A decade has elapsed since our country joined the European Union. It is a historical period. In 2004 – when Hungary became the member of the EU – the world surrounding Hungary went through a transformation. Have we achieved our goals? Are we disappointed? The answers to these questions are limited in their scope today. However, the author i...s convinced that the feeling of unsatisfaction is not the result of our EU membership.

The problem of nutrition security is getting worse in Africa, due to increasing population growth and poor progress in efforts directed at reducing food insecurity in many countries in the continent. The paper undertook an assessment of the food security situation and food consumption pattern in rural households in Ogun state, Nigeria. A multis...tage sampling technique was used to select 260 rural households from whom data were collected through structured questionnaire. The tools of analysis were descriptive statistics and food security index. The former described the consumption pattern, and households’ sources of food availability, while the latter was used to analyse the food security situation. The result of the rural households’ consumption pattern reveals that the rural households derived more of their energy from carbohydrates at the expense of other classes of food items. The result also shows that majority (75.5%) obtained their food through their own production and supplemented same with food purchased from the market to meet up with their family needs. Based on the recommended daily calorie intake (R) of 2,470 kcal, 59.6% of the rural households were food insecure while 40.4% were food secure. The calculated head count ratio (H) for the food insecure households was 0.6, confirming that almost 60% of households in the study area were food insecure. For secure households, the head count ratio (H) was 0.4, further confirming that only about 40% of households in the study area were food secure. The shortfall index and surplus index were 0.2787 and 0.3498 respectively, meaning that the energy requirement was less by about 27 percent and in excess of 34 percent for the food insecure and food secure households. The paper recommends that while enhancing production of arable crops - roots, tubers and cereals, a sensible balance of tilting towards meeting the requirements in the consumption of animal protein/legume, fats/oils, fruits and vegetables must be maintained to ensure food security. This policy thrust could be enhanced through mass education.

JEL code: R20

Social entrepreneurship, as a field for research and scientific disputes between scholars and practitioners, it still remains a novel investigation area, as far as new opportunities, challenges, business approaches and concepts appear into the modern world and competitive market. This paper puts emphasis on social framework behind the developme...nt of social businesses in Moldova. Moreover, it presents the grass-root state of readiness of existing small and medium – sized enterprises from Moldova to undertake the leap towards the new kind of economy and different organizational approaches. The paper provides a content analysis of specific literature on social entrepreneurship, with particular emphasis on general perception of the small holders and small and medium – sized enterprises on social business. A total number of 593 small and medium – sized enterprises and individuals participated to organized interviews. The survey results show that 66% of the respondents are not acknowledged with social entrepreneurship concept and functionality. From those (34%) who are informed about the topic, most of them are actual young entrepreneurs. Additionally, young entrepreneurs, respondents, wouldn’t reinvest their profit for social mission (73%). Unlike young entrepreneurs, individuals would reinvest their profit in social missions, in case they have a business. These findings suggest that, in the society there is a lack of general understanding on social entrepreneurship. The author also found out that, the general perception regarding social problems is mostly assigned to public authorities instead of enterprises. Moreover, the research results show that the absence of a clear mechanism which would raise public awareness regarding social problems and social capital, affects the active implication of community stakeholders into the societal problems.

JEL code: M140

The article brings into the focus the corporate value creation and the main value drivers. The first goal of the study is to classify the most relevant value drivers, and their function of the firms’ value. Further objective of this paper is to present the effects of the 2007-2008 global financial crisis. This article demonstrates the followi...ng. The first part introduces the value chain and illustrates the primary and the support activities of the companies. The second section briefly presents the 2007-2008 global economic crisis, introducing its causes, events and financial aspects. The third empirical part of the paper analyses the database featuring data from 18 European countries, 10 sectors and 1553 firms in the period between 2004 and 2011. At the end, the fourth part contains conclusions. Based on the related literature reviewed and in the conducted empirical research it can be assessed that 2008 can be seen unambiguously as the year of the crisis. In this year, all independent variables had a negative effect on the dependent variable.

