Scientific projects at the PUEB

Financing entity
The National Centre for Research and Development (Poland); Ministry of Science and Technology (Taiwan) Polish-Taiwanese bilateral project in frame of Poland-Taiwan cooperation
Konkurs
4th Polish-Taiwanese call for joint research projects
Nr rejestracyjny
PL-TW IV/2/2017
Czas trwania projektu
01/04/2017 - 31/03/2020
Budget
395 000 PLN (UEP) + 3 600 000 TWD (NTU)
research

Synthesis, surface and antimicrobial properties of novel sulfobetaines and the possibilities of their use in medical products

Surfactants, thanks to the structure of the molecule consisting of hydrophilic head and hydrophobic tail, show many interesting properties. The most important characteristics are their ability to reduce surface tension as well as wetting, solubilizing, emulsifying and antimicrobial properties....

Surfactants, thanks to the structure of the molecule consisting of hydrophilic head and hydrophobic tail, show many interesting properties. The most important characteristics are their ability to reduce surface tension as well as wetting, solubilizing, emulsifying and antimicrobial properties. Sulfobetaine surfactants are one of the groups of surfactants which may show antimicrobial effects. As a result of their specific structure, they can exhibit many desirable features at the same time and are a research material of high potential.

The cooperation between the teams of the Poznań University of Economics and Business and the National Taiwan University in Taipei, established in 2013, resulted in the publication of an article in the Journal of Surfactants and Detergents (DOI: 10.1007/s11743-016-1838-3). The results of the joint research have been noticed and served as basis for further cooperation, which is why the teams have been recommended for funding research from the National Centre for Research and Development. The objectives of the project include:

– synthesis of sulfobetaine surfactants and their spectroscopic characteristics, as well as the characteristics of surface activity;

– evaluation of antimicrobial activity, as well as the therapeutic and toxic effects of the synthesised compounds.

The obtained results will allow for a broad characterization of surface and antimicrobial activity of sulfobetaine obtained and will indicate the potential use of these compounds as substances with therapeutic effect.

Financing entity
National Science Centre, Poland
Konkurs
PRELUDIUM
Nr rejestracyjny
2017/25/N/HS4/02037
Czas trwania projektu
21/02/2018 - 20/02/2020
Budget
119 480 zł
projects

Individual and situational determinants of managerial risk in corporate governance of public companies in Poland

The main objective of the project is to discover the significance of individual factor in the form of regulatory focus of CEOs, and situational factor in the form of stock option grants as a component of their remuneration, for managerial risk taking in Polish public companies. Despite...
The main objective of the project is to discover the significance of individual factor in the form of regulatory focus of CEOs, and situational factor in the form of stock option grants as a component of their remuneration, for managerial risk taking in Polish public companies. Despite the innovative nature of utilizing the psychological theory of regulatory focus in strategic management literature, few studies have confirmed that financial incentives may reduce the risk aversion of CEOs with a prevention focus [Lanaj et al., 2012; Gamache et al. 2015].
The results of these studies make it possible to address the following research questions:
– how does the dispositional factor in the form of regulatory focus of CEOs of public companies in Poland influence their risk taking?
– how is their risk taking influenced by the situational factor of remuneration focused on motivational effects?
– which indicators of managerial risk taking best reflect the strategic choices burdened by uncertain results in companies in Poland? These questions form the basis for the formulation of four preliminary hypotheses of the project. Hypotheses 1 and 2 assume that both types of regulatory focus – promotional and preventive  – have an impact on CEOs’ risk taking, with the impact of promotional focus being positive and preventive focus being negative. Hypotheses 3 and 4 assume the existence of a moderating influence of stock options, as the instrument of managerial motivation in corporate governance, in relation to hypotheses 1 and 2 – stock options reinforce the positive impact of promotional focus and undermine the negative impact of preventive focus on managing risk taking. The project will result in at least two publications in international, peer-reviewed scientific journals and conference papers as well as a Ph.D. dissertation published in the form of a book

