University of Economics in Katowice

Purpose: The main objective of the paper is to verify the differences between the financial results presented in quarterly reports provided by issuers listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) and the market consensus published by the Polish Press Agency (PAP). Methodology/approach: The study period covers information submitted about net financial results in all the quarterly reports of issuers grouped in the WIG20 and mWIG40 indices and the market consensus of them between the second quarter of 2023 and the fourth quarter of 2024. The statistical significance of the differences between these values was evaluated using the Wilcoxon matched-pairs test. Findings: The statistical verification of the 330 quarterly financial results revealed that the values differ significantly from the forecasts published within the PAP consensus. Interestingly, these differences are particularly visible in the case of issuers in the mWIG40 index. Research limitations/implications: The research results indicate that using the market consensus published by PAP to evaluate the future financial performance of WSE issuers may bear a significant risk of inaccuracy. Thus, research in this area requires further development due to the main limitation of this study, which was that it focused only on the WSEʼs largest stock exchange issuers. Originality/value: This study is the first attempt to estimate the possibility of using PAPʼs market consensus of listed companiesʼ results to determine their future financial results in the post-pandemic reality. The results indicate that the market consensus differed statistically significantly from the final published results, which indicates its limited use for investors.

Polskie i czeskie cywilne służby specjalne, mimo ogólnych podobieństw, zasadniczo różnią się w zakresie posiadanych uprawnień śledczych. Polska Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego (ABW) została przez ustawodawcę wyposażona w uprawnienia dochodzeniowo-śledcze w zakresie realizacji swoich zadań, w przeciwieństwie do niej czeska Informacyjna Służba Bezpieczeństwa (BIS) posiada uprawnienia śledcze jedynie wobec własnych funkcjonariuszy, którzy popełnią przestępstwo. Czeskie cywilne służby specjalne są dużo bliższe modelowi przyjętemu w innych liberalnych demokracjach w Europie, takich jak Republika Federalna Niemiec czy Wielka Brytania, niż służby polskie. Podstawą organizacji czeskich służb specjalnych i ich miejsca w systemie politycznym Czech jest tzw. zasada koniecznego rozdzielenia (oddělovací imperativ). Zasada ta wprowadziła postulat niełączenia wywiadowczych sposobów uzyskiwania informacji z uprawnieniami wykonawczymi (policyjnymi), związanymi z możliwością stosowania przymusu bezpośredniego. Sytuacja ta ma głębokie korzenie historyczne sięgające do czasów przemian demokratycznych w 1989 roku. Biorąc pod uwagę analizę procesów politycznych, które doprowadziły do powstania nowych służb specjalnych w obu tak przecież bliskich historycznie i kulturowo krajach po roku 1989, można postawić wniosek, iż podstawowym powodem odmiennego rozwoju cywilnych służb specjalnych był występujący w Polsce brak wizji i zaangażowania w kwestie reformy służb ze strony najwyższych czynników politycznych reprezentujących stronę opozycyjną. Praktyczne koncepcje reformatorskie dotyczące modelu służb zostały w Polsce wypracowane na poziomie komisji sejmowych. W Czechosłowacji, a później w Republice Czeskiej od początku zmian w roku 1989 w proces zmian w służbach był zaangażowany wywodzący się z opozycji prezydent, który reprezentował szczegółową koncepcję reform, nawiązującą wprost do zachodniego modelu służb specjalnych.