JEL code: P40

Through the connection to rural resources agriculture has an impact on the three functions of countryside: ecology, society and economy. Resources of economy and production environment are continuously changing thus farmers have to adapt to these changing circumstances. One of the adaptation methods is the diversification of activities to promo...te effective capacity utilization and additional profit. However there is no standard definition of diversification from the point of agricultural economics aspect both traditional approaches and the influence of European Union should also be considered to define it. Diversification and alternative income opportunities could be subsistence possibilities for several farmers. This could be defined not only at private holdings’ but at enterprises’ level. According to a traditional approach Hungarian statistical databases collect on-farm and off-farm agricultural activities depending on the connection to resources of a farm business. Analysing this database an overall picture could be defined considering the position and characteristic of diversified farmers and the popularity of each activity among agricultural producers. Based on a study, published in 2011 (Hamza, 2011) this paper also involves the latest statistical data (2010, 2013). Analysing dataset of period 2000-2013 this paper gives an overall overview about national and regional position and characteristics of diversified holdings and activities.

JEL code: Q19

In my article I woud like to find answers for the question how frequently and effectively the region’s business leaders in Northern Hungary participated in various development programs, as regards investments in health tourism, what developments have been made mainly in the area, what the positive effects of these developments were in the lif...e of businesses, whether the businesses (leaders) feel successful, and how their success was manifested. I carried out a questionnaire survey among enterprises. From the data I calculated mean, SD and spectrum and examined the crosstab correlations as well, and the Cramer’s V associate coefficient and Contingency coefficient. The results of the correlation tests could be summarised as the following: According to the survey, the number of the medium-sized enterprises being involved utilised a significant proportion of their development funds, compared to the micro and small enterprises. Although the idea of spas winterizing their pools was not considered an important development, both the adventure and wellness elements were important for the construction of thermal baths. In the case of hotels, the expansion of wellness elements and other additional services together with the development of marketing activities played an important role. Besides the positive business publicity, enterprises see the positive effects of the investment in the increase of their income; the success can be the result of the adequate supply of components, the professional management and that of positive image.

Hungary offers abundant opportunities for discovering the mysterious world of caves. In Hungary there are around 4100 caves; although only a small number of them are open to the public, they offer a variety of attractions. As they are an important part of tourism, switching them, exploring them and making them accessible for a wider audience ge...nerates interest for visitors from different parts of the country. The adrenaline releasing sports offers us new ways of coping with stress, and has had an increasing importance in our lives in the 21st century. Discovering these underground miracles presents a new challenge for travelers. The interest in caves exploded in the 20th century, when ecotourism, longing to get back to nature, and the goal of improving one’s health became leading motivations for travelling. The present research is aimed at surveying, to what extent students of the recreation department are familiar with the opportunities provided by cave tourism and how up-to-date their related knowledge is. The following work introduces opportunities in cave tourism and intends to expose upon gaps in the related marketing strategy. The research questions are the following: Are students familiar with opportunities of cave tourism? What services do the caves they know offer? Are they up-to-date in cave-related news? On what forums do cave tourism appear?

The paper endeavours to give a narrower definition of the orientation of ‘career’. The survey to be discussed examines a sample of 116 full time students of economics and has career anchor analysis as its focus. The study details the result of a questionnaire-based survey, which was carried out with respect to the carrier of university stud...ents and was supplemented by surveying motivation, value and work value as well. The analysis finds that “security, stability and organisational identification” are judged to be the primary career anchors among the members of the majority sample. This means that the respondents feel ready to identify themselves with the company and are looking for security to be provided by long term employment, regular earnings and by steady career advancement. The cluster analysis of the questionnaire differentiates four groups: Leaders, Specialists, Entrepreneurs and Employees. The results showed that the Leaders have high capacities of leadership, creativity and autonomy. The Specialists show highly developed functional capabilities in general and they seem to like challenges. The Entrepreneurs have outstandingly high scores concerning autonomy and entrepreneurial creativity. The members of the cluster of the Employees are characterised by a high expectation of security and stability and by low levels of managerial capability and entrepreneurial creativity. Discriminant analysis was applied to select the distinguishing features that can set the clusters apart from each other. The motivations, values preferences and work values inventory will consolidate the differences between the clusters of the career anchors. Using the method in high education within special trainings could be the practical utilization of the study. On the basis of the results a questionnaire can be compiled, which could help uncertain students relating to their carriers and future orientation containing information in connection with their carrier orientation, motivation, value preferences and work value.

