Homeownership rates are very different across European countries. They range from below 50% in Germany to over 80% in Greece, Spain or Ireland. However the differences lie not only in the overall homeownership rates but also in its structure, and this is the focus of this paper. Its aim is to study the impact of microeconomic factors on household’s tenure choice, using a crosscountry comparative approach. Logit models are constructed for each country using data for year 2000 from the Consortium of Household Panels for European Socio-Economic Research micro-database. The models show that marriage is a significant determinant of the decision to move to homeownership in all analysed countries, while cohabitating households are more likely to rent, except for Denmark. Nationality, income and age proved to be significant explanatory variables in several countries, while staying insignificant in others.
Studies on food preference of herbivores include no-choice test and test with choice or multiple choice. Conclusions from statistic analyses of these tests are compared descriptively. The definition of compatibility index and consumption growth index has enabled us to use nonparametric test for verification of hypotheses about homogeneity of the consumption growths of selected plant species under no-choice and multiple choice conditions. The studies were conducted on food preference of the slug Deroceras reticulatum. It has been found that Chamaenerion angustifolium, Geraniumpusillum and Potentilla anserina can be used to reduce this slug feeding on cultivated plants. It has been also found that seedlings of Polygonum aviculare can be used as alternative food for slugs.
The studies of tobacco demand accounting for product diversity haveattracted much attention in the literature, but theex antemeasurements ofthe effects of product bans are relatively scarce. This paper aims to fill this gapand considers the 2020 EU-induced ban on menthol cigarettes as an example,focusing on the Polish market. In the proposed approach, a 2004-2017 product-level dataset for Poland is used to estimate a random coefficients logit modeland simulate the effects of the menthol ban and, for comparison, a cigaretteexcise hike. The dataset is unique as it encompassess substantial changes inthe tobacco tax level and structure that took place in Poland over the sampleperiod. The simulations suggest that the ban, despite switching of consumerstowards non-menthol cigarettes, results in relatively strong reduction in demandfor duty-paid cigarettes, stronger than in the case of the excise hike.
Several surface measurement methods for determining the volume of deep or layered stone exist.
One of the key indicators of coal extraction efficiency in open cast mining is to determine the volume
of excavated rock. Procedures for determining the volume have been used for many centuries.
Determining the extracted volume or layered material has been a periodically recurring role of mine
-surveying practice, and mine surveyors apply different methods for its determination. The incorrect
determination of the rock volume may result in large economic losses of the mining enterprise. The
choice of the method for determining the volume depends on the deadline by which the determined
volume has to be submitted to the superior components or the mining enterprise management, as well
as on the requirements for accuracy of the volume determination, and a financial limit beyond which
this volume determination has to be done. Secondary conditions for determining the volumes include
the level of personnel training in the individual procedures and methods of measuring and calculating
volumes, the technical standards of the enterprise, the applied instrumentation, hardware and
software. The article compares the values of the accurately defined mathematical solid (a cylindrical
segment) to the methods of calculating the volume normally used in mining and surveying practice
and programs commonly used to calculate volumes in order to determine the threshold value of the
systematic deviation in input measurements to determine the volume. The mathematical model is the
basis for determining the correct volumes of the extracted material. The surface of the drawn or layered
material does not form a smooth surface as a mathematical model. The process of determining
volume errors on the mathematical model has been verified on the real body of coal deposition. The
comparison of the determination of the errors between the digital terrain model on the mathematical
body and the real homogenization coal stock is presented at the Conclusion of the article.
Based on a study of Polish migrants living in England and Scotland, this paper explores how Polish families who have decided to bring up their children in the UK make initial school choices. The Polish parents taking part in our study generally had low levels of social and cultural capital (Bourdieu 1986) upon arrival in the UK: they had limited networks (predominantly bonding capital) (Putnam 2000) and a poor command of English, and lacked basic knowledge of the British education system. Meanwhile, this is a highly complex system, very much different from the Polish one; moreover, school choice plays a much more important role within the UK system, especially at the level of secondary education. We found that while some parents acted as ‘disconnected choosers’ (Gewirtz, Ball and Bowe 1995) follow-ing the strategy they would use in Poland and simply enrolling their children in the nearest available school, others attempted to make an informed choice. In looking for schools, parents first and foremost turned to co-ethnic networks for advice and support; nevertheless, parents who attempted to make an informed choice typically lacked ‘insider knowledge’ and often held misconceptions about the British education system. The one feature of the system Polish parents were very much aware of, however, was the existence of Catholic schools; therefore, religious beliefs played a key role in school choice among Polish parents (with some seeking and others avoiding Catholic schools). The ‘active choosers’ also made choices based on first impressions and personal beliefs about what was best for their child (e.g. in terms of ethnic composition of the school) or allowed their children to make the choice. Parents of disabled children were most restricted in exercising school choice, as only certain schools cater for complex needs. All in all, the Polish parents in our sample faced similar barriers to BME (Black Minor-ity Ethnic) parents in exercising school choice in the UK and, regardless of their own levels of education, their school selection strategies resembled those of the British working class rather than of the middle class. However, the risk of ‘bad’ initial school choice may be largely offset by a generally strong pref-erence for Catholic schools and parents’ high educational ambitions for their children.
