Economics and Management 4 (4) 2012

The main aim of this paper is to present statistical methods that can be used in the process of the assessment of financial conditions of Polish households as measured by using direct analysis. Presented is the problem of using weights in the process of the estimation of basic statistics such as the arithmetic mean and median. The analysis of the diversification of consumption was performed using distributions of disposable income and expenditures of Polish households. An analysis of the structure of household expenditure was also performed, using the COICOP/HBS classification. Presented are statistical tools, numerical as well as graphical, which can be used in the process of direct consumption analysis.

Keywords:
direct consumption  expenditures  empirical distributions  statistical measure 

The purpose of this article is to assess the economic growth of regions of the European Union in terms of their innovation. As a variable describing the assumed economic growth, GDP, and innovation – the input and output indicators defined by the standards of the EIS. It was assumed that economic growth has a regional dimension. Verification was made by classification trees.

Keywords:
regional economic growth  regional innovation  classification trees 

The article presents the possibility of using selected methods of multivariate analysis in the design of comparative ranking of universities. The set of potential diagnostic variables created by the Chapter of ranking of universities in Poland – ranking of “Perspektywy” and “Rzeczpospolita” by their informative value was verified. The classical and median coefficient of variation to analyze discriminative ability the variables were used, and the parametric method proposed by Z. Hellwig to investigate the degree of correlation of the variables was used. For the construction of university ranking one of the methods of multidimensional comparative analysis – miara Hellwiga was used.

Keywords:
multidimensional comparative analysis  ranking  universities 

In the literature, there are studies on combining research methods. It can be assumed that these combinations often form hybrid structures. This paper describes the various characteristics of hybrid concept found in the sciences of the future. The analysis consists of three fields: first, closely related to foresight methods, the second method is characterized in the context of the forecasting, third involves mixed approaches.

Keywords:
foresight  hybrid concept  forecasting  synergy 

The main aim of the paper is comparison of the diagnostics features selection methods influence on regional objects linear classification using as an example official enviromental data on polish voivodeships. Three methods and their variations were used. Those used methods were: Hellwig method, median Hellwig method, inverse matrix. Spearmn;s coefficient of correlation was used to compare results of rankings.

Keywords:
empirical features selection methods  objects classification and ranking 

Decision tree is a method of data mining analysis based on extensive set of independent variables. Main advantage of this approach is that not only does it provide an interesting visualization of the problem, but also creates a model of a very good quality. This paper presents the decision tree method in an multi-criteria analysis of determinants of foreign direct investment inflows. The analysis is based on data from the World Bank and Doing Business reports for the years 2006-2010.

Keywords:
decision making  decision tree  foreign direct investment  data mining 

Transport congestion is inherent to the transport system of the urban areas. Congestion increased due to population growth prosperity. This phenomenon also occurs in the city of Bialystok, but so far has not been studied and described. This article is a summary of the research program conducted by the author. The analyzes allowed to determine an individual transport development trends in Bialystok. These trends seem to be different from those published by other authors dealing with the problems of congestion. Conclusions of the study indicate a different development of individual transport in Bialystok.

Keywords:
transport congestion  vehicle occupancy  urban transport system  Białystok urban area 

This paper aims at comparing transportational infrastructure in chosen UE countries. Two synthetic measures have been used to evaluate and order the objects under consideration: one based on Hellwig’s proposition and the other based on standarised sum method. There have been used 16 diagnostic variables in years 2003 - 2006. The conclusion of the reaserch is that Poland and Greece have had the worsest, of 20 countries under consideration, infrastructure.

Keywords:
transportation infrastructure  EU infrastructure comparison  linear classification 

Knowledge and innovation are key stimulants of economic development. These aspects are particularly important for regions with low saturation of industry. Analysis of the situation in the north-eastern Polish provinces revealed that they are “moderate innovators”. The paper presents a diagnosis of enterprises innovation from key-sectors in podlaskie province, such as food and metal industry (including machinery and metal equipment). Analysis is focused on expenditures on research and development (R & D), share of companies introducing new products and services, sales of new products and services as key stimulants of innovation. The actions that should be taken to change the present situation are also identified and submitted.

Keywords:
innovation  R+D  companies  regional development  podlaskie province 

The increase in the number of projects indicates the growing importance of organizations implementing projects in the economy. This raised the question which organizations carry out projects best. Literature shows that these are the organizations that are effective in the implementation of non-routine, complex tasks, have the ability to reconfigure the organizational structure, ability to flexibly respond to customer needs and the integration of diverse knowledge. A set of these skills is referred to in the literature as project capability. Project capabilities are formed within the organization, along with the process of creating and implementing project plans. That is with the process of organizational learning during the implementation of projects. Typically organizations with project capability can utilize a specific form of scale economies that with respect to the projects is defined as economies of repetition. In the paper the literature review of the organization’s project capability concept is presented.

Keywords:
project capability  project management  organizational learning 

The purpose of this article is one of the benchmarking methods – SFA (Stochastic Frontier Analysis) and overview of the areas of applications. This article discussed the idea of the method and the basis of economics. The literature review of previous achievements on the areas of application was researched. SFA is compared to most popular DEA method (Data Envelopment Analysis). The interest method over the last decade and the industries that are the subject of analysis is presented. The summary contains the conclusions of the analysis.

Keywords:
stochastic frontier analysis  SFA  DEA  technical efficiency  cost efficiency 

There are several methods to solve multiple attribute decision making cases. These can be also used for evaluation of enterprises based simultaneously on several different criteria. This paper presents an application of the TOPSIS method for evaluation of power distribution companies. To verification of the proposed method of multiple attribute decision making was based on the data from financial reports of distribution companies.

Keywords:
TOPSIS method  power distribution companies  multiple attribute decision making