JEL code: I21

The purpose of this study is to identify consumers’ retail outlet choice for Roots and Tubers in Trinidad and Tobago between traditional and modern retail outlets, and also to find out what influences consumers’ shopping preferences for one or the other retail format. A Probit model, where both demographics and store attributes were used to... predict outlet choice was the methodology utilized in the study. The results obtained suggest that the traditional outlets are the preferred place to purchase Roots and Tubers with 71% of the sample selecting these outlets. Of the fifteen independent variables analyzed in the Probit model, four demographic variables – age, employment status, ethnicity and income – and two latent factors of the store attributes labeled “value” and “location” were statistically significant. Of note, older buyers are 12% more likely to choose the traditional outlet while there is a 16% higher probability that persons in the higher income brackets will choose supermarkets as their retail outlet. These results provide an insight into the choice of outlet of shoppers and the strengths and weaknesses of the two retail formats.

JEL code: Q13, M31, C25

A wide range of empirical experiences shows that the performance of Hungarian producer organizations (aka TÉSZ) significantly falls behind the activity observed in the developed Western European countries. Regarding this issue, the present study examines how moral hazard - as one of the possible reasons - influences the producers’ activities... in cooperative organizations. Information for the research was collected with the help of a questionnaire survey among the members of PaprikaKert TÉSZ Ltd. A statistical path model has been developed for the research, which assumed that - in addition to a direct effect - moral hazard also affects collaborative activity by eroding trust. The statistical model has been tested both in member-member and members-management relations. The experiences from the survey clearly show that moral hazard exists in the producer organization. According to my results, though its measure cannot be regarded numerically considerable, its negative effect on cooperative activity can be proved with statistical examinations. Its effect can be divided into two aspects: besides a direct effect, an indirect one can also be detected, which means that moral hazard is able to reduce producers’ willingness to cooperate by eroding trust. Moreover, our results have clearly pointed out that moral hazard has a negative impact on member-member and members-management relations to varying degrees and through different mechanisms. In addition to the above tests, the empirical testing of another model called Sholtes trust model has been carried out, too. The validating was successful, so the model - which attributes trust to the faith in the partner’s loyalty and capability - is basically acceptable. The argument says that high-level trust can be observed among partners only when faith both in loyalty and capability is strong enough. The research, however, revealed that the above-mentioned two factors determine it in a different way: regarding trust between members, the faith in capability is more important; while trust towards the management is more determined by faith in loyalty.

JEL code: Q12, Q13

The precondition of a health conscious behaviour in a community is establishing a healthy development of the community, an important part of which is the community’s attitude to sports and health. A basic manifestation of this is whether the leadership of a specific settlement is committed to developing sports facilities and, on the other han...d, to what extent residents make use of these facilities. The aim of our research was to point out the number of sports facilities currently available for catering everyday physical education introduced in 2012, leisure sports and competitive sport events in two different regions of Hungary. We also examined the resources available for maintaining the facilities and the degree to which existing facilities are exploited. Existing sports halls of the Northern Great Plain and Central Transdanubia were included in the research. We wish to emphasise, in regards to the infrastructural developments of the coming few years, that it is essential to consider the fact, even in the planning phase of facilities, that sport events in themselves do not make the facilities economically sustainable.

JEL code: Z20

Subsequent to the experience with the international aid programmes of the 1990’s, from the very beginning of the accession negotiations and since 2004 in particular, the notion of absorption capacity of using EU funds has gradually been in focus. The subject of early scientific investigations concentrated mainly on the analysis of the macro-e...conomic conditions of individual countries; furthermore, on increasing absorption capacities as well as how to develop the institutional system of cohesion policy further. After 2004, however, succeeding further rounds of the enlargement as well as after the programming period 2007-2013 in particular – meaning as well the conclusion of the EU budgetary period – the analysis of absorption capacities could be produced at the level of project beneficiaries. The aim of this study is to examine the most prominent determinants influencing successful outcomes and the quality of vigorous projects managed by potent beneficiaries and consortia participating in the European Territorial Co-operation Programmes with the contribution of Hungary. In the course of research correlations between determinants have been subject to econometric analysis revealing the fact that the implementation capacities of state-owned project beneficiaries and those of the non-governmental sector diverge significantly. Moreover, the study aims to show how the institutional system distributing EU funds tends to be rather lax towards the beneficiaries with weak absorption capacities, thus sacrificing the efficiency of developments for pure statistics.

