Working Papers

The WNE Working Papers series has been published by the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warsaw since 2008.

The WNE Working Papers series provides a fast, open channel for disseminating research conducted at the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw. The papers hosted here are working versions (pre-prints) and may evolve as authors refine their analyses, incorporate feedback, or progress through formal peer-review. What you read is the current version released by the authors, timestamped and assigned DOI/ISSN identifiers to ensure precise citation and version tracking. Copyright remains with the authors, who may, at any time, upload a revised file or add a note directing readers to a later, peer-reviewed publication.

The Working Papers series accepts articles by research employees of the Faculty and publications from conferences organised at the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warsaw. Articles should be original research papers which have not been previously published, on the subject of economics.

Please send your paper by e-mail: }{D7p#0$AmU]Gio!%q3LXTk~IZ6]#[uk3}Ztrqy^7P7$gngz&Da6PtRK} 

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(1) the main text without the title of the article and the authors (DOC/DOCX file) and

(2) the title page including: the title of the paper, the authors and their affiliation (DOC/DOCX file).

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Number of Results 8

WP(7/2025)470. The Impact of Railway on the Regional Economic Development and Social Mobility in the Congress Kingdom of Poland

Authors: Koryś Piotr, Marcin Wroński
We estimate the impact of railway construction on local populations in Russian Poland in the 19th century. The initial wave of railway expansion outpaced economic demand. From the late 1860s onward, locations connected to the railway network experien…

WP470. The Impact of Railway on the Regional Economic Development and Social Mobility in the Congress Kingdom of Poland

We estimate the impact of railway construction on local populations in Russian Poland in the 19th century. The initial wave of railway expansion outpaced economic demand. From the late 1860s onward, locations connected to the railway network experienced significantly higher population growth. The economic effects of the connection to the railway network increased over time. State-funded military railway lines generated a smaller impact than private-owned lines. We also study the impact of the railway connection on social mobility proxied through a number of notable people born in a given city. However, we do not identify any robust impact.
 


DOI: https://doi.org/10.33138/2957-0506.2025.7.470
Koryś Piotr, Marcin Wroński
economic history Russian Poland economic growth railways

WP(3/2025)466. The Economic Growth and Regional Convergence in Interwar Poland: Detailed Historical National Accounts

Authors: Bukowski Maciej, Kowalski Michał, Marcin Wroński
We provide the first estimate of the Polish national, regional and sectoral GDP in the interwar period. We find that the Polish economy's performance in the interwar period was much better than it was assumed before. In the years 1924 – 193…

WP466. The Economic Growth and Regional Convergence in Interwar Poland: Detailed Historical National Accounts

We provide the first estimate of the Polish national, regional and sectoral GDP in the interwar period. We find that the Polish economy's performance in the interwar period was much better than it was assumed before. In the years 1924 – 1938, the real GDP per capita increased by almost 40% or by 2.3% annually. As economic growth was stronger in the poorer regions significant regional convergence was achieved. Our results challenge the dominant narrative about the weak performance of the Polish economy in the interwar years.


DOI: https://doi.org/10.33138/2957-0506.2025.3.466
Bukowski Maciej, Kowalski Michał, Marcin Wroński
economic history Poland Great Depression regional convergence economic growth

WP(2/2025)465. Agriculture in interwar Poland: development in a turbulent time

Authors: Bukowski Maciej, Kowalski Michał, Marcin Wroński
We measure the value added in agriculture in Poland during the interwar period. Our calculation is based on the bottom-up methodology. We provide estimates on the national and regional levels. Cultivated area, yields and yields per hectare increased …

WP465. Agriculture in interwar Poland: development in a turbulent time

We measure the value added in agriculture in Poland during the interwar period. Our calculation is based on the bottom-up methodology. We provide estimates on the national and regional levels. Cultivated area, yields and yields per hectare increased during the investigated period. Significant regional convergence, both in the case of prices and value added occurred. In the years 1924 -38 value added increased by 5.35% annually, resulting 4.01% per capita growth rate. However, the yields per hectare grew less than in a majority of other European economies. While less developed eastern regions caught up with more economically advanced western Poland, the leading west lost compared to European peers. Therefore, our assessment of the development of agriculture in Poland in that period remains mixed.


DOI: https://doi.org/10.33138/2957-0506.2025.2.465
Bukowski Maciej, Kowalski Michał, Marcin Wroński
agriculture national income Poland Central and Eastern Europe economic growth regional convergence

WP(2/2023)409. Prudent populists? The short-term macroeconomic impact of populist policies in Poland

Authors: Brzeziński Michał, Sałach-Dróżdż Katarzyna
Recent research shows that populist governments in general depress countries’ economic growth and fail to improve income distribution. We study the short-term macroeconomic consequences of populist policies implemented in Poland since 2015. Usi…

WP409. Prudent populists? The short-term macroeconomic impact of populist policies in Poland

Recent research shows that populist governments in general depress countries’ economic growth and fail to improve income distribution. We study the short-term macroeconomic consequences of populist policies implemented in Poland since 2015. Using the augmented synthetic control method, we find that the populists boosted the GDP per capita by almost 8% between 2016 and 2019. We do not find any effect of populism on inflation and estimate only small labor market impacts. The populists improved tax revenue collection and reduced public debt. A generous child benefit program and other redistributive policies introduced by the populists significantly reduced overall poverty and almost eradicated absolute child poverty. Our results imply that anti-establishment populists may be macroeconomically prudent, at least in the short run.


