A dataset on declared tax evasion attitudes of students and entrepreneurs from Poland under the slippery slope framework.

The datasets included in this article come from a survey carried out on a group of Polish students and self-employed entrepreneurs and were originally created for studies on tax behaviour under the slippery slope framework. The slippery slope framework explains the role of extensive power execution and building trust in the tax administration in enhancing either enforced or voluntary tax compliance accordingly [1]. Students of economics, finance, and management at the Faculty of Economic Sciences and the Faculty of Management at the University of Warsaw were surveyed in two rounds, in 2011 and 2022, using paper-based questionnaires handed to them personally. Entrepreneurs were invited to fill in online questionnaires in 2020. Questionnaires were filled in by self-employed individuals from the Kuyavia-Pomerania, Lower Silesia, Lublin, and Silesia Province. The datasets provide 599 records for students and 422 observations for entrepreneurs. The purpose of collecting these data was to analyse the attitudes of the mentioned social groups towards tax compliance and tax evasion under the slippery slope framework along two dimensions: trust in authorities and power of authorities. The sample was selected because students in these fields are the most likely to become entrepreneurs, so the study sought to capture the potential behavioural change that is taking place. Each questionnaire consisted of three parts, a description of a fictitious country (Varosia) in one of four scenarios: (1) high trust-high power; (2) low trust-high power; (3) high trust-low power; (4) low trust-low power, 28 questions including manipulation checks on trust in authorities and power of authorities, intended tax compliance, voluntary tax compliance, enforced tax compliance, intended tax evasion, tax morale and the perceived similarity between Varosia and Poland, and finally two questions on gender and age of respondents. The data presented are particularly useful for policymakers in shaping tax policy and economists in analyses regarding taxation. Researchers may be interested in reusing the provided datasets for comparative research in other social groups, regions, and countries.

Characterization of atmospheric PM2.5 sources at a Central European urban background site.

For the purposes of this work, a first in Poland, full-year collection of daily PM2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter smaller than 2.5 µm) samples was chemically analyzed to determine the contents of elemental and organic carbon, water-soluble inorganic ions and 21 minor and trace elements in PM in an urban background site in Warsaw. Annual mean PM2.5 concentration reached 18.8 µg/m3, with the lowest levels in summer (11.5 µg/m3 on average) and the highest in winter (27.5 µg/m3), with several episodes reaching over 80 µg/m3. Strong seasonal differences were observed mainly for the contents of nitrate and secondary organic carbon (SOC), while sulphate showed the least variability. Secondary species constituted on average 45% of PM2.5 mass, suggesting large influence of regional and long-range transport of pollutants. Source apportionment with the use of positive matrix factorization (PMF) method, supported by the analysis of enrichment factors, led to identification of six main sources of PM2.5 origin: residential combustion (fresh & aged aerosol) (46% of PM2.5 mass), traffic exhaust (21%) and non-exhaust (10%) emissions, mineral dust/construction works (12%), high-temperature processes (8%) and steel processing (3%). Including primary organic carbon (POC) and SOC as two separate constituents helped to distinguish between the primary and secondary sources of the aerosol. The identification of sources was also supported by investigating their yearly and weekly profiles, as well as the correlation of PM constituents with meteorological conditions, which are one of the main drivers of heat generation activities. We found that the most distinctive markers of PM sources in Warsaw are SOC, Cl- and As for residential combustion, NH4+, Sb and POC for road transport, Ca and Mg for construction works and SO42- for long-range transport of PM.

Origin-Oriented Elemental Profile of Fine Ambient Particulate Matter in Central European Suburban Conditions.

Twenty-four-hour samples of fine ambient particulate matter (PM2.5; particles with aerodynamic diameters ≤2.5 µm) were collected in a suburban (quasi-rural) area in Racibórz (Poland) between 1 January 2011 and 26 December 2012. The samples were analyzed for the contents of 28 elements. Sources of PM2.5 were identified and the contribution of each source to the PM2.5 concentration was assessed using an enrichment factor (EF) analysis, a principal component analysis (PCA), and multi-linear regression analysis (MLRA). In the cold season (January-March and October-December 2011-2012), the mean ambient concentration of PM2.5 in Racibórz was 48.7 ± 39.4 µg·m(-3), which was much higher than at other suburban or rural sites in Europe. Additionally the ambient concentrations of some toxic PM2.5-bound elements were also high, i.e., the mean ambient concentrations of PM2.5-bound As, Cd, and Pb were 11.3 ± 11.5, 5.2 ± 2.5, and 34.0 ± 34.2 ng·m(-3), respectively. In the warm season (April-September 2011-2012), the PM2.5 and PM2.5-bound element concentrations in Racibórz were comparable to the concentrations noted at other suburban (or rural) sites in Europe. Our findings suggest that elemental composition and concentrations of PM2.5 in Racibórz are mainly influenced by anthropogenic emissions, i.e., the energy production based on coal and biomass combustion, traffic, and industry.

