<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold>Subject and purpose of work:</bold> This paper examines empirical implications of exchange rates in the economy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). In particular, it aims to identify and evaluate potential macroeconomic signs and symptoms of economic disturbance so as to determine macroeconomic variables that influence spot exchange rate (1GBP = SAR), and to examine how fixed exchange rate regime influences exports and imports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).<bold>Materials and methods:</bold> Multiple regression and simple linear regression models were used to analyze the data from 1975 to 2018.<bold>Results:</bold> The study found a weak and insignificant relationship between spot exchange rate and unemployment rate, inflation rate, exports, and economic growth, along with strong relations with imports, investment, and current account variation in the KSA.<bold>Conclusions:</bold> The study recommends the adoption of a floating exchange rate regime in the KSA. It has revealed the signs and symptoms of increases of the inflation rate with decreasing exports, increasing imports, decreasing of current account (current account deficit threat), and small increases of investment.</abstract>

An Empirical Evaluation of Exchange Rates Changes: Economic Implications in Oil-Exporting Countries

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold>Subject and purpose of work:</bold> The article presents the results of research into the dynamics of changes in income distribution as measured by means of GDP per capita for the regions Bulgaria and Slovakia using quantitative methods.<bold>Materials and methods:</bold> The transition matrix was used as a research tool. As some authors note, since most of the research is limited to the assessment and analysis of global trends, this does not allow to distinguish the situation in which regions maintain their relative position from the situations in which the general distribution of income changes slightly while the location of some regions changes significantly. In this case, individual regions may differ considerably in their rate of development even in the periods when no convergence was observed.<bold>Results:</bold> The approach adopted in this study made it possible to verify the degree of diversification of the economic strength of the regions examined and conduct a comparative analysis of the dynamics of changes in the transition matrices.<bold>Conclusions:</bold> It was concluded that the regions of Slovakia and Bulgaria are developing at the same pace. Income stability can be observed. It is justifiable to look for and workout modern tools that will enable tracking changes in regional development.</abstract>

Quantitative Assessment of the Dynamics of Changes in the GDP Per Capita Index in the Regions of Bulgaria and Slovakia

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold>Subject and purpose of work:</bold> The main goal of the article is to prove the impact of the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone (WSSE) “Invest Park” on the development of the Wałbrzych Agglomeration region.<bold>Materials and methods:</bold> The research carried out in 2017-2018 involved three groups of respondents: Wałbrzych Agglomeration residents, entrepreneurs and local government authorities. The study was supplemented with the information from WSSE “Invest Park”.<bold>Results:</bold> For all three groups of respondents, WSSE “Invest Park” plays an important role in the development of the Wałbrzych Agglomeration. Its creation had the greatest impact on reducing the unemployment rate and also on improving the infrastructure. It is also important that WSSE top many rankings, gaining the first position as one of the best investment areas.<bold>Conclusions:</bold> Establishing the WSSE in the area of the Wałbrzych Agglomeration has had a significant impact on the development of the region. This development is visible in the activities undertaken in the zone, attracting investors and creating new investment areas.</abstract>

Significance of the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone “Invest Park” for Development of the Wałbrzych Agglomeration

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold>Subject and purpose of work:</bold> The aim of the work is to define the importance of banks in the development of agricultural holdings and the role they play in rural environment.<bold>Materials and methods:</bold> The relevant material was analysed on the basis of domestic literature concerning a range of banking products offered to natural and legal persons and by the inductive-deductive method.<bold>Results:</bold> The source of data used for conducting the analyses and drawing conclusions is the information obtained from the Cooperative Bank in Bielsk Podlaski.<bold>Conclusions:</bold> 1. The goal of cooperative banks is to provide the inhabitants of villages with access to banking services, including credits with attractive interest rates. 2. The services of a cooperative bank are most frequently used by farmers, craftsmen and teachers. 3. In Poland, cooperative banks operate on the basis of: the Foreign Exchange Act, the Payment Services Act, the Act on Freedom of Economic Activities, the Act on the National Bank of Poland, the Act on the National Guarantee Fund, the Law on Bankruptcy and the Rehabilitation Act, as well as on the resolutions of the Management Board of the National Bank of Poland.</abstract>

