methods or/and a technique of updating knowledge. According to the context, e-learning can be treated as a substitute or complementary service in comparison with conventional training. E-learning's role is not to replace the traditional education methods, but rather to enrich them, supplement and increase their effectiveness. Supplementing traditional trainings with electronic methods (blended learning) unites the benefits of both methods and provides the best results. This method of training has the most development potential for the coming years.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 nauk

THE INFORMATION ACTIVITY OF THE BIOACTIVE FOOD CONSUMERS

The main objective of this paper is to analyse communication activity of consumers and potential consumers of bio-active food in comparison to non-consumers of such food. The above-mentioned analysis is based on quantitative research, which was carried out within the project New Bioactive Food with Designed Functional Properties POIG 01.01.02-00-061/09. 500 structured interviews with people responsible for food purchases in households, were conducted between March and April 2015 in towns of Wielkopolskie voivodeship. The quota sampling was used with age, gender and size of the respondent’s city of living as quotas. The sources of information used by bioactive food consumers were presented, as well as the way that they share information with others. Moreover, the similarities and differences in information activity, between people interested in pro-health food and those uninterested, were indicated

Known Knowns and Known Unknowns of Immigrant Self-employment. Selected issues

The paper presents a review of selected definitional issues, theoretical concepts and most recent empirical evidence related to the phenomenon of immigrant self-employment. Based on the appraisal of gathered material it also points to possible areas of development of future research in the field.migration, self-employment, ethnic entrepreneurship, middleman minority, ethnic enclave, literature review, state of the art

International Migration and the Choice of Self-employment

This thesis explores three notions related to the choice of self-employment as a labor market strategy among international migrants. The choice of the topic is motivated by the presumption that self-employment, on top if international labor migration, facilitates the reduction of the inefficiency of the international division of labor. In search of proof for this general hypothesis, the thesis contributes to exiting literature by merging two strands of work. On one hand, it relies on the concepts and methods related to the economics of migration. On the other hand, it takes advantage of the developments in the field of self-employment economics. In light of the gaps identified in existing literature, three operational hypotheses are formulated and tested in three subsequent chapters of the thesis. The first empirical chapter aims to answer the question whether immigrant self-employment is an income-maximizing choice. As simple as it seems, to the best of the author’s knowledge, such a hypothesis has not been empirically tested before. By means of Propensity Score Matching we find statistical twins in the migrant and non-migrant groups, what allows to obtain reliable estimates of the earnings gap. The results show that, indeed, immigrant self-employment is more profitable than employment in the country of origin. Furthermore, it is also proven that it may be even more profitable than wage-employment at the destination. Given the results of the first empirical analysis, the subsequent chapter tests whether immigrant self-employment is driven by labor market discrimination, i.e. whether it is a remedy for the internal labor market imperfections in the host country. This is found to be true, yet only when immigrants' earnings from self-employment actually exceed those from wage-employment. Additionally, the findings of this chapter suggest that the extent of labor market discrimination of immigrants highly depends on the location and the group of reference considered for the analysis of discriminatory wage differences. The third operational hypothesis deals with ethnic economies as an environment which enables immigrants to succeed in business in a foreign country. Existing literature emphasizes the beneficial role of ethnic economies. The contribution of this thesis is that it also explores whether ethnic economies are not sources of business competition at the same time. The hypothesis formulated for this analysis states that ethnic competition decreases, while ethnic complementarity increases the returns to business activity. The general finding of is that ethnic competition may either be benign or detrimental to profits, depending on the extent of ethnic market saturation. As far as ethnic complementarity is concerned, the conducted research shows that, as such, it does not significantly affect returns to ethnic entrepreneurship, but that the relative wealth of one's co-ethnics does have a positive effect on the profitability of local ethnic businesses. The studies conducted within the scope this doctoral research affirm the general hypothesis of this thesis. From this perspective the main conclusions of this thesis are the following: by reallocating to markets where one's skills, abilities or knowledge are relatively scarce, or add to the diversity of supplied products or services, individuals may experience significant income gains; the profitability of immigrant self-employment may not only allow to overcome the labor market inefficiencies related to the international division of labor, but also to the internal market divide; the multilateral benefits of immigrant self-employment can be obtained by letting migrants cluster and take advantage of their cultural and social capital. For both methodological and conceptual reasons the research focuses predominantly on Puerto Rican migration to the US. However, each empirical analysis provides a study of external validity of the obtained results

