The paper reports on a study investigating the efficacy of policy and legal framework for coop­erative governance and LED to facilitate and coordinate responses to socio-economic concerns in the selected small towns in South Africa. The policy and legal framework place the onus for development on the local municipalities and urge the municipalities to partner with other stakeholders such as the business and the civil society to manage and respond to socio-economic concerns within the municipalities. The purpose of this paper is to review the ‘efficacy of the policy and legal framework’ to facilitate ‘cooperative governance’ and ‘LED’, specifically in six municipalities in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Data were collected from government officials, private and civil sector through three data collection instruments, namely, document review, interviews and focus group discussions. The key findings from the study are mixed. The policy design and implementation were established problematic in multifarious ways. However, the findings also provide a glimpse of hopes in matters of public accountability by providing policy guidelines aimed at promoting accountability amongst government role-players. Given the backdrop, some recommendations are provided in this paper. This paper provides feedbacks for policy makers and implementers on the performance of policy and legal framework that informs the cooperative governance of local economies, specifically in small towns, to establish as to what is effective to replicate in form of good practice and what is under-performing for possible review. This assist in improving the understanding of the context that may inhibit or enable stakeholders in taking full advantage of collaborative-led developmental interventions to further peoples’ lives and to enhance their opportunities to partake in matters of development in their municipalities. 

JEL: D04, H83, I31

Organizacje pozarządowe stanowią istotny element gospodarki. Celem artykułu jest próba oszacowania wpływu pandemii COVID-19 na zmianę dochodu organizacji pożytku publicznego z 1% podatku dochodowego od osób fizycznych. Prezentowany jest możliwy scenariusz wraz z sugestiami przeciwdziałania negatywnym tendencjom.

Incomes of non-profit organizations from 1% of personal income tax during the COVID-19 pandemic

NGOs are an important part of the economy. The purpose of this article is an attempt to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on non-profit organizations incomes from 1% of personal income tax. A possible scenario is presented along with suggestions to counteract negative tendencies.

W artykule poddaję analizie sytuację mieszkaniową w wybranych państwach Europy i w Stanach Zjednoczonych. Artykuł został podzielony na kilka części opisujących przyczyny i skutki kryzysu hipotecznego w Stanach Zjednoczonych, bezdomności pracowników Doliny Krzemowej, „pęknięcia” bańki mieszkaniowej w Hiszpanii, problemów mieszkaniowych na Wyspach Brytyjskich (pustostany w Londynie i kryzys wynajmu w Irlandii), buntu lokatorskiego w Berlinie i ubóstwa mieszkaniowego w Polsce. We wstępie uzasadniam, dlaczego mieszkanie powinno być postrzegane jako prawo człowieka, a nie towar. Zwracam uwagę na to, że od lat 80. XX wieku rządy państw rozwiniętych wycofywały się z zarządzania gospodarką mieszkaniową, pozwalając na jej regulację mechanizmom rynkowym. W każdym z omawianych państw doprowadziło to do znacznego wzrostu cen nieruchomości i wynajmu oraz napływu kapitału spekulacyjnego. Jako odmienny przykład wskazuję Wiedeń, gdzie rynek nieruchomości jest wciąż regulowany przez miasto i dzięki temu zdołano uniknąć tego scenariusza.

Housing crisis in selected European countries and in the USA

In this article I analyze the housing situation in selected European countries and in the USA. The article is divided into several parts in which I describe causes and effects of the mortgage crisis in the United States, homelessness of Silicon Valley workers, the Spanish real estate bubble “burst”, housing problems in the British Isles (vacancies in London and the rental crisis in Ireland), the tenant revolt in Berlin and housing poverty in Poland. In the introduction I justify why housing should be seen as a human right and not as a commodity. I note that since the 1980s governments of developed countries have withdrawn from housing management, allowing it to be regulated by market mechanisms. In each of the countries under review, this has led to a significant increase in property and rental prices as well as an inflow of venture capital. As an opposite example, I mention Vienna, where the real estate market is still regulated by the city, thus it managed to avoid this scenario.