Determinants of the success of participatory budgets in Poland

Abstract

The present paper aims to determine what factors affect the success of participatory budgets in Polish cities and what factors affect the size of these budgets. The study covered all 66 cities with powiat rights from 2016 to 2021. A panel data model was used. The first research hypothesis states that the success of participatory budgeting depends on the economic condition of the cities implementing it. The second one states that the success of participatory budgeting depends on the characteristics of the LGUs’ residents. The first hypothesis was confirmed, while the second was partially confirmed. Analyzing four different models with different explanatory variables, it was found that the statistically significant explanatory variables were population, material situation, demographic structure measures, and residents’ economic situation.