Economies of scale in household consumption generally occur as a result of joint consumption of public goods. In order to analyze this phenomenon expenditure shares on housing, which can be treated as a representative of the public good, and expenditure shares on food representing private goods are examined. The data used in this study come from the Eurostat database and cover the period between 2004 and 2012. Estimation of panel data models reveals that a large drop in food shares in post-communist countries was mainly due to rising household incomes. It is also found that an increase in housing shares was affected by the rising price of housing relative to other consumer prices in the EU-countries. Reducing differences in the considered components of expenditure structures make use in EU common equivalence scale in 2012 more reasonable than in 2004.
Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie wpływu transformacji systemowej na sytuację materialną polskich gospodarstw domowych i ich konsumpcję. Autor omawia także zmiany zachodzące w warunkach mieszkaniowych i w wyposażeniu tych gospodarstw w dobra trwałego użytku.
EN
Transformations taking place in the Polish economy over the last fifteen years, including transition from the economy centrally manager to the market one gave rise to significant changes in the existence of households. The transition process from the market economy seriously affected Polish households. The marketisation of economy and its privatisation led to fundamental changes in two economic dimensions of the society's existence - in the sphere of work and that of consumption. The results of systemic transformation manifested themselves in the impoverishment of households and huge unemployment, which gave rise to an increase in the level of their consumption and limited the opportunities and level of satisfying the needs of Polish households. The author of the article presents the influence of the systemic transformation on the financial situation of Polish households and their consumption. Furthermore, he discusses changes appearing in housing conditions and those in providing these households with long-lasting goods.
Głównym celem artykułu było wyznaczenie i stestowanie modelu dyskryminacyjnego jako narzędzia pomocnego w analizie empirycznej dobrobytu ekonomicznego w zakresie subiektywnej oceny dotyczącej sytuacji fi nansowej i sposobów gospodarowania pieniędzmi w gospodarstwach domowych. Na podstawie danych ankietowych (z woj. podkarpackiego w 2012 r.) wyznaczono model dyskryminujący wskazujący, że istnieją istotne różnice pomiędzy gospodarstwami domowymi w zakresie subiektywnych ocen własnej sytuacji fi nansowej i sposobów gospodarowania budżetem domowym. Ważnymi cechami różnicującymi okazały się czynniki o charakterze ekonomicznym, społecznym i demografi cznym. Mocnymi predyktorami były także subiektywne sądy co do poziomu życia, zadowolenia z płac czy satysfakcji z osiągniętej jakości życia. Empiryczny model dyskryminacyjny stanowi innowacyjną próbę w badaniach dobrobytu. Uwzględnia on czynniki ekonomiczne, ale także czynniki psychologiczne, istotne w subiektywnym postrzeganiu dobrobytu ekonomicznego.
EN
The main aim of the paper was to construct and test a discrimination model as a tool helpful in the empirical analysis of economic well-being, as regards subjective assessments of the fi nancial status and budget management in households. The author has developed and estimated a discrimination model (based on 2012 survey data from a South-Eastern region of Poland), which evidences signifi cant differences between households as regards their subjective assessments of own fi nancial situation and the ways of budget management. Important differentiating factors are economic, social and demographic characteristics. Subjective judgements as to the living standard, remuneration or quality of life are also strong predictors. The empirical discrimination model applied to well-being evaluation is an innovative attempt. The model includes, apart from economic factors, also psychological factors, very important in people’s perception of economic well-being.