Research carried out in the project

Research in the project will be implemented in two main stages. At the stage of literature analysis on strategic risk, decision theory, corporate governance theory (including agency theory and higher upperechelon theory) and psychological theory of regulatory focus, detailed research questions will be formulated and measuring tools utilized in the second, empirical stage will be finally developed. The stage of empirical research will be carried out using the method of content analysis [Mayntz, Holm, and Hübner, 1985], by which CEOs’ regulatory focus can be measured without the need for their personal involvement in the research process. This method was chosen for its growing popularity in the organizational research [Duriau, Reger, and Pfaffer 2007], and proven efficacy [e.g. Eggers and Kaplan, 2009; McClelland et al., 2010]. Measurement of CEOs’ regulatory focus will be made on the basis of their shareholder letters, attached to the publicly available annual financial statements of companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Other variables used in research hypotheses will be examined on the basis of secondary data taken from databases of listed companies, e.g. Notoria database. In addition to regulatory focus and stock options, such control variables as CEO’s gender and age, or the industry in which the company operates, will be included in the study. The final selection of these variables will be determined by the analysis of current research in global literature to provide broad comparability.

Reasons for choosing the research topic

The presented research topic has been chosen due to (still) limited amount of empirical research in the area of strategic management, and corporate governance in particular, regarding the impact of differences in CEOs’ regulatory focus on their risk taking, despite the clear suggestion of many researchers, such as Wowak and Hambrick [2010], Ridge, Hill, and Aime [2014], Seo et al. [2015], Martin, Wiseman, and Gomez-Mejia [2016b], Hoskisson et al. [2017] or Zivnuska, Kacmar, and Valle [2017]. According to the author’s best knowledge, no empirical research of how such a propensity and monetary incentives in the form of stock options lead to a variety of risk-sensitive business performance indicators, has been conducted so far. The need was reported by Gamache et al. [2015], who themselves have only examined one indicator (number and value of acquisitions). Lastly, this type of research has not yet been carried out in Polish setting.
Financing entity
National Science Centre, Poland
Konkurs
OPUS
Nr rejestracyjny
2017/25/B/HS4/01546
Czas trwania projektu
07/02/2018 - 06/02/2020
Budget
156 200 zł
research

The measurement of liquidity and the dynamics of the transaction process

Liquidity of instruments quoted on the financial markets is one of the most important issues in modern finance. In the literature it is shown that it affects the process of pricing financial instruments, portfolio allocation as well as risk management. It is a significant determinant of...
Liquidity of instruments quoted on the financial markets is one of the most important issues in modern finance. In the literature it is shown that it affects the process of pricing financial instruments, portfolio allocation as well as risk management. It is a significant determinant of market quality. Poor liquidity prevents investors from investing in the markets; they will be not willing to buy new shares having in mind potential problems with selling them back at acceptable price. It also bothers market animators who are liquidity providers on the market and are responsible for keeping trade on an expected level. Therefore liquidity is important both for investors and for regulators.
Liquidity is unobservable and approximated or estimated with many proxies. It is an elusive concept, partly because it encompasses many transaction properties observed on the markets. The liquidity studies are performed on the basis of different information sets, with different data frequency and on different markets. There is no single answer, which measure is the best approximation for the observed transaction costs. The proposed studies is aimed to compare liquidity measures of stocks quoted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. We consider measures calculated on the basis of daily data and more frequently observed intradaily data and find optimal measures. We also examine the relations between the characteristics of the transaction process, such as volatility or volume, and investigate their impact on the liquidity on the Polish capital market.
The proposed project allows to answer the question how important are the intraday data in liquidity measuring. They show what kind of daily data may be useful when measuring liquidity. The proxy calculated from the generally available data will be examined. It will fill the gap in the literature and show how liquidity dynamics are related to changes in prices, volumes, volatility and therefore will allow to better describe price formation process. The project could therefore help to provide intuition, how different dimensions of liquidity behave around different market events. It also considers the relationship between liquidity and volatility. The results are interesting not only from academics point of view but are importantalso for practitioners of the stock market.
Financing entity
National Science Centre, Poland
Konkurs
OPUS
Nr rejestracyjny
2017/25/B/HS4/02076
Czas trwania projektu
07/02/2018 - 06/02/2021
Budget
174 400 zł
research