JEL code: R58

One good way to communicate financial performance of a bank to its shareholders is the payment of dividend. The present study is attempted to explore the influence of financial efficiency, safety, risk and profitability on dividend policy using panel data of 10 commercial banks listed at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for a period of 9 years bet...ween 2006 to 2014. The panel regression technique is used to analyze the data. The analysis shows a positive relationship of dividend payout ratio with safety and profitability in banking sector of Pakistan. The study identifies a negative association of dividend payout measure with financial efficiency and risk. The results show the statistically significant association of safety, risk and profitability with dividend payout ratio. Based on these findings it is concluded that safety, risk and profitability measures are relatively strong measures for defining dividend policy. The results are strongly indicating that safer the banks, the greater payout ratio the bank has. Moreover; banks with higher profitability and lower non-performing loans (NPLs) are believed to pay more dividends.

JEL code: G21, G23, G35

The paper broaches the issue of unfair trading practices (UTPs) at the expense of, economically spoken, weaker actors among the food supply chain in context of the EU. For illustrating the concept of UTPs and delivering a theoretical basis for scrutinizing the term of fairness in respective trading practices the paper suggests the three variabl...es 1) bargaining power, 2) market power/anti competitive practices and 3) unequal gain distribution. Subsequently the article presents selected national food-specific legislative based reactions towards UTPs evolved in context of the three variables. Ultimately the paper presents a qualitatively generated hypothesis which presumes that legislative food-specific measurements focussing on protecting suppliers lead to a beneficial monetary share for farmers, by means of influencing the producer price to a monetarily advantageous extent. The hypothesis was generated unprejudiced in the run-up to the paper. The research design which led to the hypothesis mentioned will be presented.

Nowadays the sport related civic organizations form a special segment within the civic sector. In particular, the current situation of these organizations – who are operating in rural settlements – should be considered as special. In rural settlements the local sport related civic organizations by all means could be justified to make a diff...erence on the basis of an essential aspect, that how they secure the funds from the external sources, and because of certain aspects it is closely related with the local politics. The purpose of our study was to investigate through the example of a small rural town in Hungary, that what kind of subsidies can the locally registered sport related civic organizations can get by focusing on the local football club’s results and the subsidies which were granted to the club between 2007 and 2015. We were also curious about, that is there any possible connection between the club’s performance and these certified subsidies.

JEL CODE: L31, Z20, H71, D72

This paper introduces the rank-based estimation method to modelling the Cobb-Douglas production function as an alternative to the least squares approach. The intent is to demonstrate how a nonparametric regression based on a rank-based estimator can be used to estimate a Cobb-Douglas production function using data on maize production from Ghana.... The nonparametric results are compared to common parametric specification using the ordinary least squares regression. Results of the study indicate that the estimated coefficients of the CobbDouglas Model using the Least squares method and the rank-based regression analysis are similar. Findings indicated that in both estimation techniques, land and Equipment had a significant and positive influence on output whilst agrochemicals had a significantly negative effect on output. Additionally, seeds which also had a negative influence on output was found to be significant in the robust rank-based estimation, but insignificant in the ordinary least square estimation. Both the least squares and rank-based regression suggest that the farmers were operating at an increasing returns to scale. In effect this paper demonstrate the usefulness of the rank-based estimation in production analysis.