RU
Главная цель статьи состоит в том, чтобы обозначить и протестировать дискриминантную мо- дель в качестве инструмента поддержки эмпирического анализа экономического благополучия. Благополучие рассматривается здесь как субъективная оценка имеющегося финансового положения и способов распоряжения деньгами в домашних хозяйствах. На основании анкетных данных, полученных в Прикарпатском воеводстве за 2012 г., была обозначена дискриминантная модель, согласно которой имеются существенные различия между домашними хозяйствами в плане субъективных оценок собственной финансовой ситуации и способов использования домашне- го бюджета. Важными чертами дифференцирования оказались факторы экономического, соци- ального и демографического характера. Сильными предикаторами были также субъективные суждения относительно уровня жизни, удовлетворения зарплатой или достигнутым качеством жизни. Эмпирическую дискриминантную модель можно рассматривать как инновационную попытку в области исследования благополучия. Она учитывает не только экономические, но и психологические факторы, имеющие существенное значение при субъективном восприятии экономического благополучия.
Scientists from all over the world recognize that saving energy in households is currently a very relevant topic. Energy resources are a very important factor for each country's economic vitality. Not only the country's replenishment in energy resources is important, but also the reduction of energy consumption volume. The Objective of the study: to assess the energy savings in households potential, applying the measures aimed at the behavior change of the population through energy-saving direction. Methodology: yhe impact of behavior change of the population measures is assessed according to the criteria of efficiency and effectiveness. In order to assess the potential for energy savings in households, the following methods, such as an experiment, the control group formation scenario, household questionnaire, were used. The questionnaire was designed to supplement the experiment, in order to gain deeper knowledge of the household, to obtain more detailed information about the nature of the behavior, to identify barriers to behavior change, and to select a control group of households to carry out the experiment. Data, results and main contribution of the paper: research shows that people's behavior related to energy saving is influenced by a number of macro-level and micro-level factors. In the article, the assumptions of the changing behavior of population are analyzed and the specific measures aimed at the behavior changes of the population selection and implementation impact assessment.
The article presents the results of the study "Risks and Opportunities of children and youths living in the Silesian Voivodeship in the area of education and development ". The studies were carried out in November 2009 on a representative sample of mothers of school-age children (7–18 years) by a face-to-face interview (PAPI). The purpose of the study was to obtain information on the key aspects of the lives of children and youths, as well as to estimate, based on the index of opportunities and threats, the percentage of children and youths brought up in "opportunity families" “risk families” and in the category named "intermediate".
Currently, households are faced with the problems of rising electricity prices. Every month, electricity suppliers try to force the Energy Regulatory Office to increase prices as much as possible for individual consumers. The aim of the article below is to indicate that responsible electricity management by means selecting a favourable tariff will largely contribute to lowering the economic bill of a household. During the study, we used our own data on the annual consumption of electricity in a household by the most frequently used appliances, and the current energy prices in the studied tariffs. The most advantageous option is the responsible use of the G12w tariff, supported by one’s own photovoltaic micro-installation. Such a combination guarantees minimal costs resulting from the consumption of electricity.
The article discusses life without children as a lifestyle expressing itself in the specifics of households. These households are usually one-person or two-person and their number is steadily increasing. Childlessness is a problem mainly for married couples. Unmarried couples and single people are not subject to social pressure to have children. The choice of a childfree lifestyle is associated with the choice of living in one-person household or in a non-marital relationship.
Three important income reforms have been carried out in Poland since 2007, involving a reduction in social insurance premiums, the introduction of a tax break for families with children, and the replacement of three personal income rates (19%, 30% and 40%) with two rates (18% and 32%). Morawski uses a tax-benefit microsimulation model (SIMPL) and household budget data from 2006 to examine the results of the 2009 income reform. By comparing two hypothetical breakdowns of disposable household incomes, the author shows that the reform has primarily benefited the wealthiest households, while the incomes of many poor households have not changed. In all, the incomes of more than 15 percent of the households have not changed after the reform, Morawski says. At the same time, analyses show that the reform has benefited many single-member and pensioner households which did not benefit from previous reforms. The results described in the paper were obtained with the assumption that the supply of labor would not change. Labor market analyses show that such an assumption is justified in the case of the 2009 tax reform, the author says.
