Paweł Strzelecki

Poland's Exceptional Performance During the World Economic Crisis: New Growth Accounting Evidence

Using a growth accounting exercise based on new estimates of flows of capital and labor services in the Polish economy during the period 1995-2013, we study the consequences of the recent global economic crisis for the observed pace and structure of economic growth in Poland – a converging open economy which itself did not contribute to the breakout of the crisis. We thus provide a supply-side explanation why Poland fared so well during the world economic crisis. According to our results, the exceptional performance of the Polish economy in 2008-10 was an effect of several favorable circumstances. In particular, and unlike other European countries, it recorded both a marked increase in capital deepening and an improvement in workforce composition. We also find that the recent recession has not exerted any significant impact on the efficiency with which economic resources are used for production in Poland.

Poland’s uninterrupted growth performance: new growth accounting evidence

ABSTRACT Since 1992 Poland has experienced an exceptionally long spell of output growth that was not interrupted even by the global economic crisis. Using a growth accounting exercise based on new estimates of flows of capital and labour services in the Polish economy during the period 1996–2013, we study the structure of this growth, highlighting the key role of certain supply-side factors. Most notably, unlike other European countries, the Polish economy recorded both a marked increase in capital deepening, a big improvement in workforce composition (driven mostly by educational attainment), and an uninterrupted process of productivity convergence. We also comment on the supply-side factors which contributed to Poland’s relative resilience to the global economic crisis of 2007–2010.

Equality of Retirement Benefits Received by Men and Women in Selected European Countries: Childbearing and Future Benefits

This research report seeks to answer the question of whether old-age benefit rules for women could be altered with the aim not only of ensuring better benefits for older women but also of stimulating fertility. To address this question, a micro-simulation model has been developed. The input data for the model has been drawn from labour force survey data on employment patterns by age, gender, education, numbers of children, variations in the timing of caring for children and wage profiles for five countries: Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany. Future retirement benefits are simulated under three variants: variant I uses country-specific labour market data and old-age pension systems; variant II makes use of German labour market data and country-specific old-age pension systems; and finally, variant III refers to country-specific labour market data and the Polish defined-contribution system. Each simulation variant entails four scenarios, which refer to the number of children and the timing of childcare. The simulations show that the effects of differences in old-age systems for retirement benefits are relatively small and that what really matters is the labour market structure, which reflects the impact of children on employment patterns. Therefore, the report concludes that policies aimed at reducing the negative consequences children have on the labour market participation of mothers are recommended for increasing their old-age pensions. This approach would also help to diminish work–family tensions, which in turn could facilitate positive decisions about having children.