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On collocations in ELF textbooks for B2 learners
Get PDFThe aim of this study is to determine whether the vocabulary sections in the four chosen modern EFL upper - intermediate coursebooks reflect the achievements of contemporary findings on the role of collocations in SLA. The study seeks to establish if these textbooks include middle - strength collocations, which pose the most difficulty for L2 learners, and to determine which of the four textbooks contain most of them. The paper provides an overview of the definitions of a collocation including its distinguishable criteria. It further elaborates on the reasons why a lack of collocational awareness prevents even advanced users of English, from achieving native speaker mastery and discusses collocations that are the most challenging to acquire. For the purpose of the study, Benson, Benson and Ilson\u27s as well as Lewis\u27s collocations\u27 categorizations are applied
Bogu służ, a diabła nie gniewaj: the linguistic picture of sacrum and profanum on the example of English and polish paremiology
No full textComparative research on paremiology seems to be gaining considerable attention in recent times. However, such initiatives should also include those languages which have been subjected to different backgrounds, either social or religious. Conclusions drawn on these grounds seem to be valuable in the field of linguistic, ethnographic and cultural research
Enterprise ownership patterns in the least developed districts of Slovakia
No full textResearch background: The literature overview shows a blank space regarding the effects of ownership on the determination of enterprises\u27 spatial distribution. Various papers identify differences between determinants of the spatial distribution of foreign direct investments, exporters in foreign ownership, and domestically owned exporters; however, they mostly agree on the role of big cities, economic centres, and state of infrastructure as well as historical patterns.
Purpose of the article: The article focuses on the spatial distribution analysis of enterprise units from their owner\u27s perspective on the empirical evidence from all 79 districts of the Slovak Republic. Special attention is given to the category of the least developed districts.
Methods: Within the presented article, the authors investigate the characteristics of the regional spatial distribution of business entities concerning standard ownership categories using the cluster analysis. The presented approach is twofold: firstly, the authors investigate the share of individual ownership types on the district level, and secondly, the number of enterprises by ownership categories is adjusted to 100,000 inhabitants. Cluster analysis and methods of spatial statistics are applied in both approaches.
Findings & value added: The main results show a relation between the district\u27s inclusion into the group of the least developed districts and enterprise ownership characteristics in these districts mainly through the relative underrepresentation of the secluded inland, foreign and international types of ownership, as well as their geographical clustering. The results of the presented research can be used in policy-making targeting business activity in underdeveloped districts. At the same time, the results provide basis for limited theoretical generalisations based on a single-country case study with regard to principles of business ownership structures development
The conditions of development of innovative business undertakings at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic
No full textThe paper is theoretical and analytical and aims to analyse and assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on start-ups in Poland. Its first part discusses the specific nature of start-ups and the conditions of their development, known as the start-up ecosystem. The effect of these entities on economic development is addressed, too. The article then attempts to assess, based on domestic and international reports and analyses, the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on start-ups in Poland and the prospects of their development
Overcoming the consequences of financial crisis on the example of Island and Ireland
No full textWill Ireland share the fate of Iceland? Is this open, small economy with a debt-to-GDP ratio of above 130% on the verge of bankruptcy? Economists argue that if public debt is greater than national income, then smaller economies, heavily involved in the international division of labor are at risk of becoming insolvent. The bankruptcy of Ireland, whose prosperity is based on its reputation for being a good place to do business, could be a catastrophy. Contrary to the countries of southern Europe, the economy of the Green Island has never had problems with paying its liabilities and with solvency. While Greece has gone bankrupt five times since gaining independence in 1826 and Spain as many as thirteen in the past two centuries, Ireland\u27s history in this area is impeccable (Reinhard, Rogoff, 2009, p. 3-6). Since the beginning of the 21st century Ireland\u27s economic development has been based mainly on construction industry and not exports, as it used to be in the 1990s when the country was nicknamed the Celtic Tiger. The boom resulted in a budget surplus and a positive balance in current settlements. But it also resulted in higher prices - the Irish no longer had to accept slow wage growth to stay internationally competitive - which, combined with the low nominal interest rate of the European Central Bank, provided fertile ground for the build-up of the real estate bubble. The aim of the article is to identify the factors that led Ireland to the brink of bankruptcy and to try to answer the question whether the action of recapitalization of failing banks by the government and international financial institutions will bring the expected results in the form of healing the financial system and returning Green Island to the path of economic growth
The Influence of the Capital Market on Economic Growth in the USA
No full textThis article analyzes the impact of the capital market on economic growth in the US with the use of annual data. The study covers the years 1975-2019. As part of the analysis, the construction and estimation of an econometric model was made using the GRETL program. The obtained results confirmed the statistically significant influence of the capital market on the economic growth in the USA
Organizational, local, and global innovativeness of family-owned SMEs depending on firm-individual level characteristics: evidence from the Czech Republic
No full textResearch background: Comparing to larger businesses, SMEs encounter more problems in their operations. Since innovativeness enables SMEs to be more competitive against their rivals, having more innovative activities might make SMEs overcome these issues. Nevertheless, depending on businesses-founders/owners\u27 characteristics, SMEs\u27 innovativeness in organizational, local, and global extents might differ.
Purpose of the article: This research explores differences in family-owned SMEs\u27 innovativeness regarding the age of their founders/entrepreneurs, legal form, and succession of these businesses.