The paper examines the relationship between the socioeconomic status and age of savers and saving rates. The analysis is based on the results of two empirical studies carried out in 2004 and 2006 by direct interview method on random samples of 1,305 and 1,320 households respectively. The results of the studies show that the socioeconomic status of savers is a major factor that influences private saving rates. Rószkiewicz has discovered two conflicting trends. In one trend, households with a relatively low socioeconomic status tend to become increasingly big spenders with age. The trend is the stronger the lower is the status of the household head. In another trend, households with a relatively high social status tend to limit consumption with time. This trend increases with the socioeconomic status of the household head.
The article analyzes the implications of consumerism and rampant spending in the context of the pension system reform designed to stimulate saving among households. The author used the results of an empirical study carried out by direct interview on a random sample of 1,305 households at the end of 2004 (with the “no-data” indicator under 13 percent). The results obtained in the survey confirm the Keynesian view that the saving preferences of households and their economic security policies depend on income. Households with relatively higher incomes more often declare possession of spare funds and the possibility of saving. However, the survey also confirmed the accuracy of a view in economic psychology involving unrestrained spending among some groups of society. The study shows that households with incomes sufficient to permit saving generally fall into two categories with different consumption preferences. Households prone to saving and with a higher socioeconomic status-mostly newly established families and those at an advanced stage of family life-usually display a preference for deferred gratification and extended consumption, with a saving rate proportional to income. Such households tend to behave in accordance with the Life-Cycle Hypothesis, with the income factor as the main determinant of the level of saving. The remaining households display a preference for immediate consumption and their saving rate is out of proportion with income. These households generally show no restraint in the management of their financial resources and their behaviors are out of step with the economic theory of saving. They act according to the Behavioral Life-Cycle Hypothesis under which one’s spending and saving preferences are dominated by emotional factors.
The aim of the article was to identify differences in the consumption structure in households in the EU countries in 2010. Ward's method was used to identify the types of the EU countries with different structures of consumption in households and to present the diversification. The research problem in question was analysed on the basis of the data from Eurostat and the International Statistics Yearbook, published annually by the Central Statistical Office. As a result of the research with Ward's method eight types of the EU countries with different consumption structures in households were distinguished.
The purpose of the research is to investigate consumers’ perception concerning food wastage and their awareness of economic, social and environmental costs concerning the issue. The research focused on the concept of food waste in context of consumers’ attitude regarding this problem. Comparative analysis, synthesis and evaluation of scientific literature and legal documents, statistical data collection and analysis was performed together with the results of on-line survey of 500 households representing 1494 inhabitants from all Lithuanian counties. Data was analysed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS): descriptive statistics, frequencies, crosstabs. Lithuanians discard relatively small amounts of wholesome edible food in comparison with averages for EU 27, but most of them have the limited knowledge of the meaning of “best-before” dates, consumers are strongly influenced by retail promotions, and wasting food for them is primarily associated with a waste of money. State waste management policy is focused on waste sorting, while this research provides the evidence that households are insufficiently informed about economic, social and environmental costs concerning food waste. This underlines the necessity to review the current state policy with emphasis on public education as an important factor in minimizing household food waste. Lithuanians recognize that the consumers are mostly responsible for food waste, but food wasting is treated mainly as financial lost. The added value of this article is the proposal to create information campaigns that will cause a sense of guilt for food squandering.
Charakteryzując kapitał ludzki podkreśla się, że jest on tym, co wytwarza się i dodaje do życia ludzkiego. Przejawia się on m.in. w umiejętnościach, wiedzy, zdolnościach, zdrowiu. Zasób ten może być większy lub mniejszy, można go kształtować i rozwijać poprzez inwestycje w człowieka, ale podlega on też deprecjacji. Rozważania w artykule koncentrują się na kwestiach związanych z inwestowaniem przez gospodarstwa domowe w kapitał swoich członków. To właśnie efektem działań podejmowanych przez gospodarstwo domowe związanych z potrzebami jego członków jest tworzenie kapitału ludzkiego zarówno w wymiarze ilościowym, jak i jakościowym. Obszarami dokonywanych inwestycji, które uwzględniono w artykule, są edukacja, zdrowie i kultura.