The Role of Cooperative Bank in the Development of Agricultural Holdings Based on the Example of the Bielsk Podlaski County

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold>Subject and purpose of work:</bold> The aim of the study is to assess the marketing potential of websites of rural tourism facilities’ in Poland.<bold>Materials and methods:</bold> It was assumed that the marketing potential of a website provided the basis for placing it in global popularity rankings. The study involved 1000 paid domain websites. Each website was analysed using four tools which yielded values of selected indices, including Serpstat Visibility, Alexa Global Rank and SimilarWeb Global Rank.<bold>Results:</bold> Almost half of the websites of rural tourism facilities’ obtained 0 or 1 point in the Open Page Rank index evaluation. For 764 websites from the analysed set, the Serpstat Visibility index value was not available, while in the remaining cases it was very low. The websites either reached distant positions in Alexa and SimilarWeb rankings or were not included in them at all.<bold>Conclusions:</bold> The adopted research model does not allow for absolute assessment of the actual marketing potential of websites. However, the study confirmed that it was not used.</abstract>

Marketing Potential of Websites of Rural Tourism Facilities in Poland

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold>Subject and purpose of work:</bold> The paper addresses the issue of the attitude of students from Southern Podlasie to their region. Its purpose is to present the stance of young people who are permanent residents in the Eastern Borderlands to their civilizational identity.<bold>Materials and methods:</bold> The results shown in the present article come from the research carried out among students of Pope John Paul II State School of Higher Education in Biała Podlaska. A questionnaire designed by the current author contained 42 closed, semi-open and open questions. It was conducted in May – 2017 in the auditorium among 214 third year students from the following areas: nursing – 48, sociology – 29, pedagogy – 41, national security – 63, tourism and recreation – 33.<bold>Results:</bold> The study demonstrated that 83.3% of the students who identify themselves with the Western civilization and 72.0% of the respondents who identify themselves with both the Eastern and Western civilizations declare to be fully attached to the region. Slightly more than half of the respondents (51.4%) are convinced that they live in a region characterized by cultural diversity. This may suggest that the region of Southern Podlasie is characterized by the presence of the elements defining both the Western and the Eastern civilization.<bold>Conclusions:</bold> When summarizing the attitude of the students to the region, it should be noted that over 70% of them fully identify with it. Religion has the greatest influence on the respondents’ regional consciousness. This element should be recognized as the basic factor characterizing the students, which proves that the basic feature which identifies Southern Podlasie is the diversity of denominations.</abstract>

The Attitude of Students from Southern Podlasie to the Region: A Civilizational Self-Identification Perspective

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold>Subject and purpose of work:</bold> The purpose of this article is to verify the hypothesis of the occurrence of political business cycles at the self-governmental level in Poland.<bold>Materials and methods:</bold> The article presents a quantitative analysis of expenditures on remuneration in the administration of Polish self-governments at the county (district) level (in the period 2007–2018) and at province (regional) level (in the period 1999–2018) with the use of Arellano-Bond and LSDVC estimators.<bold>Results:</bold> The panel data analysis makes it possible to conclude that in Polish self-governments cyclical fluctuations of expenditure on remuneration can be observed. The increase in salaries depends on the power of the ruling coalition as well as unemployment and the output gap in a region. In the case of provinces and counties, also the increase of investment expenditures significantly affects the increase of salaries.<bold>Conclusions:</bold> The results of the estimation of models clearly point to the presence of cyclical distortions in remuneration in public administration, which are caused by the upcoming elections.</abstract>

Local Political Business Cycles and Administration Spending in Polish Local Governments

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Gambling activity is a multifaceted phenomenon. Gambling is a special field of business. The government authorities ascribe the right to a monopoly of this area of economic activity. The randomness and financial size of gambling foster the development of the grey market. In addition to the economic effect, the moral dimension of this type of activity is an extremely important aspect. The Customs and Tax Control Service supervises the functioning of the gambling market in Poland.<bold>Subject and purpose of work:</bold> The article is devoted to the issue of gambling. The aim of the research was to present the activities of the Customs and Tax Control Service in the field of legal and illegal gambling.<bold>Materials and methods:</bold> The study methods used were literature review, legal acts, documents of the Ministry of Finance, statistic data, using quantitive and systems analysis.<bold>Results:</bold> As a result, the directions of the Customs and Tax Control Service activities were identified in the field of gambling market control.<bold>Conclusions:</bold> The activities of Customs and Tax Control Service bring results in fighting illegal gambling, protecting players, and raising social awareness of the dangers of using services of illegal gaming operators.</abstract>