Growing electricity demand and decarbonisation requirements pose significant challenges for coal-dependent transition economies. This study examines whether nuclear deployment can support low-carbon economic transformation using Poland’s national nuclear programme as a case study. We conduct a structured document analysis that integrates a systematic search and screening of peer-reviewed literature with an analysis of national policy and planning materials and a synthesis of publicly available project documentation for the Lubiatowo-Kopalino nuclear power plant, the Pątnów project, and the planned small modular reactor (SMR) deployments. Impacts on employment, infrastructure, technical education, technology transfer, and local supply chain participation are assessed and mapped to the sustainable development goals and the EU climate policy criteria. The analysis indicates that, if accompanied by early workforce development and supplier prequalification, nuclear investments can stimulate industrial upgrading, strengthen energy security, and deliver regional co-benefits beyond electricity generation. At the same time, scheduling slippage, governance uncertainty, and gaps in domestic capabilities in nuclear-specific components can limit these benefits. The article concludes with recommendations for national and local authorities on stakeholder engagement, local content strategy, and risk management that can be transferred to Central European economies with similar starting conditions.

Abstract Automated trading systems built on supervised learning optimize prediction accu- racy while ignoring transaction costs. This leads to volatile signals that trigger excessive position changes and destroy profitability. We show that conditioning predictions on the model’s previous output introduces an implicit switching cost into supervised learn- ing, changing the effective optimization problem without modifying the loss function itself. This decision-path dependence reduces position change frequency substantially while maintaining directional accuracy. Using major currency pairs sampled at 15- minute intervals, we find that models conditioned on previous predictions exhibit sta- tistically significant reductions in switching frequency across all tested assets, with no meaningful deterioration in classification accuracy. Transaction cost sensitivity analy- sis demonstrates that this stability advantage mitigates performance degradation under increasing frictions. The implicit emergence of switching cost aversion through archi- tectural design, rather than explicit penalty terms, offers a computationally tractable method for building transaction-cost-aware trading systems within standard supervised learning frameworks. The analysis uses foreign exchange data; we see no reason why the mechanism would not generalize to other asset classes, though empirical verification remains a direction for future work. JEL Classification: C45, C53, G11, G17

This article scientifically addresses the challenges related to data security and stakeholder privacy faced by companies operating in the European Union. These challenges stem largely from the global digital transformation, within which the European Union imposes regulations governing data protection and stakeholder privacy. The digital transformation in the European Union focuses on the integration of people and technology, sustainable development, and the resilience of management systems, which are the pillars of Industry 5.0. From a practical perspective, the paper examines the current level of awareness among employees of the enterprise in Poland regarding data and privacy risk management in today’s economic environment. The paper presents both a theoretical review and, in the empirical section, the results of primary research. The study was conducted in Poland on a sample of 556 enterprises from various economic sectors. The paper begins with Introduction. Background presents a literature review conducted on the conditions for enterprise functioning in the evolving paradigm of Industry 5.0, as well as the fundamental legal requirements regarding data security and stakeholder privacy across business activities. Materials and Methods presents the research methods employed to assess how respondents perceive threats to data security and stakeholder privacy. Results summarizes the research findings. In Discussion, both practical business implications are addressed, and the role of technology and organizational procedures in responsible data and privacy management is highlighted. Furthermore, the importance of creating ethical cyber–physical environments as an element of sustainable enterprise transformation is emphasized. Finally, Conclusions presents the results and key findings regarding the level of awareness among employees of Polish enterprises about data security and stakeholder privacy in the context of digital transformation.

Efficient spending of public funds is a crucial task for the state, even in times of particular threat and following the introduction of a state of emergency, whether martial law, a state of emergency, or a natural disaster. In such situations, it is essential to restore the state's normal functioning in the face of exceptional threats. Legal instruments and mechanisms specified in public procurement law can and should serve this purpose. Therefore, the aim of this study will be to demonstrate the extent to which public procurement and its legal frameworks align with the normative solutions of states of emergency and how they can be useful and utilized in such situations.

