This paper aims to assess the effect of corporate governance mechanisms, including board members’ and audit committee members’ characteristics, particularly their independence, expertise in terms of finance and industry and efforts on the level of fraud and money laundering (ML) in financial statements of the listed firm on the Tehran Stock Exchange. The procedure of the study is descriptive correlation based on published information from firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2014 to 2020, using a sample of 154 firms with 1071 observations. The method used for hypothesis testing is linear regression using panel data. The Benish model is used measure the level of fraud in financial statements, and for ML, the auditors’ opinion are used. The results show that board characteristics, including independence, financial expertise, industry expertise and board effort, as well as audit committee features, such as independence, financial expertise, industry expertise and audit committee effort, have a significant and negative impact on the fraudulent financial reporting and ML. Moreover, since this paper was carried out in an emerging financial market, particularly in Iran, to figure out the effect of corporate governance structures on financial statement fraud and ML, it can provide helpful information for investors and policymakers in this regard.

A defined forested area performs various functions such as economic, protective and social. Regardless of the level of civilization development and human knowledge, it cannot be stated that humans have full control over the phenomena occurring in forests or their surroundings. Forest hazards, including fire hazards, constitute a direct or indirect factor of human activity that has an effect on nature. Forest fires cause specific losses and generate costs, thus affecting a financial result. The research area of the study is forest fires and losses caused by them, i.e. determining the financial and non-financial effects of fires. The main aim of the study is to present the problem of forest fires in selected European countries, including Poland, and to determine the level of losses caused by them. The research hypothesis is: "Forest fires occurring in European countries, including Poland, cause significant losses in the natural and social environment, which forces organizations to incur costs of implementing measures to protect forest areas against fires". In the case of Poland, the area of interest is public forests managed by the State Forests National Forest Holding. The following research methods were used: critical analysis of the literature, comparative method, desk research, the method of induction and synthesis. In the field of empirical research, the current research results and studies of the Central Statistical Office and the reports of the State Forests were used.

The article aims to present how the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown affects the functioning and circulation of complementary currencies in entities that have joined the complementary currency system with a special focus on the complementary currency Zielony (PLZ) in Poland. The main research problem of the paper is formulated in the form of a question concerning the impact of the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of the Zielony in Poland in commercial transactions by entities belonging to the local currency system. In order to achieve the objective and solve the main problem, the article uses such research methods as: the method of critical analysis of literature, historical method, statistical method, comparative method, observational method, free expert interview, as well as analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction and abstraction. We conducted a critical analysis of the literature and analysis of statistical data of the complementary currency Zielony in Poland in the period from March 2015 to June 2021, and the results of the expert interview showed that this currency is not a tool to support the functioning of local economy entities during non-financial crises, such as COVID-19 pandemic. This is influenced by, among other things, full or partial lockdown and other restrictions on the functioning of commercial entities during a pandemic. The consequences of such solutions include the weakening of economic activity and a decrease in the value of turnover of entities operating in various sectors of the local economy, especially entities of a service nature, which constitute about 80% of the structure of the Zielony complementary currency system in Poland. The main conclusion resulting from the conducted research is as follows: the complementary currency Zielony in Poland can influence the creation of local entrepreneurship and sustainable development and support the activities of the sector of small- and medium-sized enterprises, but these benefits are possible to achieve primarily in conditions of stable and undisturbed functioning of the economy. The realization of the payment function of the complementary currency, the Zielony, and its use in payments of entities belonging to those industries covered by lockdown and other administrative restrictions is impossible (or insignificant) at this time due to the absence (or hindered) of its circulation in the economy. The research results and conclusions presented in the article meet the assumptions of the application objective and can provide the entities of the micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprise sector with knowledge about the dependencies resulting from the use of the complementary currency in the lockdown period by the entities that implement the assumptions of the system of complementary currencies.

The business model is understood as a way of generating revenue and creating value. This article aimed to define the framework and detailed characteristics of the business model in corporate reporting in the energy sector. The study also addressed the issue of value creation and examined the correlation between reporting information about the business model and the value of the enterprise, calculated using selected accounting measures. The research was conducted in 2021 on all listed companies in the energy sector included in the WIG20 index in 2019–2020. The research methodologies included critical analysis of the literature, analysis of the content of corporate publications, comparative analysis, analysis of phenomena and synthesis of results, Spearman’s rank correlations, and graphical data presentation. The originality of our research concerns directing attention to the disclosure and reporting of information about the business model in corporate reports in the energy sector in Poland. This is the first such study in Poland conducted on companies in the energy sector; therefore, it is treated by the authors as a pilot study. The results show that companies in the energy sector included in the WIG20 index do not disclose information about their business models in reports and the structure of published reports is very diverse, which makes it even more difficult to compare financial and non-financial data. Enterprises in the energy sector disclose financial and non-financial information in financial statements and the reports of the management board on the activities of the company and the capital group. The financial information disclosed by the companies most often included financial and productive capital. Energy companies are reluctant to disclose information about by-products and waste.

The complementary currency Zielony (PLZ) is an example of an economic experiment, operating in Poland since 2015. It is also a new type of economic tool that supports the local economy and influences the creation of sustainable local developments. However, this impact is not direct, as it is realised through a network of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the local economy, which, among other things, create jobs relevant to the economic prosperity of the region and the life of the local community. The main objective of this article is to demonstrate the relationship between the use of the complementary currency Zielony in Poland by the entities that create the system of this currency and its impact on the economy, in particular on the local sustainable development in the pre-pandemic and pandemic period of Covid-19. The main research problem is formulated in the form of a question: “What are the benefits and opportunities for the economic entities of the local economy as a result of their accession to the complementary currency Zielony system?” The article adopts the following thesis: “The complementary currency Zielony in Poland positively influences the functioning of the local economy and the economic entities that belong to the system and promotes the creation of conditions that are important for sustainable local development. However, it works best when it is not disrupted by administrative barriers and lockdowns, like those that appeared in Poland during the Covid-19 pandemic.” The analysis carried out proved the validity of the thesis and allowed to solve the main problem. The study used the method of critical literature analysis and analysis of statistical data from 2015–2021.

Destructive market forces are multiplying as the world faces the worst global energy crisis in history. The continuing economic downturn and fluctuating oil prices, triggered by OPEC+’s plan to reduce supply, are slowing down global oil demand. In this respect, the situation in the transport services market is changing. Changes in the price of oil are indirectly influencing the formation of wholesale diesel prices; consequently, road freight should also change. However, are these changes correlative and do oil price fluctuations directly affect freight rate changes? This article aims to investigate the correlation between fluctuations in oil prices on world markets and their impact on wholesale diesel prices and, thus, the development of net road freight in Poland. In the study, the authors developed a model called “fuel adjustment,” containing the fluctuations in wholesale diesel prices, which were taken into account in determining the average deviation in the road freight level over the analyzed period. In this way, it became possible to determine the amount of road freight and its fluctuations depending on the development of oil prices on world markets. The results of the study confirm that there is a strong and positive relationship between the analyzed variables. When the prices of crude oil on world markets fall, this should be followed by reductions in diesel prices in individual countries, including Poland. Consequently, the amount of road freight should also have a downward trend. Will this happen?