EN
While characterising the human capital, there is emphasised that it is what is produced and added to the human being's life, is manifested, inter alia, in skills, knowledge, abilities, health. This resource may be bigger or smaller, it can be formed and developed through investment in the human being but it also is subject to depreciation. The deliberations in the article are focused on the issues connected with investing by households in their members' capital. The very effect of activities undertaken by the household connected with its members' needs is creation of human capital both in quantitative and qualitative terms. The areas of carried out investments taken into account in the article are education, health and culture.
Research background: Most of the studies and their authors focus on the social and economic impacts of energy-saving behavior. However, they do not focus on the psychological factors affecting the efficiency of energy consumption in households. Lithuania has a lack of a unified and justified opinion on psychological factors that affect the energy efficiency of households. Purpose of the article: The main objective of the article is to identify the psychological factors that influence energy efficiency in households and to identify the appropriate measures to change the individual's energy consumption behavior. Methods: The article was based on analysis of scientific literature and expert evaluation, when experts selected the most influencing psychological factors. Expert valuation allowed to set the right conditions in which individuals are more easily assimilated by means of energy saving. Findings: In most cases, economic and technological factors significantly influence household energy consumption. Increased energy-efficient equipment production and supply is causing an energy consumption growth in households, because they are more inclined to buy and use more efficient electrical equipment. An investigation has showed that the energy consumption is strongly influenced by some cultural and psychological factors: with greater public openness to innovation, the households tend to use energy more efficiently. Also, some psychological indicators have significant impact on energy consumption has - frequently the more pronounced neuroticism or extraversion rate. Since the research was performed only in Lithuania, in the future it will seek to carry out an investigation in several countries and to compare a various factors on the proposed measures and the efficiency of household energy consumption.
Not every household can afford, mainly due to limited financial resources, to meet their needs in a satisfactory manner. The aim of the article is to present selected findings of empirical research (qualitative study — FGI, IDI and quantitative study — CAPI and CAWI, requested by the respondent) carried out for the needs of the project Entrepreneurial and Consumer Behaviour of Families Caring for Children and Youth with Disabilities. The article presents the financial situation of households with achild/children with disabilities, the financial obligations and purposes of consumer credits and loans, the most acute shortages in the household, the allocation of additional income and the ways of coping with difficulties.
In this paper we analyse household holdings of the broad monetary aggregate M3 in the euro area from 1991 until 2009. Households are the largest money-holding sector in the euro area. We develop four models, two in nominal, two in real terms, with satisfactory economic and statistical properties. The main determinants are a transactions variable, wealth considerations, opportunity costs and uncertainty. In particular housing wealth is found to play an important role. The models are robust to different estimation strategies, samples considered and a multitude of misspecification tests. According to our analysis, it is quite apparent that in equilibrium, households jointly determine consumption and broad money holdings which are both influenced by wealth as well as interest rates. The importance of household money holdings for consumption expenditures may cast doubt on a purely passive role for money.
This article seeks to identify the effect of the current crisis on the socio-economic situation of households. The study embraced Wielkopolska voivodeship as divided into areas of growth and those of socio-economic stagnation. A representative group of 1,988 households was examined (including 1,510 in growth areas and 478 in stagnation areas) in terms of: changes in the level of unemployment among household members, changes in the level and structure of their incomes and running expenses, changes in their level of indebtedness, changes in their ways of spending leisure time and in holiday travels undertaken, and changes in their pro-family patterns of behaviour.