The aim of this paper is to identify and psychographically characterize consumers operating in the phygital environment based on their emotional responses to tools used in commerce and services. The theoretical section involves a bibliometric analysis (Web of Science and Scopus papers from 2015 to 2024) using Bibliometrix and Biblioshiny in RStudio. The empirical study was conducted using the Internet survey technique in February 2025 on a nationwide random-quota sample of 2160 adult internet users. Based on cluster analysis, three types of consumers were identified: solution skeptics (48.1%), cautious explorers (20.1%), and tool enthusiasts (31.9%). The results indicate that emotions play a key role in the perception of phygital experiences. The article provides practical guidance for companies, including approaches for designing more inclusive and accessible shopping environments. A positive attitude toward these tools can foster more efficient use of services, reducing overconsumption and improving quality of life. In the context of sustainable development, these results point to the need for further research into the real impact of phygital solutions on consumer wellbeing—social, economic, and environmental.

The development of generative artificial intelligence tools, including large language models, opens new opportunities for adult education while simultaneously posing the risk of deepening inequalities resulting from differences in digital competences and individual dispositions. The aim of this article is to examine how digital skills (DS) and personal innovativeness (PI) shape differentiated and advanced use of ChatGPT (UC) among adult learners in Poland, with particular attention to the moderating role of gender. The study was conducted using the CAWI method on a nationwide sample of 757 adult ChatGPT users engaged in upgrading their qualifications. Validated scales of DS, PI, and UC were applied, along with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) using the WLSMV estimator, as well as multigroup SEM for women and men. The results confirm that both digital skills (β ≈ 0.46) and personal innovativeness (β ≈ 0.37) significantly and positively predict advanced use of ChatGPT, jointly explaining approximately 41% of the variance in UC, with stronger effects observed among men than women. Attention is therefore drawn to the need to incorporate a gender perspective in further research on the use of GenAI in adult education The findings point to a stratification of GenAI use in adult education and underscore the need to incorporate critical digital competences and AI literacy into sustainable education policies in order to limit the reproduction of existing inequalities.

Calendar anomalies are well documented in traditional capital markets, but their occurrence in the context of the rapidly growing ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) sustainable investment segment remains almost entirely unexplored. This is particularly true for specialised social indices, creating a significant gap in the literature. To fill this gap, this study analyses four calendar anomalies (January Effect, July Effect, October Effect and December Effect) in the STOXX Global ESG Social Leaders Index (2011–2024). Unlike standard statistical tests, we used wavelet transformation (Daubechies wavelet, db4), because it allows us to capture both short-term and long-term volatility patterns, which is particularly useful in the analysis of irregular seasonal phenomena. The results reveal that the anomalies studied do not show any consistent patterns. The January effect was unstable, the July effect showed some stability only in recent years, and the October effect correlated with periods of increased macroeconomic uncertainty. Although the December effect was observed in most periods, its absence during periods of strong growth suggests the influence of regulatory and structural factors. The results confirm that calendar anomalies in ESG indices are weaker and less predictable than in traditional benchmarks, highlighting the importance of integrating seasonality analysis with the assessment of fundamental ESG factors. This study makes an important methodological contribution through the use of wavelet analysis, and the findings suggest that future studies of seasonality should combine statistical analysis with an assessment of fundamental ESG factors.

Abstract: As societies confront ongoing global instability, English language education faces an urgent responsibility to prepare learners not only for academic success but also for ethical, relational, and human engagement in an uncertain world. Language functions as a powerful medium through which individuals negotiate identity, connection, justice, and belonging, positioning it at the heart of pedagogical transformation. Yet, if language shapes how people make sense of (in)stability, (in)justice, and one another, English language education must move beyond skills-based instruction toward pedagogies grounded in care, relationality, and ethical responsibility. In this special issue, we bring together the concepts of pedagogies, harmonies, and critical love to advance pedagogies of harmonies as a justice-oriented, relational approach aimed at collective healing. Pedagogies of harmonies foreground empathy, inclusivity, and critical engagement with systems of inequity while honoring the complexities of human connection across differences. As editors, our hope is that this special issue sparks sustained dialogue that transcends the boundaries of English language education, advocating for pedagogical practices that cultivate empathy, unity, and meaningful intercultural engagement. By centering pedagogies of harmonies as critical love, this issue invites educators to imagine and enact more humane, just, and connected educational futures.