The objective of this paper is to derive the characteristics of an effective governance framework ensuring incentives for conducting a prudent fiscal policy.We study this problem with the use of econometric tools and a sample of 28 European Union Member States between 2003 and 2017. By looking at specific reforms and measures, not only we verify the synthetic effectiveness of fiscal constraints but also we analyse specific elements of the governance framework.Our study shows that fiscal balances are affected not only by the economic cycle, but, among others, by the level of public debt and its cost. We find that the existence of numerical fiscal rules, in that specifically revenue and expenditures rules, their strong legal entrenchment, surveillance mechanisms, sanctions, and flexibility with respect to business cycle have a significant impact on curbing deficits.
The concept of a general average is the oldest institution of maritime law. Its usefulness in modern shipping relations has long been criticized. Nevertheless, the general average, despite the fact that it is not the subject of any international agreement, occupies a prominent place in the internal legal systems of maritime states, and the international community continues to show great interest in it, regularly changing the principles of accounting established in the second half of the 19th century in York and Antwerp. During the work on the draft of the new Polish Maritime Code, the Maritime Law Codification Commission made some changes in the regulations concerning the general average, adapting the provisions of Polish law to new solutions proposed by participants of international maritime trade and non-governmental organizations, including Comité Maritime International.
Because of the value of time, investors are interested in obtaining economic benefits rather early and at a highest return. But some investing opportunities, e.g. mineral projects, require from an investor to freeze their capital for several years. In exchange for this, they expect adequate remuneration for waiting, uncertainty and possible opportunities lost. This compensation is reflected in the level of interest rate they demand. Commonly used approach of project evaluation – the discounted cash flow analysis – uses this interest rate to determine present value of future cash flows. Mining investors should worry about project’s cash flows with greater assiduousness – especially about those arising in first years of the project lifetime. Having regard to the mining industry, this technique views a mineral deposit as complete production project where the base sources of uncertainty are future levels of economic-financial and technical parameters. Some of them are more risky than others – this paper tries to split apart and weigh their importance by the example of Polish hard coal projects at the feasibility study. The work has been performed with the sensitivity analysis of the internal rate of return. Calculations were made using the ‘bare bones’ assumption (on all the equity basis, constant money, after tax, flat price and constant operating costs), which creates a good reference and starting point for comparing other investment alternatives and for future investigations. The first part introduces with the discounting issue; in the following sections the paper presents data and methods used for spinning off risk components from the feasibility-stage discount rate and, in the end, some recommendations are presented.