Although there is a common belief that the stabilization policy leads to output losses, alternative research puts forward no output losses at the end of the stabilization periods. This study aims to test whether for the 1990–2008 period anti-inflationary monetary policies which reduced the ongoing inflation to one digit rates, also led to agricultural output losses in Turkey for the same time period. Periodic sectoral sacrifice ratios will be calculated as a proxy for output losses. Model relies on the Phillips Curve model showing an alternative sacrifice between unemployment and inflation. Employed variables in the model are inflation and output losses in the agricultural sector. Output loss can be defined as the difference between potential and realized output differences in the sector examined. The sacrifice ratio will also be calculated by balancing the output loss in agriculture at the cost of lowering high inflation rates. Small sacrifice ratios for the post 2001 period for Turkey will show the success of monetary policy implementation of Turkish Central Bank. Alternatively, increases in the sacrifice ratio, at a stage where agricultural output and its potential disparity increases, will reflect the negligence of agricultural sector at the cost of stabilizing the economy. All these findings will be compared to Poland and Italy experiences.

The tourism potential is defined as the elements like the natural environment (natural) and cultural (anthropogenic) amenities, which form the basis for tourism development. Properly managed and exposed become prominent, often unique tourist values, that are already real tourist attractions encouraging visitors to arrive at that area. Tourism potential is perceived as a major aspect in the formation of a region’s tourism function. This article aims at identifying the tourism potential element, of seven, which is the most essential for the shaping of the said function. The research for this paper was conducted in 2006–2007, covering all the rural and combined urban-rural municipalities in Podkarpackie province, Poland.

To get insight into Polish consumers’ perception and prioritization of beef attributes there was a research conducted using qualitative approach. The results show that Polish consumers perceive beef as healthy, lean, with a high content of iron, tasty and festive meat. Nevertheless, consumers also pay attention to the negative aspects of beef and they claim that beef is difficult to prepare, expensive and tough. Female consumers also indicated that it is not easy to buy quality beef, and that children do not like that type of meat. The projective image of beef is positive and the most commonly mentioned association represented dimensions such as strength, activity, lightness, creativity, wealth, peace, elegance, happiness and health. These results maybe of relevance for creating communication strategies on the beef market.

Food quality is the main issue of the article. Food quality concept is widely presented in the article. The most important in food quality management is to ensure food safety. That is why the author pays particular attention to food safety. The reader can find in the paper up-to-date examples of food safety management from real life. The author presents the outcome of the analysis of crucial food quality conditionings, like legal rules, agribusiness resources and methods of production. The author emphasizes the role of organic agriculture method in improving food quality and safety.

The participants of the pension system should have some basic knowledge on its functioning. In Poland, when the new pension system was introduced, no public education was conducted in this area and the participants of the system gained the information on this issue on their own. Greater knowledge in this field would have led to proper functioning of the system. The results of the survey concerning opinion of the benefi ciaries on functioning of the general pension system were discussed in the paper. The research proves that more than a half of the surveyed assessed the financial situation as insuffi cient. The most often indicated reason for this situation was financial management, number of benefi ciaries and the level of benefi ts. The research proves that the benefi ciaries have currently some knowledge on functioning of the pension system. However, “younger pensioners” have higher awareness in this area.

Agricultural activities are an indispensable element of landscape development. They play a particularly important role in areas valuable in terms of nature, including mountainous areas. The Carpathian village and agricultural holdings demonstrate a high level of economic viability and a high economic activity, however, support is required for agricultural activities performed in difficult natural conditions. Due to the fact that inhabitants of the Polish Carpathian Mountains are very attached to their land, place of living as well as tradition and culture of the region, recessive processes pertaining to the durability of village and agriculture are slower than in other parts of Poland. However, the absence of firm aid activities protecting these areas may soon lead to the rapid acceleration of recessive phenomena. EU’s economic policy applied to rural areas and agriculture will materially impact the speed and directions of the processes, including addressing problem areas and additional solutions applied domestically. The purpose of the study was to assess and propose modifications of the system of support to agriculture in mountainous areas, including, in particular in the area of the Polish Carpathian Mountains. Solutions proposed in the summary should be broadly discussed which would allow their implementation as part of the new period of programming the CAP.