PL
Celem artykułu jest próba identyfikacji wpływu kryzysu na sytuację społeczno-gospodarczą gospodarstw domowych. Badanie prowadzono na przykładzie województwa wielkopolskiego w układzie obszarów wzrostu i obszarów stagnacji społeczno-gospodarczej. Zbadano reprezentatywną grupę 1988 gospodarstw domowych (w tym 1510 na obszarach wzrostu i 478 na obszarach stagnacji) pod względem: zmian poziomu bezrobocia członków gospodarstw domowych, zmian poziomu i struktury dochodów oraz wydatków bieżących ponoszonych przez gospodarstwa domowe w dobie kryzysu, zmian poziomu zadłużenia gospodarstw domowych w dobie kryzysu, zmian w zakresie spędzania czasu wolnego i wyjazdów wakacyjnych gospodarstw domowych i zmian kierunków zachowań prorodzinnych gospodarstw domowych w dobie kryzysu. Artykuł dotyczy badań gospodarstw domowych w dobie kryzysu prowadzonych w ramach projektu badawczego „Rozwój społeczno-gospodarczy a kształtowanie się obszarów wzrostu i obszarów stagnacji gospodarczej” finansowanego ze środków Narodowego Centrum Nauki (N N306 791940). Projekt był realizowany przez Zespół Badawczy Pracowników Zakładu Analizy Regionalnej Instytutu Geografii Społeczno Ekonomicznej i Gospodarki Przestrzennej.
The purpose of the paper was to determine the degree of similarity between the distribution of total monthly expenditures per capita in the individual voivodeships and to single out voivodeships most similar in that respect. All calculations were carried out based on non-identifiable individual data from the household budget survey by the Central Statistical Office. What is really important is the fact that surveying budgets by the CSO is conducted using the representative method, which allows for the generalization of the obtained results over all households in Poland. The paper included 37,427 analyzed households which were grouped into sixteen statistical populations with respect to the voivodeships. Two research tasks were implemented. The first concerned verification whether the distribution of spending per capita in individual voivodeships was the same. In order to complete this task relevant statistical hypotheses were set and verified using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The verification procedure was performed for each pair of voivodeships, i.e. one hundred and twenty times.The significance level of 0.01 was adopted, and therefore the risk of rejection of a true hypothesis was only 1 in 100 cases. The finalization of the first task has allowed the conclusion that the observed differences between the distributions of total monthly spending per capita in individual voivodeships of Poland are statistically significant, and thus the variable which is the subject of research has a different distribution in each of the voivodeships. The second research task was to divide the voivodeships into groups of most similar distributions. In order to accomplish this task the Wrocław taxonomy was employed. As a measure of the degree of similarity of distributions λ (lambda) statistic was used, which is based on the maximum absolute value of the difference between two empirical cumulative distribution functions. On the basis of the value of the λ statistic calculated for each of the pairs of distributions the sixteen voivodeships were divided into three uniform classes. This division resulted in the creation of a single-element group, one eight-element group and one seven-element group. The single-element group comprised the Mazovian voivodeship, the eight-element group included the Lower Silesian, Silesian, Pomeranian, Opole, Łódź, West Pomeranian, Lesser Poland and Lubuskie voivodeships, and the seven-element group comprised the Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Podlaskie, Lublin, Greater Poland, Świętokrzyskie, Warmia-Mazury and Podkarpackie voivodeships. In 2012, the average monthly spending in the individual voivodeships amounted to: in the Mazovian voiv. PLN 1,330 per person, in the Lower Silesian PLN 1,139 per person, in the Silesian voiv. PLN 1,123 per person, in the Pomeranian voiv. PLN 1,081 per person, in the Opole voiv. PLN 1,079 per person, in the Łódź voiv. PLN 1,075 per person, in the West Pomeranian voiv. PLN 1,057 per person, in the Lesser Poland voiv. PLN 998 per person, in the Lubuskie voiv. PLN 996 per person, in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie voiv. PLN 947 per person, in the Podlaskie voiv. PLN 939 per person, in the Lublin voiv. PLN 938 per person, in the Greater Poland voiv. PLN 931 per person, in the Świętokrzyskie voiv. PLN 884 per person, in the Warmia-Mazury voiv. PLN 865 per person and in the Podkarpackie voiv. PLN 848 per person. In turn, the average difference in monthly spending of residents of the Mazovian voivodeship in 2012 amounted to PLN 1,171 per person, the Lower Silesian voiv. PLN 854 per person, the Silesian voiv. PLN 783 per person, the Pomeranian voiv. PLN 843 per person, the Opole voiv. PLN 606 per person, the Łódź voiv. PLN 755 per person, the West Pomeranian voiv. PLN 731 per person, the Lesser Poland voiv. PLN 649 per person, the Lubuskie voiv. PLN 581 per person, the Kujawsko-Pomorskie voiv. PLN 635 per person, the Podlaskie voiv. PLN 712 per person, the Lublin voiv. PLN 793 per person, the Greater Poland voiv. PLN 675 per person, the Świętokrzyskie voiv. PLN 578 per person, the Warmia-Mazury voiv. PLN 700 per person, the Podkarpackie voiv. PLN 478 per person.