Optimal level and structure of public expenditures in the endogenous growth theory of open economy

Rapid economic growth in Poland is accompanied by dynamic influx of foreign capital and intense growth of export and import, and, on the other hand, public expenditures – in part financed by the EU funds – become increasingly important: for transport infrastructure, education, research and...
Rapid economic growth in Poland is accompanied by dynamic influx of foreign capital and intense growth of export and import, and, on the other hand, public expenditures – in part financed by the EU funds – become increasingly important: for transport infrastructure, education, research and development, etc. Meanwhile, vast majority of theoretical literature on endogenous growth, and in particular models of optimal public spending, is dedicated to the “closed economy”. There are no capital flows between countries, no FDI, and even export and import is absent. On top of that, the issue of external debt is also often neglected.
Therefore, the primary aim of this project is to use this large pool of knowledge and extend the most important results to the case of small open economy (SOE). The world literature related to the role of fiscal policy in the SOE endogenous growth theory is very scarce, and in Poland it is literary non-existent. Within the framework of the project we will seek out the optimum level and structure of public expenditures on:
– public consumption (so-called unproductive public spending)
– infrastructure investments (public expenditures that increase the stock of public capital),
– public services (the flow of public services, not subject to accumulation)
– investments in human capital (education, research and development)
An additional, important goal of this project is the calibration of the model with macroeconomic data for Poland, and creating simulations regarding the long-run and temporary (transitional) effects of various types of public spending.
This project is a continuation of and (in our opinion) the indispensable complement of research carried out by us in the last few years, that focused on the other side of the coin, that is, the optimal tax policy at SOE, with application for Poland. In particular, we were searching for optimal tax rates of 5 types, the optimal size of the budget deficit (in % of GDP) and public debt structure (the share of foreign creditors). The results of this work have been published, inter alia, in the book by Konopczyński (2015), which was awarded in 2016 by Polish Economic Society with the Prof. Edward Lipinski Prize.
Financing entity
National Science Centre, Poland
Konkurs
SONATA
Nr rejestracyjny
2017/26/D/HS4/00349
Czas trwania projektu
10/05/2018 - 09/05/2020
Budget
249 852 zł
research

Research on distinctness of cost of equity capital in family firms

The primary aim of the project is to examine the link between family control and the cost of equity capital based on the large sample of companies from different countries worldwide. Main research question is: does cost of equity capital in family firms differ from cost of equity capital in...
The primary aim of the project is to examine the link between family control and the cost of equity capital based on the large sample of companies from different countries worldwide. Main research question is: does cost of equity capital in family firms differ from cost of equity capital in non-family firms? And if so, what factors affect the difference between family and non-family firms in terms of cost of equity capital?
The scientific problem places the proposed project within the framework of the debate on corporate governance, focusing on the specific issue of the link between family control and the cost of equity capital.
Based on relevant literature on agency theory, corporate governance and capital structure theory analyzed in the project, whether family firms have higher or lower cost of equity capital remains an open question. Reasons for both positive and negative relation between family control and the cost of equity capital give rise to inferences about the factors that affect this relation.
Analysis of relevant literature leads to three additional questions that constitute detail research objectives:
• Does impact of family control on the cost of equity capital change over time, in different subperiods depending on the phase of the business cycle?
• Does impact of family control on the cost of equity capital differ in certain countries depending on the level of shareholder rights protection?
• How do the financial decisions of family firms affect the cost of equity capital depending on financial architecture of different countries?
We will conduct our analysis on the link between family control and the cost of equity capital using different methods. Main group of methods that will be used during the research include methods of microeconometrics used in empirical corporate finance. Primary method that will be used is linear regression analysis. When necessary other regression models will be applied. In the proposed research we choose implied cost of equity as proxy for expected return. During the project different data downloaded from two databases i.e. Orbis BvD and Thomson Reuters EIKON will be used.
Reasons for choosing the research topic refer on the one hand to significance of family firms to economies around the world, on the other to significance of cost of equity capital to both theory and practice of finance. In longer perspective better knowledge of factors affecting the cost of equity capital will enable family firms to make better investment and financing decisions, evaluate performance, and structure rewards for performance.
Financing entity
National Science Centre, Poland
Konkurs
PRELUDIUM 14
Nr rejestracyjny
2017/27/N/HS6/00723
Czas trwania projektu
08/08/2018 - 07/08/2021
Budget
115 850 zł
research