Vegetables in addition to arable crops and ornamentals are also at high risk from slug and snail attack at all growth stages. The no-choice tests were conducted under laboratory conditions to assess the harmfulness of the slug Arion rufus (Linnaeus) and the snail Cepaea hortensis (Müller) to young vegetable plants. Ten species representing leaf and root vegetables, allium, brassica, cucurbit and edible pulse plants were chosen to compare their susceptibilities to feeding of these pests (agrotechnical classification – Polish National List of Varieties of Agricultural and Vegetable Plants 2005). The evaluation of the growth of the tested vegetables included a percentage of the damaged plant area and changes in aboveground plant mass. The trend toward increase of mass was defined by the means of regression analysis. Losses of aboveground plant mass resulting from pest feeding and plant growth restraint caused by the slug or the snail damage were assessed. Variance analysis of the general linear model and orthogonal contrasts were calculated to compare the vegetable groups included in the research. The highest losses of aboveground plant mass, by both pest species A. rufus and C. hortensis, were on common bean plants and the smallest on plants of leaf vegetables (lettuce, dill), brassica plants (cauliflower, white cabbage) and allium plants (garden onion).
The paper presents the application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process technique to evaluate and choose the best alternative for acquiring hard coal for energy purposes by a potential Investor operating in the mining and energy sector. Six different sources supposed to provide hard coal were analysed, each of which might ensure a secure and independent supply of the material to the newly built coal-fired power plant. When choosing the best decision alternative, the positive and negative impacts of alternatives were considered through the BOCR analysis: benefits (B), opportunities (O), costs (C) and risks (R) analysis. For this purpose, 4 independent hierarchical models were developed. Different models have the same decision alternatives assessed, but they differ in criteria used to develop the models. In each of the models, in accordance with the AHP rules, were calculated final, global weights for the alternatives being assessed. Showing the best alternative was possible by applying the multiplicative formula (B ź O)/(C ź R), which value was used to rank and choose the best alternative from all assessed ones. The best decision alternative is the alternative where the (B ź O)/(C ź R) ratio is the highest.
This article is an attempt to look at how individual freedom is realized in the world of consumption. Consumer freedom understood as a social relationship – and not for example as a gift received from God and the ability to make independent choices between good and evil according to one’s free will – is not a given once and for all. In the case of consumer freedom, some people have this type of freedom, while others are deprived of it, which often results in moral evil. Freedom in a world where ‘a menu replaces the Decalogue’ is first and foremost a freedom to consume, a freedom of those who have the appropriate material means to make use of them. Therefore, it is not a gift given once and for all, but it requires from us – free consumers – constant activity in acquiring funds that allow us to meet the needs of ownership. It only pretends to be accompanied by freedom of choice but in fact is not. Freedom in the world of consumption is implemented mainly in the sphere of everyday life practice and it does not constitute the implementation of any lofty philosophical ideas. It is an impoverished form without proper theoretical foundation. The problem is whether in the world of consumption there is any freedom at all. Unfortunately, most often we only have an illusion of freedom, because choosing to participate in it (more or less consciously), we agree to its prevailing rights. One of the most important rights in the domain of consumption implying is freedom of consumption, or ironically speaking, the free-dom to choose between Coca Cola and Pepsi. But even in its narrow application consumer freedom does not seem to realize any moral good. It is true that various attempts are being made to codify the ethical activity of consumers, traders, producers, etc., but this has nothing to do with the real moral dimension of actions, concerning instead instrumental and performative aspects of those actions by sustaining unreflective choice automatisms.