Izabela Zabielska

This study analyses the factors influencing cross-border business activity of companies located in the cross-border region of Poland, which is also the eastern border of the EU (neighbouring the Russian Federation, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and Slovakia). The paper examines the key determinants of cross-border business activity by analysing survey data collected from 338 firms located within 70 km of the border. Using logit models incorporating regional, sectoral and country-fixed effects, the factors influencing the likelihood of firms engaging in foreign market activities are compared with general internationalisation determinants. The results indicate that firm size, comprehensive knowledge of the cross-border market and cooperation with other entities already active in the target market are the primary drivers of cross-border internationalisation. Furthermore, the findings reveal significant geographic heterogeneity in the agglomeration effect: the concentration of firms already present in a cross-border market stimulates new entries more strongly in markets characterised by higher institutional uncertainty, such as Belarus and Ukraine, than in more stable environments. The study contributes to the literature by demonstrating how the interplay between knowledge-based and spatial factors shapes cross-border engagement in institutionally diverse and geopolitically sensitive border regions. The findings also suggest that policy interventions should be more territorially differentiated and focused on strengthening local knowledge spillovers and facilitating initial cross-border engagement in less developed areas.

Motivation: Russia’s war against Ukraine triggered a sharp rise in cross-border mobility across Europe. Neighbouring states at the EU’s periphery absorbed substantial inflows, offering safety and socio-economic stability to displaced Ukrainians. For host economies, this coincided with acute labour shortages, enabling employers to stabilise staffing while host states gained predominantly working-age residents. Aim: The main objective of the study was to determine whether the employment of migrant workers, especially from Ukraine, contributes to closing gaps in the labour markets in specific industries in Poland's border regions/voivodeships. Results: We developed an original dual profile capturing (1) the migrant/refugee entering the labour market and (2) the employer hiring them given sectoral needs and organisational capacity. Descriptive evidence shows that over half of firms operate locally, one-third nationally, 10% within the EU market, 5% across Europe, and 2% are globally oriented. Migrants are most frequently employed in construction, hospitality, retail/wholesale, and services. In over 50% of firms, migrants work more than 40 hours per week. 76% of employers expect an improved output-to-input (productivity) ratio following recruitment. The most salient enablers are economic instruments, notably greater access to national and EU funding - subsidies, tax relief, co-financed training. These results add value by providing firm-level evidence from border regions—an under-researched context—linking employers’ demand with migrant integration and highlighting institutional infrastructures - qualification recognition, skills databases as decisive complements to short-term administrative simplification.

The aim of the study was to identify the needs of entrepreneurs in the context of labor shortages on the local labor market and supplement them with immigrants from Ukraine. The focus was on border enterprises from rural areas located on the external border of Poland and the EU. It was determined in which industries cross-border entrepreneurs are looking for migrants to work. A research questionnaire was created to determine the migrant’s profile from the point of view of the entrepreneur’s needs. It covered 400 enterprises, 100 from each of the surveyed voivodeships of Eastern Poland: Warmia-Masuria, Podlaskie, Lublin and Subcarpathia. Correspondence analysis was used to help determine differences in entrepreneurs’ preferences in the studied voivodeships. Entrepreneurs are most likely to employ qualified immigrants with professional experience in flexible forms of work. They expect that immigrants will be more available and will have lower wage requirements compared to local workers, which will translate into lower labor costs and better economic results. They believe that employing immigrants will improve productivity, quality and work discipline. The main limitations include ignorance or poor knowledge of the language of the host country, premature termination of contracts and working under the influence of alcohol.

The main objective of the study is to identify the state of economic relations between Poland and Ukraine since the early 1990s, taking into account mutual trade (also within the framework of the LBT) and Poland’s investment involvement in Ukraine. The study uses a statistical-descriptive method. Based on the analyses, it is concluded that the potential of bilateral economic relations has not been fully exploited so far. Although trade has been developing over the years, it has encountered certain difficulties. The difficult economic situation in Ukraine has become crucial. In light of this conclusion and the currently uncertain geopolitical situation, the realisation of Polish Ukrainian economic cooperation, including trade, in the coming years appears to be closely linked to the reconstruction of Ukraine’s infrastructure.

Subject and purpose of work: Determining the directions of foreign migration of students of management of the University of Warmia and Mazury (UWM) in Olsztyn and the factors encouraging young people to emigrate. Materials and methods: A diagnostic survey method was used. This paper presents part of the results of a wider survey of young people conducted in early 2021. Participation in the study was anonymous and voluntary. A non-probabilistic sampling technique known as convenience sampling was used. The survey covered the entire population of management students at UWM in Olsztyn. 93 questionnaires were returned. Correspondence analysis was used to verify the hypotheses. Results: Economic factors proved to be the most important factors for respondents: higher wages, greater job and promotion opportunities abroad. Conclusions: Young people show a high tendency to migrate abroad, with Germany and the UK being the main destinations. They see foreign migration as a way to improve their life situation. In order to keep them on the domestic labour market, competition regarding wages should be increased and flexible work should be allowed.

Motivation: The NweConnect market is intended for small, innovative and dynamically developing companies, especially in the so-called new economy. A debut on this market is one of the possible strategies for raising capital by a small and medium-sized entrepreneur. In times of economic downturn and limited supply of capital on the capital market, only the most credible have a chance to raise capital on the alternative market.Aim: recognition of the actual nature of companies listed on the alternative market in Poland, with particular emphasis on the voivodeships of Eastern Poland. It was assumed that mainly young, innovative and fast-growing companies are listed on the NewConnect market. The analysis was based on a review of domestic and foreign literature and on the estimated linear econometric model.Results: Most companies on the NewConnect market are not characterized by rapid development, short period of entering the market and a high level of innovation. There are also companies from industries where the level of innovation was not a key element of activity from the beginning. In addition, the changes that have taken place (i.e. from market entry to the current situation, 2007–2022) are not favourable. While at the beginning of their activity (since 2007) listed companies were characterized by a relatively high level of innovation, now (2022) this level is decreasing. This justifies the need for further research on the development of the NewConnect market as a source of financing for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Motivation: Enterprises, especially SMEs, are the backbone of the Polish economy. Their desire to develop makes them decide, among other things, to export. Particularly those located in border regions, are a challenge for the economic cohesion and economic activation of these areas. The openness of the border and the prevailing economic relations between neighbouring countries are of vital importance here. This peculiarity of the border location and the potential of the border regions of Eastern Poland (peripheral and economically underdeveloped), as well as the still existing research gap in this area justifies, among other things, taking up the topic.Aim: Identification and assessment of the state of export activity of Polish companies, with particular emphasis on the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises located in the border region.Results: The research carried out (empirical — primary and secondary — identifying the level of export activity by region in terms of quantity and value) into the dynamics and level of export activity by border regions — shows significant differentiation. This differentiation is influenced, inter alia, by the location and different historical and political conditions of the neighbours. Poland’s accession to the EU in 2004 and joining the Schengen area in 2007 resulted in completely different opportunities for the development of export activity in regions located on Poland’s western border (e.g. with Germany and thus within the European Union) than in regions located on Poland’s north-eastern border (e.g. with the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian Federation, where the state border is at the same time the EU border in the eastern part of Europe). This peculiarity results in the fact that there is still a lack of compact, homogeneous studies on the export activity of enterprises, especially SMEs, in relation to border regions. This is certainly still an existing research gap.