Dobrobit povezana s hranom. Kritička analiza koncepta dobrobiti povezane s hranom i mogućnosti njegove empirijske potvrde

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to take a critical look at the FWB concept and the possibilities of its empirical verification, aimed at identifying limitations and difficulties in measurement. Design/Methodology/Approach – The critical literature analysis is based on inductive reasoning and was conducted on two levels – the conceptual framework of FWB and empirical research in the FWB field. Findings and implications – The interdisciplinarity of FWB conceptual models hinders their empirical verification. In the analysed studies, empirical measurements are characterized by fragmentation. The fact that researchers use various methods causes problems with comparing results and formulating universal conclusions or recommendations that contribute to increasing the level of FWB in terms of the individual or the society. Moreover, the issue of the shape of the FWB pinwheel needs to be clarified, e.g. individual issues should be included under a separate food (related) personality dimension. Limitations – The analyses were based solely on the review of available literature and existing research, which was conducted in most part from the perspective of one discipline. Primary empirical and interdisciplinary study is needed to explore the subject further. Originality – To the best of authors’ knowledge, no attempt has been made so far to analyse FWB in the presented approach, which would allow defining its conceptual limitations, the possibility of empirical verification or indicating research directions in individual dimensions of FWB.Svrha - Svrha je rada kritički sagledati koncept FBW (food well-being, dobrobit povezana s hranom) i mogućnosti njegove empirijske potvrde usmjerene utvrđivanju ograničenja i poteškoća u njegovu mjerenju. Dizajn/metodologija/pristup - Kritička analiza literature zasniva se na induktivnom pristupu. Provedena je na dvjema razinama – na razini konceptualnog okvira FWB-a i na razini empirijskih istraživanja koncepta FWB-a. Rezultati i implikacije - Interdisciplinarnost konceptualnih modela FWB-a ometa njihovu empirijsku potvrdu. U analiziranim studijama utvrđena je fragmentiranost empirijskih provjera. Primjena različitih metoda uzrokuje probleme usporedbe dobivenih rezultata, kao i formulacije općih zaključaka ili preporuka, koje bi pridonijele povećanju FBW-a na razini individue ili društva. U tom smislu bilo bi potrebno razjasniti potrebe uključene u “FWB zupčanik”, primjerice, razviti posebnu dimenziju s hranom povezane osobnosti. Ograničenja - Analize se temelje isključivo na analizi postojeće literature i istraživanjima koja su se uglavnom provodila iz perspektive jedne znanstvene discipline. Za dublje razumijevanje ove teme potrebno je provesti interdisciplinarno empirijsko istraživanje. Originalnost - Prema dosadašnjim saznanjima autorica, ne postoje pokušaji analize koncepta FWB-a poput ovdje opisanog pristupa, a koji bi omogućio definiranje njegovih konceptualnih ograničenja, empirijske potvrde ili budućih smjerova istraživanja pojedinačnih dimenzija FWB

Implementation of the futile therapy concept in the conditions of Polish intensive care units - a description of five cases

