This paper presents the evolution of absolute employment specialization along the course of economic growth of EU–25 countries. We focus on the degree to which EU economies concentrate labor force in a few sectors/industries. We use disaggregated statistics classified according to NACE Rev. 1 division (71 sectors) and calculate various synthetic indices measuring the degree of diversification typical for the employment structures of EU15 countries (1970–2004) and ten NewMember States (1995–2004). Using nonparametric and semiparametric estimation techniques, we estimate the relationship between employment specialization and the development level, controlling for the inclusion of additional determinants of the diversification process. The main findings are in line with the trends revealed in analogical empirical studies using industrial data for international samples of countries: also within the enlarged EU there is a tendency towards decreasing absolute specialization of employment at initial phases of growth matched with an upward rising trend after over passing the GDP per capita level of about 16000 US $ (const 2000).

This paper investigates the influence of international trade and increasing foreign competition on earnings in Poland. Using disaggregated income data for skilled labour in the years 1999 and 2004, and OLS and IV estimation methods it examines the impact of liberalisation of international trade and foreign direct investment flows between Poland and the European Union. The conducted analysis suggests that increased competition forces domestic firms to raise the salaries of the best educated workers.

There are controversies regarding existing estimates of the size of shadow economy in Poland. Therefore this paper focuses on the measurement of shadow economy in Poland over the period 1995–2007. On the basis of monetary methods, an econometric model for currency demand is built. Using estimation results, the size of shadow economy is assessed. According to the estimates shadow economy declined in the period 1995–2007 starting from 40% of GDP in 1995 and reaching about 10% of GDP in 2007. The paper also analyses relations between shadow economy, state budget and tax system. A Vector Autoregressive model is estimated and Impulse Reaction Functions are drown, showing that an increase in indirect tax burden enlarges shadow economy. A contrary effect arises due to an increase in: a) direct tax burden; b) budget balance.

This article contributes to an increasing number of papers on economic profession and deals with analysis both the most popular categories for the period 1998–2007 and their dynamics over time. We use data on topics covered by papers published in years 1998–2008 given by codes of Journal of Economics Literature (JEL) classification system. The data are analyzed not only by using descriptive statistics but also by applying tools of frequentist trend. We show that an increase in the number of papers published is connected with an increase in the number of different JEL codes used. Moreover we study the importance of different sub-fields of economics, how it is changing over time. Aggregation of JEL codes may influence observed trends. Using most detailed JEL codes allows to observe some phenomena not visible in case of aggregation.