Semiotics of justice: organizing of translation process in the work of a lawyer – the case of Poznań district

Have you ever wondered how the work of a lawyer looks like? But really, what it would be to walk the shoes of attorney at law? Let’s say, that you come to work at 10 a.m. because you were working late on this succession case. Your assistant Joan is already waiting for you with the coffee...

Have you ever wondered how the work of a lawyer looks like? But really, what it would be to walk the shoes of attorney at law?

Let’s say, that you come to work at 10 a.m. because you were working late on this succession case. Your assistant Joan is already waiting for you with the coffee – you didn’t even have to ask. It’s nice by her side, isn’t it? Would you smile at her? You come to your office and sit at the oak desk. You hand the morning paper – The Voice of Great Poland – but you do not really have the time to read the news, because Mrs. Kwiatkowska (the one with the alimony) is coming soon. You need to look through the papers. Recently she brought you a pile of documents to make the evidence out of them, because “that pig surely cheats on her! You can see it in his eyes! He always has dark circles under them when he comes back from work”. You are not really surprised, but what to do? Exactly, what to do?

In terms of semiotics the word ‘justice’ does not carry any specific meaning until it is associated with a specific experience of unfair treatment. At the same time the language and complexity of legal procedures requires suport of someone able to translate the interest of a given person into the strange system of ideas and to organize the case in such a way that it reflects proper relations between people in the light of law. In this respect, a lawyer does not state what is just but interprets and creates some image of social order, the justice of which is deliberated during the trial. What is the image? How does it form? These are some of the questions I try to address in my work in an attempt  to understand the structure of the judicial system, not only as an organizational system but also as space for experiences and relations between people.

The work of a lawyer seem to be governed by many rationalities, defining different solutions as equally right courses of action. We do not know what kind of logics compose the lawyer’s reality and we don’t know how they influence the way he or she enacts its role in the world of judiciary. Decoding these unknowns may tell us a lot about ourselves and organizing the ideas of justice, to which I dedicate this research project and all my efforts.

Financing entity
National Science Centre, Poland
Konkurs
PRELUDIUM 14
Nr rejestracyjny
2017/27/N/HS4/00751
Czas trwania projektu
10/08/2018 - 09/08/2021
Budget
203 000 zł
research

Stock liquidity on the capital market and its importance for corporate finance

What is liquidity? It has many meanings, but in reference to shares it means the ease with which these shares can be bought or sold. The studies conducted over the past 30 years indicated that the harder it is to sell (liquidate) given securities, the higher earnings are required by investors who...

What is liquidity? It has many meanings, but in reference to shares it means the ease with which these shares can be bought or sold. The studies conducted over the past 30 years indicated that the harder it is to sell (liquidate) given securities, the higher earnings are required by investors who want to buy it. Therefore, it can be stated that it has an impact on investors’ expectations on the capital market.

