The present publication will comprise observations of the authors, based on practical experience, concerning the pragmatic aspects of implementation of evaluation processes in various areas of activity of the territorial self-government units. The authors will approach both the objectives the evaluators are usually faced with and the areas in which the evaluation is or might be applied. Setting the required effects of evaluation against the capacity of the public sector, and considering the legal framework of the territorial self-government units, the authors will indicate the ways evaluation may be conducted as well as – which is even more essential – the complications resulting from the methods adopted. First of all, the procedural aspect of acquisition of the evaluation service will be analysed, with special consideration to procedures, conditions and criteria required by the public procurement law and the related bylaws. Methods of reaching the evaluation effects by the territorial self-government units, alternative to the tendering procedures, will be also considered.
On the basis of the above considerations, the authors will develop two groups of conclusions. Statutory ones, connected with the methods of acquisition of this service which are best adjusted to the objectives set, and general ones, covering the proposals of broader application of evaluation in the public sector management process.

Strategic decision making is a determinant of the efficiency of management of any organization. The specificity of local government and the separation of powers: executive decision-making authority, causes that freedom of discretion is very limited. Effective local leader tries to make such decisions, whose effects are associated with a clearly marked direction of commune development, with continuous increasing of quality of life of its inhabitants.

Due to the unique characteristics of the innovation process, the government plays an important role in its stimulation. However, the adaptation of national innovative policies to regional and local conditions is the responsibility of regional and local authorities. Sustainable development of the region will be achieved only if its stakeholders such as business, R & D units and the relevant authorities are involved. The primary task of the public authority is to coordinate activities and to create a favorable climate for economic development in the region. Both primary and secondary regional development theories define multiple sources of economic growth. The main objective of this article is to show the role of local government in the development of regional innovation policy in accordance with the secondary theories of regional development. Secondary theories are based on the following primary theories: the economic base theory of W. Sombart, the growth poles theory of F. Perroux, the A. Marshall’s industrial districts theory, the theory of industrial clusters of M.E. Porter and the J.Coleman’s theory of social capital. Due to the limitations of this article, the text describes only some secondary theories of regional development. These theories come from the economic base theory of W. Sombart and the industrial districts theory of A. Marshall.

Russian regional policy is an example of adjusting solutions to regions development needs and social-economic needs of Russian Federation as a whole. Those solutions are only results of historical and political conditions that existed in the past.
As a result of evaluating this policy during the past 20 years following acts came into effect:
–– changing regional budget policy,
–– reforming interbudget relations (between central budget and regional budgets, and finally between regional budgets themselves),
–– targeted funds (for example, for regions with protechnological tendencies),
–– “contracts” and “agreements” (in matters of dividing competences between distinct subjects of state of particular levels) used in realising particular tasks of regional policies.
The level of theoretical and judicial development of these solutions was different, as well as the range and effectiveness in reality. Lastly listed – “contracts” and “agreements” – should be counted as one of the least clarified and somewhat unsuccesfull in terms of regional development policies. At first, they were established as an answer to current problems of solving conflict situations between the federal government and particular regions which took place in the ninetees of the past century and they were a form of countering the threat of facing an integrity loss by Russian state. Therefore they aren’t strictly a tool of regional development policy. Secondly, not only are they unclarified in their current form, but also, due to the mentioned ambiguity, they are often used by various groups of interest in Russia in particular regions, and in such manner are contradictory to objectives of regional policy in Russian Federation.

A commune is a basic self-government unit in Poland. Handing over a part of qualifications to the local level of self-government engendered the need of the effective and creative resource management for social, economic and ecological development of communes. Tools of infrastructure stimulating constitute the special group of instruments of local development. Equipping the area with social and economic infrastructure is one of factors and of indicators of investment attractiveness. It influences the quality of life of inhabitants. It is also contributing to the development of existing companies and attracting the outside investments. Tools that can be used in this area are: co-financing of investment by the commune and the independent realization by the commune of infrastructure investments.
A main goal of this contribution is an attempt of the assessment of the results of projects co-financed from EU funds carried out in the field of the road infrastructure as the effective tool of the local politics. Analysis will concern the City of Białystok which is dynamically using public funds for the improvement in the infrastructure. In particular it will include results of all selected projects.

