The purpose of this paper has been to assess the costs and profitability of producing oilseed rape (OSR) methyl esters and using them on own farmstead. The breakdown of costs involved in converting OSR into esters included the following stages: feedstock (raw material production, pressing oil from seeds and converting oil into fuel (estrification). The production costs were calculated per annum and the revenue derived from selling by-products was added. A field study was carried out on a farm covering 1,200 ha situated Warmia-Mazury Voivodship. The cost of making 1 liter of esters was 3.28 PLN, but when the by-product (rapeseed meal – pulp) was utilized, the cost dropped to 1.76 PLN. Production of esters based on purchased feedstock (the current price is 180 PLN·dt–1) is an unprofitable undertaking since the unit production cost is higher than the price of diesel oil. Ultimate values of the analyzed economic indices depended on the costs of growing feedstock (shaped by agritechnical treatments, type of seed material, fertilization rates and necessary plant protection treatments), the way the by-products are utilized (sale, valuable feed in animal nutrition, energy carrier). The biodiesel producer must take into account the alternative cost fuel production. The paper presents legal regulations pertaining to the production of biofuel for own use; additionally, costs of this alternative fuel versus conventional one were compared.

Polish national agricultural journal “Acta Scientiarum Polonorum”, issued in fifteen thematic series, has been of primary concern to this article. The analysis focuses on issues between 2002–2010, when the magazine was published both in paper and electronic version. The journal has been described by the frequency of being published, the numer of articles it includes, their size, the number of foreign writers and the sex of those writers. Thirteen series of regularly issued “Acta Scientiarum Polonorum” have been compared. The results have been presented both as numbers and percentages, in the form of tables and charts. ASP’s indexes in Polish and foreign databases have also been shown in the table in this article. The results of the study give us an interesting insight in “Acta Scientiarum Polonorum” after 10 years of being in the market.

This paper analyzes the level of expenditure on selected programs on the labor market in a regional context and the employment effectiveness of the selected programs. It also presents the results of surveys among the unemployed from the Warmia-Mazury Province. The research shows that there is no strong correlation between the labor market situation and the employment effectiveness of the active labor market programs. It follows from the research that 75% people who received a subsidy to start their own business were not entered again into the Register of the Unemployed within 3 years from getting a subsidy. In the third year from obtaining a subsidy, more than half of them continued to operate (58.6%) and every fourth company created a workplace.

Polish fiscal system contains different taxes as well as other tax-like payments. These are different payments, ie. obligatory public charges such as social insurance and health insurance contributions. These payments influence taxpayers’ income and consequently also on the level of their welfare. The aim of this paper is to present the characteristics of the personal income tax (PIT), as well as the empirical evaluation of influence of PIT and social and health insurance contributions on the income situation of taxpayers. To reach the objective, the authors use two types of methods: assessment of conditions under which the personal income tax system becomes progressive and measures of structural progression.

Enterprise population processes are very similar to the processes observed in human population. The dynamics of enterprise population is conditioned by changes in basic processes: births, deaths and migrations. Similar techniques and models to those in demography can be applied in the evaluation of enterprise population dynamics. A methodological framework for business demography was set by Eurostat. The sum of birth and death rates shows the ability of enterprise market to adjust to changing economic conditions allowing to reallocate resources according to Schumpeter’s creative destruction. This paper focuses on territorial differentiations in the processes of shaping enterprise population and their correlations with the economic development of the country. For this purpose the cluster analysis method was applied.

The aim of the research presented in the article was to determine an influence of specialisation on economic results of pig farms. The analysis included 80 pig farms with large-scale production located in eight voivodeships of the greatest concentration of these animals’ rearing in Poland. In the economic and agricultural literature there are a number of specialisation’s definitions, as well as different measurement methods and criteria are applied. This hinders comparability of the gained results. Specialisation is favourable to achieving advantages resulting from the growth in production scale. In the analysed farms, the higher level of specialisation was connected with the growth of land and labour productivity, as well as increased production profitability and return on equity. Only specialized farms of great production scale are able to cope with the growing competition on pig market.

The purpose of this paper was to initiate discussion of the role of divestments in transformation of farms which diversify their activities towards off-farm economic activities. This paper is theoretical, supplemented with results of surveys conducted among farmers-entrepreneurs. Observations and studies of literature references indicate that in course of development by a farmer of off-farm economic activities, available farm resources are involved first. After a certain time, considering significant disproportionality in economic efficiency of resources involved in competing activities, and in view of difficulties in obtaining new resources from outside, a need arises for divestment within the farm. Typically, this leads to decreased significance or even marginalization or abandonment of the less profitable activity, which is typically the farming activity.