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One of the ways of convincing investors, in particular foreign ones, to take part in the implementation of host country economic policies is the development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) designed to ensure more favourable business environment than those available in other locations. Poland has created and develops the SEZs. They play a positive role in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) or creating new jobs but also may have negative consequences, such as deepening regional disproportions in the country.

This paper aims at examining why certain SEZs in Poland attracted more FDI than other. In our opinion that may result from the location in a particular region (understood as a unit of administrative division of the country at the level of a voivodeship) and from endogenous conditions characteristic of the zone, such as the land it owns, infrastructure and its accessibility and finally high quality performance of the company that manages the zone.

Our calculations have shown statistically significant positive relationships between FDI inflow to SEZ and overall and some partial coefficients that describe investment attractiveness of voivodeships. Test results also suggest that efforts of managing companies with regard to wooing investors (e.g. through promotions, infrastructure development) are important in increasing the inflow of foreign investment.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the issues and variables that influence the bureaucracy’s role and work in the transitional period, which is known with its complexity, uncertainty, instability, ambiguity and asymmetry. This paper highlights the transition from theoretical perspective, giving examples from the Polish experience in transition.

This paper describes the changing roles of public bureaucracies in transitional periods by highlighting their ecology with the transitional period and analyzing the determinants of bureaucracy’s role and functions in terms of participation in policy-making policies, providing consultations to executives and elected officials, working as a mediator in communication and acting as an active participant in the development process giving examples from Poland. Finally, it highlights the way the bureaucracy manages its functions and the internal and external variables that constitute various levels affecting this role in the transition.

Bureaucracy is supposed to function naturally and stably in an unstable environment (transition) as its success in doing these functions and helping the new regime to exceed the transition and achieve its goals depends on many variables (bureaucracy capabilities and skills, history, power, experience, the nature of politics and bureaucratic functions, political support, policy environment, knowledge, cohesion, etc.). Most of these variables were demonstrative in the case of Poland.

This paper will be useful for scholars and policymakers interested in public administration role in the time of transition, especially countries that recently have been experiencing the transition.