The activity of territorial self-government shaped institutionally during the development process is characterized by a significant scope of care for the financial situation, which determines the efficiency of its functioning. The general availability of public services is a condition for the assessment of the activities of municipalities (powiats, voivodeships). Institutional economy as a real one, takes into account an integrated point of view. The aim of the study is to present the territorial differentiation of the eff ectiveness of communes’ activities in the context of institutional economics and to present the possibility of using a synthetic measure in this process. The synthetic measure of development fluctuated within the limits of 0.30 – Wąchock (Starachowice poviat, urban-rural commune) to 0.41 – Ostrowiec Św. (Ostrowiecki poviat, urban commune) in 2009, 0.32 – Łączna (Skarżysko poviat, rural commune) to 0.40 – Starachowice (Starachowice poviat, municipal commune) in 2015. The results of the analysis confirm the existence of small differences in the assessment of development communes of the Kamienna Basin. This approach allows the assessment of municipalities using one size and allows you to organize the analyzed objects in terms of the considered phenomenon.

The paper is dedicated to the memory of Professor Jerzy Wilkin, who passed away in Warsaw 10th of January 2023. Professor Jerzy Wilkin was an outstanding economist, scholar, full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and a professor at the Institute of Rural Development and Agricultural the Polish Academy of Sciences. The paper presents the facts of the life and scientific road of Professor Jerzy Wilkin.