The concept of futile therapy is an attempt to solve the problem that arose on the sidelines of the success of intensive therapy. Both the theoretical bases of futile therapy and the ways of implementing it on the hospital ward raise much controversy. This paper aims to present practical aspects of the implementation of the concept of futile therapy in Polish intensive care units. Increasingly, the ICUs are struggling with prolonged maintenance of organ functions that do not bring therapeutic benefit to the patient (futile therapy). In 2014, under the leadership of Professor Kübler, guidelines for ICUs were established for dealing with the ineffectiveness of maintaining organ functions in patients incapable of providing informed declarations of will. As part of the implementation of futile therapy, it is possible to either withdraw from conducted therapies or withhold from taking new ones. The guidelines are the first official document in Poland containing instructions on how to proceed in futile therapy. The constantly increasing number of futile therapy protocols suggests that the guidelines, despite not being part of the common law, significantly facilitate the work of ICU doctors. In everyday practice, doctors face the difficulty of distinguishing between the situation in which the same therapeutic techniques either aid the treatment of the patient or unnecessarily prolong the process of dying. The futile therapy can take up many forms, this article focuses on practical aspects of the implementation of futile therapy in five different clinical cases

Zmiany histopatologiczne w biopsji mięśnia u 31 chorych z mutacjami w genie kodującym kalpainę 3

Background and purpose At present, more than 20 different forms of limb-girdle muscular dystrophies (LGMDs) are known (at least 7 autosomal dominant and 14 autosomal recessive). Although these different forms show some typical phenotypic characteristics, the existing clinical overlap makes their differential diagnosis difficult. Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2 (LGMD2A) is the most prevalent LGMD in many European as well as Brazilian communities and is caused by mutations in the gene CAPN3. Laboratory testing, such as calpain immunohistochemistry and Western-blot analysis, is not totally reliable, since up to 20% of molecularly confirmed LGMD2A show normal content of calpain 3 and a third of LGMD2A biopsies have normal calpain 3 proteolytic activity in the muscle. Thus, genetic testing is considered as the only reliable diagnostic criterion in LGMD2A. Material and methods In an attempt to find a correlation between genotype and muscle pathology in limb-girdle muscular dystrophy 2A we performed histopathological investigation of a group of 31 patients subdivided according to the type of pathologic CAPN3 gene mutation. Results In all biopsies typical features of muscular dystrophy such as fiber necrosis and regeneration, variation in fiber size and fibrosis were noted. Lobulated fibers were often encountered in the muscle biopsies of LGMD2A patients. Such fibers were more frequent in patients with 550delA mutation. Conclusions These findings may be helpful in establishing diagnostic strategies in LGMD.Wstęp i cel pracy Dotychczas opisano ponad 20 różnych form dystrofii obręczowo-kończynowej (limb girdle muscular dystrophy – LGMD) (co najmniej 7 rodzajów o dziedziczeniu autosomalnym dominującym oraz 14 o dziedziczeniu autosomalnym recesywnym). Pomimo że część z tych chorób można różnicować na podstawie obrazu klinicznego, diagnostykę utrudnia często podobieństwo objawów. Dystrofia obręczowo–kończynowa typu 2A (limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2 – LGMD2A), najczęstsza dystrofia mięśniowa w wielu społecznościach (np. w Europie i Brazylii), spowodowana jest przez mutacje w genie kalpainy 3 (CAPN3). Badanie immunohisto-chemiczne kalpainy czy też metodą Western blot nie są wystarczające do ustalenia właściwego rozpoznania (w odpowiednio 1/3 i 20% potwierdzonych genetycznie LGMD2A badania te wypadają prawidłowo). Podstawę rozpoznania tej miopatii stanowi badanie genetyczne. Materiał i metody W pracy przedstawiono wyniki badania zależności między genotypem a analizą histopatologiczną biopsji mięśnia u 31 chorych na LGMD2A. Chorzy podzieleni zostali na grupy według wyników badania genetycznego genu CAPN3 odpowiedzialnego za tę chorobę. Wyniki We wszystkich badanych biopsjach stwierdzano typowe zmiany dystroficzne, takie jak obecność włókien martwiczych i regenerujących, zróżnicowaną wielkość włókien oraz włóknienie. Włókna o nierównomiernym rozkładzie barwień na enzymy oddechowe (lobulated fibers) były często obserwowane w biopsjach chorych z LGMD2A. Tego typu włókna szczególnie często występowały u chorych z mutacją 550delA. Wnioski Wyniki pracy wnoszą nowe informacje ułatwiające diagnostykę LGMD