The expectations of a single group of capital market participants (namely investors) must be reflected in the decisions taken by the other group of participants in this market – namely companies. While the impact of liquidity (and its constraints) on investors’ expectations is relatively well-known in the world literature, the second of the areas of research mentioned above has been poorly developed so far. It is equally important that the results of research on the relation between the stock liquidity and returns expected by investors are not unambiguous, especially in the context of emerging markets, which until recently had included the Warsaw Stock Exchange. This is an argument for deepening the studies on the impact of liquidity on the investors’ expectations in emerging equity markets, especially the Polish one. Warsaw Stock Exchange, as the largest and fastest growing stock exchange in Central and Eastern Europe, is an important and interesting subject of research in this field.
The studies on the relations between the ease of trading with shares and the decisions made by companies to meet investors’ expectations is interesting not only in the emerging market, but also in developed economies. Analyses conducted in this field have a much shorter history and their results are extremely ambiguous, especially those conducted in emerging markets. The project aims to fill the research gap in terms of the impact of stock liquidity on various types of financial decisions made by companies that have issued these shares. One can expect that companies would make decisions which, on the one hand, would minimize the adverse effect of investors’ expectations and, on the other hand, maximize the stock liquidity, thus reducing investors’ expectations.
The research conducted in the project will make it possible to deepen the knowledge about the effect of liquidity on investors’ expectations, on the one hand, and on the decisions of the companies on the other. These decisions include primarily decisions on the payouts for shareholders and on financing the company. The research planned in the project will contribute to a significant enrichment of the Polish literature on stock liquidity and its results will fill the gap in terms of liquidity effects on the expected returns and the decisions taken by the companies. The results of the research will not only be of great cognitive importance, but they will also serve capital market practitioners and managers of listed companies.
Financing entity
National Science Centre, Poland
Konkurs
OPUS 14
Nr rejestracyjny
2017/27/B/HS4/02344
Czas trwania projektu
31/07/2018 - 30/07/2020
Budget
201 544 zł
research

Export performance determinants of Polish firms in diverse institutional settings

Export is the basic way companies operate on international markets. Its development is fostered by globalisation, as the growing interconnectedness and integration of economies and societies around the world have intensified on an unprecedented scale in recent decades, particularly through...

Export is the basic way companies operate on international markets. Its development is fostered by globalisation, as the growing interconnectedness and integration of economies and societies around the world have intensified on an unprecedented scale in recent decades, particularly through technological advances related to transport, communication technologies and economic liberalization.

However, the new wave of increased scepticism towards globalization poses new challenges for companies and decision-makers in the field of economic policy and requires a more complete consideration of the institutional conditions for the internationalisation of enterprises and economies. Understanding the factors determining export activity in various institutional contexts is all the more important as there is agreement on the causal link between export expansion and economic growth. On the other hand, economies striving for greater diversification of their exports to exploit the potential of dynamically growing markets must simultaneously confront their trading partners from different institutional contexts, which poses new challenges for exporters.
The purpose of the planned research is to analyse the determinants of the exporters’ economic performance, taking into account the institutional factors on the country of origin and host countries, factors on the part of exporters and their abilities, as well as factors related to the business sector. The analysis will therefore concern the economy, sector and enterprise level.
In the planned quantitative CATI survey on a representative sample of 500 exporters from the industrial processing sector, an attempt will be made to identify complex relationships between institutional and industry factors as well as export resources and organization by enterprises, as well as the effects of these relations on the economic performance of export projects, their durability and economic results at the level of exporting enterprises themselves. On the other hand, the complementary qualitative research on a sample of 8 exporters will lead to a better understanding of exporters’ adaptation to a diversified business environment on foreign markets, as well as to create a typology of export development paths in various institutional contexts, taking into account the logic of their implementation.
Financing entity
National Science Centre, Poland
Konkurs
OPUS 14
Nr rejestracyjny
2017/27/B/HS4/00805
Czas trwania projektu
31/07/2018 - 30/07/2022
Budget
274 064 zł
research

The role of food labeling in building consumers’ awareness for reducing food waste