Spatial and seasonal variability of the mass concentration and chemical composition of PM2.5 in Poland.

The seasonal changes in ambient mass concentrations and chemical composition of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) were investigated in three locations in Poland. The analyses included PM2.5-bound hazardous benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), As, Ni, Cd, and Pb. The samples of PM2.5 were collected daily in Katowice (southern Poland, urban background site), Gdansk, and Diabla Góra (northern Poland, urban and regional background sites, respectively) during 1-year-long campaign in 2010. Based on monthly ambient concentrations of PM2.5-bound carbon (organic and elemental), water-soluble ions (Na+, NH4+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl-, NO3-, SO42-), and elements As, Ni, Cd, Pb, Ti, Al, Fe, the chemical mass closure of PM2.5 was checked for each of the four seasons of the year and for the heating and non-heating periods at each site. Also, the annual concentrations of PM2.5 were determined and the annual PM2.5 mass closure checked. At each measuring point, the PM2.5 concentrations were high compared to its Polish yearly permissible value, 25 µg/m3, and its concentrations elsewhere in Europe. The highest annual PM2.5 concentration, 43 µg/m3, occurred in Katowice; it was twice the annual PM2.5 concentration in Gdansk, and thrice the one in Diabla Góra. The high annual averages were due to very high monthly concentrations in the heating period, which were highest in the winter. PM2.5 consisted mainly of carbonaceous matter (elemental carbon (EC) + organic matter (OM), the sum of elemental carbon, EC, and organic matter, OM; its annual mass contributions to PM2.5 were 43, 31, and 33 % in Katowice, Gdansk, and Diabla Góra, respectively), secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA), the Na_Cl group, and crustal matter (CM)-in the decreasing order of their yearly mass contributions to PM2.5. OM, EC, SIA, Na_Cl, and CM accounted for almost 81 % of the PM2.5 mass in Katowice, 74 % in Gdansk, and 90 % in Diabla Góra. The annual average toxic metal contribution to the PM2.5 mass was not greater than 0.2 % at each site. In Katowice and Gdansk, the yearly ambient BaP concentrations were high (15.4 and 3.2 ng/m3, respectively); in rural Diabla Góra, the concentrations of BaP were almost equal to 1 ng/m3, the Polish BaP annual limit. The great seasonal fluctuations of the shares of the component groups in PM2.5 and of the concentrations of PM2.5 and its components are due to the seasonal fluctuations of the emissions of PM and its precursors from hard and brown coal combustion for energy production, growing in a heating season, reaching maximum in winter, and decreasing in a non-heating period. In Gdansk, northern Poland, especially in the spring and autumn, sea spray might have affected the chemical composition of PM2.5. The greatest hazard from PM2.5 occurs in Katowice, southern Poland, in winter, when very high concentrations of PM2.5 and PM2.5-related carbonaceous matter, including BaP, are maintained by poor natural ventilation in cities, weather conditions, and the highest level of industrialization in Poland. In less industrialized northern Poland, where the aeration in cities is better and rather gaseous than solid fuels are used, the health hazard from ambient PM2.5 is much lower.

Number size distribution of ambient particles in a typical urban site: the first Polish assessment based on long-term (9 months) measurements.

This work presents results from the long-term measurements of particle number carried out at an urban background station in Zabrze, Poland. Ambient particles with aerodynamic diameters of between 28 nm and 10 µ m were investigated by means of a DEKATI thirteen-stage electrical low pressure impactor (ELPI). The particle number-size distribution was bimodal, whilst its density function had the local maxima in the aerodynamic diameter intervals 0.056-0.095 µ m and 0.157-0.263 µ m. The average particle number in winter was nearly twice as high as in summer. The greatest number concentrations in winter were those of the particles with diameters of between 0.617 and 2.41 µ m, that is, the anthropogenic particles from fossil fuel combustion. Approximately 99% of the particles observed in Zabrze had aerodynamic diameters ≤ 1 µ m-they may have originated from the combustion of biomass, liquid, and gaseous fuels in domestic stoves or in car engines. The daily variation of particle number was similar for both seasons-the highest values were observed in the morning (traffic rush hour) and in the afternoon/late evening (traffic and house heating emissions). An additional maximum (0.028-0.056 µ m) observed in the early afternoon in summer was due to the intensive formation of new PM particles from gas precursors.