The drastic increase in volume of local government debt in Hungary started in 2006. From that year to 2009 the value of municipal bonds issued increased sevenfold and exceeded USD 1 billion. My hypothesis assumes that a supposable improvement in local municipal financial management may have resulted in the spread of bond issue, which in Hungary is still considered innovative.
My research, which was based on a stratified sample of 308 Hungarian municipalities, came to the conclusion that expertise of local governments’ financial executives related to loan financing (including also bond financing) is extremely low. As an interval estimation, we can conclude that practically 31–39% of all the Hungarian municipalities have no professional knowledge in this field. Based on my survey, the least right answers were given to statements relating to bond financing itself, though most respondents knew that long term borrowing’s priority is investment. The majority of local governments are unable to distinguish the economic differences between bank loans and bonds, and are unclear concerning the potential benefits, advantages, and disadvantages of bonds. No wonder that nearly all the bonds were issued privately where the buyers were solely commercial banks. In addition, 12–18% of the municipalities has prejudices and clearly has misconceptions about obtaining funds through borrowing.
According to the results of principal component analysis local governments’ knowledge level can be classified and explained by three components: theoretical knowledge of local borrowing, knowledge of legal and administrative regulation, and skill in capital market financing. By summing up the results of the research it can be stated that the improvement in local financial management couldn’t have been the primary reason for municipal bond boom, but there were external factors that determined and dominated this process of booming.

The effective and efficient organisation of the pension protection system belongs nowadays to the most difficult and important social issues. A dispute around the Polish pension system goes on. It also concerns the rules for functioning of Individual Pension Accounts (IPA). They are a sort of pension plan in the 3rd pillar – a way of saving money for additional pension. They were introduced by the Act of Parliament of 20th April 2004 about individual pension accounts (Journal of Laws of 2004 No 116 pos. 1205). To create a second, next to the Occupational Pensions Authority (PPE), institutional solution (IPA) was currently working to encourage additional private savings collection that will keep people passing into retirement satisfactory standard of living for them. Since the introduction of the Act more than 800 thousand people set up Individual Pension Accounts which means that the interest in this form of saving is insignificant. This article appears to evaluate the rules for functioning of IPA along with underlining its weaknesses with potential directions of changes that would ensure pension security.

The crisis is a sign that current driving forces of development are wearing out, and the former mentality can no longer be successful either. The crisis highlights that new driving forces should be found and different mentality is necessary to build an acceptable future for the major part of the society. Although the crisis itself is a negative process, it incorporates the possibility of future recovery and the hope of a new beginning. The lack of changes facilitating social renewal has caused major damages recently because the outdated thinking and the lack of appropriate regulatory instruments damage nature and the base necessary for our life [Nováky, 2011]. The researcher’s responsibilities are not only to determine the facts and relationships, but to seek for constructive solutions, and to help apply it by the economic policy. This is not necessarily a political attitude, even though it is indisputable that the economic analysis of public policy includes the use of substantive – normative and positive – theories, but on the other hand, it requires a specific theory-building strategy [Csontos, 1997]. The study reviews the causes of regional labour market disparities looking back to the time of regime change, and analyse the effect of the 2008 financial crisis on regional employment.

Different methods can be selected from the statistical mathematical toolbar to describe labor market processes. The paper applies Markov model, a method rarely used in regard to labor market. This method is popular in several disciplines including regional economics to manage income inequalities, sociology, microeconomics and public health. The advantage of the model is that it illustrates well the mobility in each status making it easier to generate predictions. The paper examines NUTS3 level unemployment data in Hungary over the period 1992–2009 using Markov chain model.