The Activities of Customs and Tax Control Service in the Field of Gambling Market

Review of the Book by Jarosław Gołębiewski Entitled “Food Systems in Conditions of the Circular Economy. A Comparative Study of European Union Countries”, SGGW, Warsaw 2019, P. 271

Review of the Book by Andrzej Czyżewski and Jakub Staniszewski Entitled “Agriculture of the European Union in the Process of Sustainable Intensification”, PWN, Warsaw 2019, P. 297

AHEAD OF PRINT

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Economic and Regional Studies / Studia Ekonomiczne i Regionalne

Print ISSN: 2083-3725, Online ISSN: 2451-182X Dear Authors and Readers,  Welcome to the website of the international, open access, bilingual scientific journal "Economic and Regional Studies / Studia Ekonomiczne i Regionalne", published by John Paul II University of Applied Sciences in Biala Podlaska (Poland).  Editor-in-ChiefMieczysław Adamowicz  Accessible also on platform: www.ers.edu.pl/en and in print.  FROM THE EDITOR / OD REDAKCJI  Dear Authors and Readers  "Economic and Regional Studies / Studia Ekonomiczne i Regionalne" is an international open access journal published in two languages: English and Polish since 2011. First two years it was published bi-annually, since 2013 as the quarterly. The journal is available in electronic and printed versions. We consider electronic English language version as a basic one, while the Polish language version provided greater access to the magazines content for national reader in Poland. Since the beginning the journal is available on the web platform www.ers.edu.pl/en of the publisher: John Paul II University of Applied Sciences in Biala Podlaska (Poland, Europe). Paper submission and peer review process are implemented through editorial system: www.editorialsystem.com/editor/ersen.  We accept original papers which have not been published elsewhere and have a clear scientific, cognitive and scholary value. Paper submited for publication undergo preliminary editorial review and are subject to blind review by two or more external experts. The periodical is available in English and Polish online and in print version.  The magazine has an open character and implements international publishing ethical and standards. The electronic version allows free access to all current and archived issues and articles. Actually, publishing articles in the journal is free from any payments.  Index Copernicus Journal Master List, ICV 2012: 5.62; ICV 2013: 6.48; ICV 2014: 70.81 (6.96); ICV 2015: 81,26; ICV 2016: 92.91; ICV 2017: 100,00; ICV 2018: 100,00  Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, 2011-2012: 2 points; 2013-2014: 4 points; 2015-2018: 9 points  Focus and Scope  "Economic and Regional Studies / Studia Ekonomiczne i Regionalne" is an international journal of multi and interdisciplinary research and policy analysis in broad regions at the world. The main mission of the magazine is to broaden theoretical knowledge, contribute to the policy debates and disseminate results of empirical research across a wide range of economic and social sciences, mainly as following:    Business, Economics and Finance,  Socio-economic Geography and Spatial Management,  Community, Rural/ Urban and Regional Development.   Journal provides information on general and sectoral economic problems, practices and policies, on contemporary and historical development in these disciplines from local, regional, national, European and global perspectives.  Journal is open for publishing original research results as well as for overview and review articles, reports an surveys, policy debates, announcements of research and conference results, case studies and other scientific publications.  Texts in Polish which are correctly translated into English are published free of charge. In case of sending a text in only one language version,either in Polish or in English,the authors will bear the costs of translating the article into the other missing language. The authors may be also asked to cover the costs of verification of the submitted texts in English. The translations are conducted by a Translation Office which currently cooperates with the Editors and the current cost per 1 translation page (that is, 1800 characters including spaces) amounts to 30 PLN gross.  An article is passed on for translation after obtaining a positive review of the submitted language version, after corrections if necessary and upon its approval for print by the Editor in Chief.  Digitalization of Economic and Regional Studies/ Studia Ekonomiczne i Regionalne – task financed from the resources of the Polish Minister of Science and Education for disseminating science under Agreement No. 819/P-DUN/2018  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 