Brzeziński Michał, Sałach-Dróżdż Katarzyna
populism economic growth public finance income distribution Poland

WP(7/2018)266. Unraveling the economic performance of the CEEC countries: the role of exports and global value chains

Authors: Hagemejer Jan, Mućk Jakub
In this study we assess the importance of exports and global value chains (GVC) participation on economic growth. Using novel methods and an extensive dataset, we decompose GDP growth in the Central and Eastern European (CEEC) countries to show that …

WP266. Unraveling the economic performance of the CEEC countries: the role of exports and global value chains

In this study we assess the importance of exports and global value chains (GVC) participation on economic growth. Using novel methods and an extensive dataset, we decompose GDP growth in the Central and Eastern European (CEEC) countries to show that in over a large part of the period of transition and integration with the EU, exports have played a predominant role in shaping economic growth. We also show that exports have been the major factor driving the convergence of the CEEC countries with their advanced counterparts. We employ panel methods to analyze the determinants of growth of exported value added and show that the major growth drivers in the analyzed period of 1995−2014 are GVC participation, imports of technology and capital deepening.


DOI: http://doi.org.10.26405/WP/WNE/2018/266/007
Hagemejer Jan, Mućk Jakub
economic growth international trade GVC heterogeneous panels common correlated effects estimation CEEC

WP(23/2017)252. The output employment elasticity and the increased use of temporary contracts: evidence from Poland

Authors: Bartosik Krzysztof, Mycielski Jerzy
The paper investigates how increased use of temporary contracts has affected employment elasticity with respect to output in Poland. Our empirical analysis covers the period of 1996-2016, with particular focus on the years 2001-2016. Several economet…

WP252. The output employment elasticity and the increased use of temporary contracts: evidence from Poland

The paper investigates how increased use of temporary contracts has affected employment elasticity with respect to output in Poland. Our empirical analysis covers the period of 1996-2016, with particular focus on the years 2001-2016. Several econometric tools are used to explore the relation between growth in GDP and employment. Our study shows that widespread adoption of temporary contracts contributes positively to total employment elasticity. However, what we have observed is that the share of temporary contracts has increased, but the total employment elasticity has decreased. We related this to an inverse relationship between the growth of permanent and temporary employment and the opposite trends in output elasticities of temporary and permanent employment.


DOI: https://doi.org/10.26405/WP/WNE/2017/252/023
Bartosik Krzysztof, Mycielski Jerzy
labour demand temporary contracts economic growth labour market institutions

WP(24/2016)215. Exports and growth in the New Member States. The role of global value chains

Authors: Hagemejer Jan
We analyze the determinants of value added and productivity growth of New Member States in the period between 1995 and 2009. We show that in the analyzed countries exports contributed to between 30 to over 40% of the overall growth of GDP while the c…

WP215. Exports and growth in the New Member States. The role of global value chains

We analyze the determinants of value added and productivity growth of New Member States in the period between 1995 and 2009. We show that in the analyzed countries exports contributed to between 30 to over 40% of the overall growth of GDP while the contribution of the domestic component varied from negative to over 60%. We show that in the most important export manufacturing industries of the NMS, the growth in exported value added was substantial, while the growth of the domestic component of GDP was mostly due to the growth in services. We associate growth of sectoral productivity with the foreign direct investment and exporting but, more importantly, with the position of a sector/country in the global value chains. We show that sectors that have imported intermediate goods have experienced higher productivity growth. Moreover, productivity growth was found in sectors further away from the final demand and in sectors exporting intermediate goods.


Hagemejer Jan
global value chains productivity economic growth openness

WP(/2008)10. Intra-Provincial Inequalities and Economic Growth in China

Authors: Kochanowicz Jacek, Rymaszewska Joanna, Tyrowicz Joanna
This paper approaches the problem of inequalities in China. It is specifically focused on analyzing the effects of intra-provincial disparities on provincial economic development. Rising inequalities have been widely discussed in the literature on th…

WP10. Intra-Provincial Inequalities and Economic Growth in China

This paper approaches the problem of inequalities in China. It is specifically focused on analyzing the effects of intra-provincial disparities on provincial economic development. Rising inequalities have been widely discussed in the literature on the examples of fast growing developing countries like Brazil, India. However, each of these countries existed in a different socio-political context. Should and is anything done to contain the rising inequalities? This is something the world is struggling now not only with respect to the Chinese case. In the broadest sense, there seem to be two kinds of answers. One, more 'European', or 'social/Christian/democratic' is that too much inequality is morally hard to accept and also bad for social cohesion. Another, more neo-liberal or 'American' says that while much should be done to alleviate poverty, economic inequality is not a reason for concern, that it is inevitable (reflecting varying endowments of individuals) and in some way also positive as motivating for work and innovation. Inequalities, as measured by Theil index, seem to be positively related to growth. However, a more profound analysis suggests highly diversified patterns, which suggests many conclusions about actual policy-making standards in China.


Kochanowicz Jacek, Rymaszewska Joanna, Tyrowicz Joanna
inequality economic growth Theil index China
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