Rafał Nagaj

Changes in the Regulation of the Electricity Sector as a Factor in Stimulating Economic Development in Poland in 2000-2014

Since the beginning of systemic and economic transformation in Poland in the 90s, there have been rapid institutional, restructuring and regulatory changes in the electricity sector. State monopoly has been replaced by a regulation for competition and the sub-sectors of manufacturing and trading have been subjected to liberalization processes. Due to the socio-economic importance of electricity, regulatory changes made in the electricity sector may be a stimulant or destimulant for Polish economic development. Th e article is an attempt at an assessment of the changes that have taken place in the electricity sector and of the impact of it on Polish economic growth. Th e analysis showed that regulatory changes had a negative eff ect on the level of prices for industrial customers and the level of economic growth, and has been benefi cial from the point of view of investment and environmental protection.

A Scientific Experiment as a Research Method in the Tourism Sector in the Context of Increased Terrorism Risks

The aim of this chapter is to present a proposal for a research model that will be used to examine the impact of security measures and travel costs on the decision of a tourist when choosing a tourist destination, in the context of increased terrorism risks. The increase in terrorist attacks in the world, migration problems in Europe and the more frequent targeting of tourist destinations has meant that the inhabitants of the European Union becoming more aware of terrorist threats in the tourism sector. For some people this may be the reason for avoiding tourist destinations that are considered dangerous, traveling rather to “generally considered more secure places,” while for others it is an opportunity to travel cheaper as prices to these less secure destinations are often discounted. The pilot survey, which was used to determine the declared preferences of tourists in Lithuania and Poland, indicated that they are different. In the context of the emerging new field of science, which is neurotourism, it was decided to use a scientific experiment using cognitive neuroscience methods to assess the preferences of tourists at the subconscious level. In addition, the chapter will indicate the reasons why such methods are recommended for this type of study (supported by the results of pilot surveys).

The Role of Behavioral Methods Used in Research on Tourism Development

The aim of the paper is to identify the role of emotional factors in the analysis of socioeconomic phenomena in tourism and the resulting distortions of test results obtained with the help of the questionnaire tool. The authors also tried to show the usefulness of the application of new, non-standard research methods to study socioeconomic phenomena in tourism. In accomplishing this goal, a critical analysis of professional literature and empirical studies based on primary sources of data from pilot surveys conducted by the authors of the paper among students of one of the universities in Vilnius (Lithuania) and in Szczecin (Poland) was carried out. To pilot survey research, simple elements of descriptive statistics research and testing of the difference between two population proportions were used in the paper. The results of the research indicated that the above phenomena also occur among tourists. The imperfection of the methods used in this new field of science, neuro-tourism, is also presented, which requires further research on this issue.