Which capitalism for Poland?

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the direction of economic changes affecting the Polish economy after the political transformation of the early 1990s.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the author defines the phenomenon of cognitive capitalism. Subsequently, the social and psychological consequences of this form of management and its ideological character are presented. Finally, the effects of the application of cognitive capitalism to the Polish reality are considered and the desirable adjustments of the Polish capitalism are suggested.

Findings

According to the theses of the paper: the negative effects of the Polish economic transformation are largely the result of an uncritical acceptance of the Anglo-Saxon model of capitalism, and the fight against the high social costs of the functioning of market economy calls for an adjustment of the Polish economy, which would bring it closer to the Scandinavian model of capitalism.

Research limitations/implications

The paper shows the process of economic transformation in Poland from the perspective of the changes taking place in the bosom of the western capitalism, in particular of the Anglo-Saxon type.

Practical implications

The author of the paper suggests a number of possible adjustments to the Polish model of capitalism, in particular calling for the introduction of elements of planning and state intervention into the model, the revival of municipal and cooperative ownership, as well as the introduction of corporatist practices.

Originality/value

The author of the paper criticizes the thesis of the inevitability of the radically liberal transformation of the Polish economy, widely accepted in the literature. Moreover, he sees the relationship between the Polish free-market changes and the processes of “cognitivization” of western capitalism.

Citation

Szahaj, A. (2015), "Which capitalism for Poland?", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 42 No. 9, pp. 804-816. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-03-2015-0057