The economic situation of farms has been analyzed according to the economic size. On the basis of data from FADN Farm Accountancy Data Network there has been made an analysis of the income situation of an average Polish and European Union farm. For the need of the analysis, the farms have been divided into 6 classes of economic size (ES6): to 4, 4–8, 8–16, 16–40, 40–100, 100 – and more ESU (European Size Unit). Due to the fact that FADN Standard Results include mean values for identified groups with definite minimal number of agricultural farms, simple methods of analysis of statistical series as well as vertical and horizontal analysis method have been applied. In the work, information from all the farms which used FADN accountancy in the years 2004–2008 has been provided, and for the Polish farms, additionally from the years 2005–2007. The quantity of the earned income was closely correlated with the farm economic size. Along with its rise, the level of earned income increased, as well. However, Farm Net Income exceeding the average net wage1 in the national economy, in 2004, was reached by Polish farms only of medium small (8–16 ESU) economic size, whereas, in 2008 by a medium large one (16–40 ESU). In large farms (40–100 ESU) and very large (100 ESU and more) in 2008, and additionally, medium large (16–40 ESU), in 2004, the earned income of unpaid labor per head was many times higher than the average net wage. The contribution of subsidies to the size of earned income is constantly growing.

Financial insurance plays an important role in market economy. It allows businesses and peoples to go through the period of economic slowdown with the fewest possible losses. Financial insurance sector developed in Poland in the 1990s however it has expanded dynamically over the past years. This article presents the development and importance of the financial insurance sector in Poland between 2004–2009. It evaluates the scope and the structure of financial insurance with regard to its registered forms, participants, gross written premiums, gross claims paid, balance on technical financial insurance account and selected ratios. At the same time the theoretical and legal aspects of the financial insurance sector in Poland were presented. Data on the development of the financial insurance sector in Poland was taken from the Central Statistical Office and the Polish Financial Supervision Authority.

In the paper findings from an analysis of the direct transactions associated with a sample of farm households drawn from two European case study areas – Podlaskie, Poland and North East Scotland, UK were presented. The results indicated that the concept of “local” in relation to farm household transactions depends on the economic background of the area under analysis. While farms in the Polish CSA region carried out almost all of their farm-related transactions very close to the location of the farm, farms in the North East Scotland had more complex and generally less local transactions reflecting spatial concentration in the upstream and downstream businesses in the respective areas.

The paper presents the role of the brewing sector in the economy of the European Union countries and four other countries, which are: Croatia, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. The value added, state budget revenues generated by the production and distribution of beer as well as employment in the brewing sector were discussed in the paper. The authors also concentrated on exports and imports of beer. It was found that the brewing industry has particularly great significance in generating state budget revenues in countries with high level of fiscalism, and where the production and consumption of beer is quite high. The analysed sector assures many workplaces, especially in the distribution sphere (mainly in hospitality sector).

This article contains a model presentation of regional development processes in the context of self-government strategic programmes. The theoretical bases of regional development are described in this article: starting from the basic notions and determinants of these social and economic phenomena. A review of the theories of development was presented, and the most synthetic phenomena in two extreme models were indicated. Further, the mechanisms of strategic programming were presented within the framework of regional policy. The sequences of activities in the construction of the strategy and its individual elements were presented. Apart from system analyses, example provisions of a selected regional strategy were also discussed. The article completes with conclusions and recommendations for local governments in Poland, which create and implement strategies in micro-economic and macro-economic environments. It was found that strategic management is an optimal method to raise the effectiveness concerning exercising of power on the mezzo-economic level.

The paper presents the theoretical basis and practice of competition policy implemented in the field of organization and functioning of the Polish agri-food markets. The national governments create competition policy based on the assumptions of economic theory for the effective economy and consumer welfare. As it can be observed in many agrifood markets in Poland, the role of competition policy is limited. Firstly, it is so because of the low level of market concentration, which limits the potential for intervention. In the years 2004–2010 the President of UOKiK (Polish Competition Authority) conducted 11 proceedings regarding infringement of competition law in this sector. Besides only a few of the 137 merger control decisions resulted in merger prohibition or a conditional consent. Secondly, under the rules of the Common Agricultural Policy, markets of farm products are not regulated by competition law in the same way as other sectors of the economy. A likely increase the importance of competition policy in this sector can result from its progressive consolidation and a reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.