JEL CODE: Q18, D24, Q12, C1 and C67

Albania is considered one of the most important countries where olives are cultivated due to its geographical position and climate conditions. The country is facing many problems with the quality of olive oil which is related to cultivation methods and agronomic techniques. The economic value of the sector is calculated almost €20 million per... year. For years the cultivation of olives and associated products have been considered an important sector within agriculture and are an integral part of the Albanian diet. The current study aims to analyze the factors influencing consumer preferences for a standardized olive oil. The data collection was conducted through a socio-economic survey. The survey was an important element which provided general and specific information linked to the study area. The interviewees were selected randomly. Descriptive and multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the survey data. As a result, we conclude that Albanian consumers prefer domestic olive oil because they are familiar with the taste and believe in its qualities. Usually, Albanian consumers choose the quality of olive oil at the purchase moment, due to their close relationship with the seller.

JEL CODE: D12

Palinka is a traditional Hungarian fruit spirit prepared exclusively by the distillation of fruit mash or fruit pulp. As an alcohol product, it is subject to the Act CXXVII of 2003 on Excise Duties and Special Regulations on the Distribution of Excise Goods amended several times. The present government of Hungary pledged to grant the right of f...ree palinka distillation again in the previous election campaign. As of 27 September 2010, the excise duty of subcontract-distillation was repealed, and the previously non-existent “official” home distillation was introduced, which resulted in explicit revenue losses for the state budget. The modification of the law mentions distillate instead of the word palinka. The difference between the two notions will be discussed in the present study. Presumably, lawmakers did not consider the fact that at the time of Hungary’s EU accession we entered into an agreement stipulating that the tax on subcontract-distillation should not be lower than 50% of the tax on alcohol products. Having been unable to agree on a solution to the problems in question, Brussels launched an infringement procedure against Hungary. Finally, Hungary was convicted; therefore, tax exemption or palinka distillation shall be ceased. This regulation came into force on 01 January 2015. The reactions of those who used the services of subcontract distillation were negative; turnover plunged by approximately 85% compared to the year of 2014. The present research will present the amendments concerning home distillers due from 2016 and the elements of the bill intended to amend the Act LXXIII. of 2008.

JEL CODE: K34, L51, L66

United Arab Emirates (UAE) witnessed a progress of growth booming since its establishment, which as result puched all economic componets to indicated a active movement in term of employment and capital investment as well. This steady economic growth has been marked by an increase in the income by the country’s citizens, both national as well ...as the foreign residents This paper to axamine the supply and demand of labor market in UAE. The technique used to source the data is a secondary resource and methodology employed in descriptive and analytical. The study found that, the diversification of the economy, and enhance the role of private sector increased the demand for labor as well as increased the diversification for nationalities in the country. From other side, because of diversification strategy, the foreigners labor have more numbers in total employment structure.

JEL CODE: O12

In the region of Northern Hungary the unique Cavebath of Miskolcatapolca is one of the leading health tourism service positioning itself on national and international market with its developing supply items and 4 star qualifications. It has a unique natural background all over in Europe; this uniqueness gives an opportunity to develop brand, wh...ich is a determinative item of competitiveness. Because of the competition between destinations and the ever-changing nature of tourists’ expectations and behavior tourism destinations need to be managed as other commercial brands. The aim of our research was to analyze the role and possibilities of product development which is based on the unique natural factors, and to help to expand the domestic health tourism supply. We examined how the possibility of branding and brand equity change based on brand elements; how satisfied are guests with the services; how often guests visit the bath; what kind of period guests arrive in the bath; what kind of services do guests try; how do guests arrive in the bath with. In summer of 2014 we asked 210 Hungarian customers to fill the questionnaire in the Cavebath. The choosing of guests happened randomly. 199 questionnaires were correctly filled.

JEL CODE: Z32

The Hungarian tobacco sector went through significant changes in the last decades. The reason of the changes were our accession to the EU, then the changes in subsidiary system, the effect of the world and within the EU’s strict tobacco policy. The number of tobacco farms declined and the future became uncertain for the farmers. Size of the f...arms increased and there were a concentration in the sector, so the smaller scale farmers’ activity ceased. It causes several problems in rural areas, because one of the main strengths of the sector was its significant role in rural development, as the tobacco in small scales was able to produce an acceptable income in such areas where due to the poor soil quality economically successfully growing for other plants are not suitable. The main goal of this paper is to present the Hungarian tobacco sector and its main strengths, weaknesses, possibilities and threats compared to the European Union’s situation.