Artykuł zawiera analizę trendów i zmian w strukturze oszczędności makroekonomicznych w Polsce w okresie od 1996 r. do 2012 r. Analiza pokazuje rosnący udział oszczędności sektora przedsiębiorstw niefi nansowych w ogólnej sumie krajowych oszczędności i malejący udział oszczędności gospodarstw domowych. Autorka analizuje determinanty obydwu strumieni oszczędności oraz komentuje rozbieżne tendencje stopy oszczędności gospodarstw domowych ujawnione w makroekonomicznych rachunkach dochodu narodowego i w mikroekonomicznych badaniach ankietowych. Następnie autorka ocenia zapotrzebowanie inwestycyjne na krajowe i zagraniczne oszczędności i konkluduje, że poprawa międzynarodowej pozycji inwestycyjnej Polski wymaga wzrostu stopy oszczędności krajowych.
EN
This paper examines trends and structural changes of macroeconomic savings in Poland in the period between 1996 and 2012, showing the rising share of nonfi nancial corporate sector savings in domestic savings and the declining share of macro households savings. The author analyzes the determinants of nonfi nancial corporate sector savings and households savings. A puzzle of diverging trends of macro and micro household saving rates have been explored. We investigate investment needs for domestic and foreign savings and conclude that the net international investment position of Poland requires raising the domestic saving rate.
RU
Статья содержит анализ трендов и изменений в структуре макроэкономических сбе- режений в Польше в период с 1996 по 2012 год. Анализ указывает на растущую долю сбережений сектора нефинансовых предприятий в общей сумме отечественных сбере- жений и уменьшающуюся долю сбережений домашних хозяйств. Автор анализирует детерминанты обоих потоков сбережений и дает комментарий относительно разных тенденций в нормах сбережений домашних хозяйств, обнаруженных в макроэкономиче- ских расчетах национального дохода и в микроэкономических анкетных исследованиях. Затем автор оценивает инвестиционную потребность в отечественных и иностранных сбережениях и делает заключение, что улучшение международной инвестиционной по- зиции Польши требует повышения нормы отечественных сбережений.
The paper deals with the problem of households affected by unemployment and examines the hierarchy of consumer needs in such families. The research covers several groups of consumer needs, including food, clothing, household supplies, housing, vacations and cultural needs. Empirical material analyzed in the paper comes from surveys carried out in 2000 and 2006 among households in the central Polish province of Mazovia. The article analyzes the hierarchy of needs according to the level at which they are met. In the process, the author considers selected socio-demographic factors such as sex, age, education, number of family members, per capita income, place of residence, and how long the unemployed person has been out of work. The analysis shows that many of the surveyed households do not satisfy their basic consumer needs, while the hierarchy of these needs is relatively inflexible and impervious to change.
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