In the European Union there is an obligation to label food with information on shelf life: the date of minimum durability, shelf-life date and information on storage conditions (if relevant). The information provided on the labels is intended to serve consumers by providing them with...
In the European Union there is an obligation to label food with information on shelf life: the date of minimum durability, shelf-life date and information on storage conditions (if relevant). The information provided on the labels is intended to serve consumers by providing them with information about food products. Although consumers declare interest in the information contained on the labels, their knowledge is inadequate. It is believed that the presence of shelf life-related information on food packaging can contribute to food waste by selecting products when purchased (buyers prefer products with a longer remained shelf-life compared to similar products) and throwing out high-quality food (due to lack of attention, misunderstanding or excessive health concern). According to the FAO, one-third of world food production is wasted, i.e. 1.3 billion tons.
Every year the European Union countries waste almost 90 million tons of food (about 173 kg per person), which is about 20% of food production in the EU. Half of this amount is wasted in households. In the light of the above facts and the lack of comprehensive information on the awareness of Polish consumers, a topic was addressed to explain how shelf life labelling of food affects consumers’ behavior and their tendency to waste food products.
The authors intend to answer the following questions:
– How do consumers decide whether a product is fit for consumption?
– How does the information on the packaging influence the consumer’s suitability for consumption?
– Do consumers trust food labels or their own senses when assessing fitness for consumption?
– What is the role in premature food discarding concern on the consumption of an outdated foodstuff?
– Which elements of the label are incomprehensible to consumers, which can contribute to discarding high-quality food?
– How do consumers perceive perishable food products or with extended shelf life?
– How do food producers evaluate existing legislation, what difficulties do they face in relation to the obligation to label food?
– Is it possible to reduce the mass of wasted food by increasing consumer awareness?
The research process will have a multi-stage character, covering research conducted in foodproducing enterprises and with individual consumers. In addition to the use of traditional methods such as individual direct questionnaire interview and individual in-depth (IDI) interview, research will be carried out using neuromarketing techniques (eye-tracking) and consumer sensory tests. The use of a wide range of research methods together with the interdisciplinary approach of the scientific team will allow for a comprehensive and multidimensional analysis of the problems under investigation. Due to conducted research new scientific knowledge will be acquired. The project will affect the development of the discipline of economics, and mainly the behavior of consumers on the food market and market communication with particular attention to the labelling of food products. The results will be published in scientific journals and presented during scientific conferences. Product labelling solutions that would have a significant impact on consumer awareness of reducing food waste will also be developed.
Financing entity
National Science Centre, Poland
Konkurs
OPUS 14
Nr rejestracyjny
2017/27/B/HS4/01848
Czas trwania projektu
26/07/2018 - 25/07/2020
Budget
358 400 zł
research

Modelling and forecasting of housing prices

With the growth of the market economy in Poland, some markets which played a marginal role in the pre-transition economic system have grown in importance. The housing market is undoubtedly one of them. The significant role this segment of the real estate market plays in the economy may...
With the growth of the market economy in Poland, some markets which played a marginal role in the pre-transition economic system have grown in importance. The housing market is undoubtedly one of them. The significant role this segment of the real estate market plays in the economy may be attributed to the fact that real estate is perceived as capital, which makes it possible to create added value for the owner as well as for the local and national economy. Moreover, the global financial crisis caused by a collapse in the real estate market in the United States, led to the growing interest in the relationship between the housing market and the economic situation of individual countries. The fact that economists are paying increasing attention to the issue of changes in the real estate market is the result of fears concerning the consequences of the drop in housing prices. The housing market is affected by changes in the economy. On the other hand, through different channels, it can also influence the economic development of regions or countries. Changes in this market affect business cycles, have a significant impact on the transmission of monetary policy impulses, and, under some circumstances, on the stability of the financial system. Studies conducted in various countries show that there is a close connection between fluctuations in this market and changes in business activity in particular countries. Generally speaking, changes in housing prices precede changes in business cycles. Moreover, prices of flats may influence household spending – higher prices make property owners richer, which may, in turn, lead to increased consumption. What is a direct effect of the fluctuations of housing prices in the economic sphere are changes in the volume of real estate investments. An increase in housing prices makes such investments more profitable. Taking into account above-mentioned issues the main objective of the project is to identify and classify the determinants of variation in housing prices in 18 cities (provincial cities) in Poland in years 2000-2017, and on this basis to create price prediction models.
The realisation of the proposed project should give answers to following questions:
1. What factors and influence the changes in housing prices in selected cities?
2. Is it possible to construct powerful forecast models of housing prices in provincial cities in Poland?
3. Did the convergence of housing prices take place in local housing markets in Polish cities (18) in years 2000-2017?
4.Did the demand and supply shocks take place in housing markets in Poland?
5.Was there a speculative bubble in housing prices in provincial cities in Poland in years 2006-2007?
6.Which methods give the best forecast of housing prices in Polish circumstances?

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