Methods: The researchers used a questionnaire survey. Data collection process was completed in 2020. The research sample includes 343 family-owned SMEs that operate in Czechia. The normality test result directs the authors to perform an Independent sample T-test to find differences between selected variables.
Findings & value added: According to the obtained results, global innovativeness does not differ depending on firms-owners/entrepreneurs\u27 characteristics. However, limited liability firms perform better in local innovativeness than other firms structured in different legal forms. Moreover, the organizational innovativeness of SMEs with successors is greater than firms without successors. While organizational innovativeness does not differ depending on entrepreneurs/founders\u27 age and legal structure of businesses, local innovativeness does not differ depending on entrepreneurs/founders\u27 age and successors\u27 existence in these businesses. The educational level of entrepreneurs/founders, sector, and SMEs\u27 location might be reasons for similarities and differences between SMEs\u27 innovativeness. From the policy perspective, based on the obtained results, the authors suggest creating industrial zones. Furthermore, policymakers\u27 collaborations with other essential players in the market might stimulate innovative attitudes among businesses. This paper\u27s main contribution to the existing literature is to fill the gap regarding organizational, local, and global innovativeness of family-owned SMEs by providing detailed and empirical results about entrepreneurs\u27 and firms\u27 characteristics. Thus, this paper might draw businesses, policymakers, academicians, and international readers\u27 attention concerning family-owned SMEs\u27 innovativeness
Evaluation of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of the unemployment rate in Slovakia: counterfactual before-after comparison
No full textResearch background: The COVID-19 pandemic, which hit the world in the first quarter of 2020, has impacted almost every area of people\u27s lives. Many states have introduced varying degrees of measures to prevent its spread. Most of these measures were, or still are, aimed at reducing or completely stopping the operation of shops and services, or in some cases, also the large manufacturing companies. However, as many companies have failed to cope with these restrictions, unemployment has risen in almost all EU countries. A similar situation was also observed in Slovakia, where the mentioned measures also had a significant impact on unemployment.
Purpose of the article: In this study, we deal with the quantification of the impact of a pandemic, or more precisely, anti-pandemic measures, on the development of the registered unemployment rate in Slovakia.
Methods: This quantification is based on the counterfactual method of before-after comparison, which is one of the most widely used methods in the field of impact assessments and brings very accurate results, based on real data. In the analysis, we use officially published data on the unemployment rate in Slovakia during the years 2013?2020 on a monthly basis. Such a long time series, using statistical methods of its decomposition and modelling of its trend, will allow predicting the development of the unemployment rate in Slovakia, assuming a counterfactual situation of no pandemic, and compare this development with the actual situation that occurred during 2020.
Findings & Value added: The study results indicate an increase in the unemployment rate in Slovakia during 2020 by 2?3% compared to the trend of its development, which would have occurred without a pandemic. Given the counterfactual method used, this difference can be described as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the study can be used in practice in the design and implementation of measures introduced to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on unemployment and, in the long-term perspective, also to eliminate these effects as much as possible. It can also be used as a theoretical tool in conducting impact assessments, which have so far been carried out very rarely in Slovakia
Unemployment and new firm formation: evidence from Polish industries at the regional level
No full textResearch background: The present study takes the regional economics perspective to explaining new firm registrations. It focuses on the driving role of unemployment rate in the process of new business formation.
Purpose of the article: The main goal of the study is to investigate the effect of regional unemployment (next to other regional characteristics) on subsequent new business formation in Polish regions for the period 2003?2018. The research hypothesis assumes that a rise in unemployment rate has a positive effect on subsequent new business formation. The positive unemployment push effect is expected to be stronger in operational services.
Methods: In order to verify the links between unemployment rates and entrepreneurship, panel data methods (fixed effect Driscoll-Kraay and p-VAR estimators) were applied. The analyses were performed at the industry level (manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail, hotels and restaurants, and financial services) using regional annual data for the period 2003?2018.
Findings & value added: This study provides further insight into the unemployment push hypothesis by distinguishing between industry sectors and by considering regional specificities in post-communist economies (e.g. Poland). The findings provide value for policy-makers regarding the selection of policy instruments intended to stimulate regional development through entrepreneurship in lagged areas
New paradigms of quantification of economic efficiency in the transport sector
No full textResearch background: In determining the prices in road transport, carriers usually use the calculations based on a so-called routes utilisation coefficient, which allows the carrier to also take the possibility of the return rides without load into account. Currently, it is usually used as a constant from the interval from zero to one.
Purpose of the article: Considering a different offer of return transport from individual European Union (EU) countries, it can be assumed that the routes utilisation coefficient should have different values because there is a varying level of non-zero probability that the vehicle will return without a load. This study therefore proposes a new approach to determining the value of this coefficient based on transport direction. The study also aims to identify clusters of EU countries, for which the common value of the coefficient should be set.
Methods: The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test was used to verify the assumption of the differences among the means of transport offers. Cluster analysis was used to identify the aforementioned groups of countries. This analysis is based on real data on transport offers to Slovakia from 18 different EU countries.
Findings & value added: The results of the analysis can also be used in other EU countries because if significant differences in transport offers to Slovakia exist in individual countries, there is a reasonable assumption that this conclusion will also be valid in other countries. The analysis demonstrated that it is more appropriate to use the routes utilisation coefficient with various values, dependent on the transport direction. For the transport companies, implementation of the obtained results into practice is beneficial to increase their competitiveness through the more precise setting of transport prices, but also to the optimisation of the transport price itself with regard to the expected costs