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Civic organizations and citizens-an alternative approach to understanding civic engagement
137-141Views:111The importance of nonprofit, and inside classic civic sector is usually approached on the basis of figures of the Statistical Office. Based on these, we may assume these to have a slight or intermediate role in the greater economy regarding economic capacity and human resources. Actually, we cannot have a closer look into local conditions and circumstances which would contribute to a better understanding of how civic organizations are connected to citizens. It is difficult to estimate the background, effect, personal movements behind the civic sector; international literature discusses this issue in the framework of civic engagement. In a private examination, I may also contribute to the alternative approach to the importance of the civic organization sector by studying and measuring the complex indicator termed “civic involvement”. Additionally, a small scale pilot examination has revealed a better, more precise description of the connection between citizens and civic organizations, which may also enable the better planning of local municipal interventions.
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Student expectations on sports festivals with a view to the estimation questionnaire on Campus Sports Festival
9-14Views:161Campus Festival, organized each year, is listed as one amongst the music festivals in Hungary attracting crowds, with a target audience formed by higher education students. The organizers of Campus Festival set as their main highlighted objective, in addition to providing with musical events, the enhancement of the sporting life of the visitors stopping by. As a side event, Campus Sports Festival is launched each time along with it, with the intention to promote sports and doing sports, creating an event for the public suitable for the development of crossborder student relationships, between fans and contenders. This study is to demonstrate student expectations with a view to the questionnarebased needs assessment prepared on sports festivals.
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Willingness to pay for locally produced organic foods by urban consumers in Sri Lanka
15-22Views:401Organic food consumption is gradually increasing among Sri Lankan consumers due to an increased awareness on healthy food. Some consumers ready to pay more for organic food, but it varies according to many factors. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the urban consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for organically produced food in Sri Lanka. The specific objectives of the research were to investigate the socio-economic factors, the level of awareness on organic food, the present situation of buying, and the level of additional price ready to pay and analyze the impact of socio-economic factors on consumers’ willingness to pay. The research was conducted in urban Sri Lanka, covering capital cities of six urban districts of the country; Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Kandy, Kurunegala, and Rathnapura. Data were collected from November 2016 to May 2018, from 600 consumers, by selecting 100 consumers per city. Data analyses employed were a descriptive analysis and binary logistic regression. Results revealed that, the most of the consumers were females, married, and with a comparatively higher level of education and monthly income. Most consumers had a significant level of awareness about organic food. A lesser proportion of consumers (24%) buys organic food at present, while the majority (52.4%) was willing to pay an extra price. Out of these consumers, the highest percentage (29.3%) prefers to pay 26% to 50% premium prices. As per the results of logistic regression, age, gender, monthly income, and education were the deciding factors for consumers’ willingness to pay a premium price for organic food. Results of this research are helpful for the development of production and marketing strategies and awareness programs for urban consumers on local organic food products.
JEL CODE: Q1, Q13
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Co-innovation: what are the success factors?
29-36Views:104The problem we address in this paper is that in projects focusing on public-private cooperation to stimulate innovation in the Netherlands, initiatives often lack continuation after the study-phase. We extracted possible influencing variables from business and (transaction) cost economic theorizing, stakeholder and capability theory. Moreover, we used measures for classifying projects with respect to financial interdependencies between participants. We supposed that project characteristics influence managerial behavior to continue or stop. We studied 28 projects (20 supply chain projects and 8 biological product development projects). Our aim was to explore the barriers and success factors for these co-innovation projects: innovation as a cooperative effort between public sector/research institute and private organization(s). We derived data from project descriptions and performed semi-structured interviews with project informants. Critical to success appears to be ex ante commitment of all parties. Goal congruence, both at a personal and a company level, and proportionality of sharing in project results are of decisive importance to establish such commitment. Estimations about financial project results should be made in an early stage; they should be used as a basis for negotiations on the (re)distribution of costs and benefits, especially if the value added is disproportionally distributed over the participants. Ideally, project teams of co-innovation projects should bring in complementary capabilities: technical, marketing, financial and organizational. Project governance should therefore be organized in such a way that the knowledge gaps are filled in before kick-off.
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New types of tourism and tourism marketing in the post-industrial world
41-45Views:147At the end of the 20th century in the most developed countries economy and society went through profound transformation. The emerging post-industrial society can be characterised by the dominance of service industry, more leisure time of the population, higher disposable income and more conscious consumers. These conscious consumers are more and more quality orientated and reject undifferentiated mass products. New customers of tourism and hospitality industry are not only more affluent – so less price conscious – and more quality orientated but they are also seeking activity, participation, fantasy, and experience. These new types of tourists are interested rather in aesthetic aspects of life and are seeking highly differentiated, personalised experience. In the following article the authors, professors of the French ESSCA business school overview theoretical aspects of new, post-Fordist tourism demand and present examples of the new tourism and hospitality products having emerged in the developed countries during the last years.
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A survey on tourism experiences by Hungarian travellers: towards guest satisfaction
73-76Views:137In the 21st century experiences got great significance in the every-day life and in tourism as well. Human popularity can achieve very good and happy moments e.g. by shopping (complex experience in shopping centres) by common spare time activities in the nature and in towns, also by having vacation at a special destination. Animation/entertainment is a sphere of hotel services that is to help the guests sparing their free time on holidays in a good atmosphere, by providing experienceful programs. Good memories of a tourism service can make guests satisfied and build a returning clientele sphere. That is why it is awaited to map the (potential) guests’ expectations and observations of services. This paper discusses Hungarian tourists’ experiences conducted in Hungary aiming to reveal the need for professional services focusing on the not-so-spread area, Animation. The experiential dimensions of every-day life and tourism was studied by an own-edited questionnaire (N = 1000) in the half-year period of 1st August 2010 – 31st January 2011. This study was extended by quality of life since summer 2011 and I am going to compare the results of these two surveys with the aim of development suggestions in order to achieve a main level of guest satisfaction and a loyal sphere of clientele.
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An examination of the organizational culture at the policing
43-50Views:216The subject of this thesis is presentation of the examination related to the organizational culture of the Police, the special law enforcement body which guarantees internal order and public security. The police, at the same time, as armed law enforcement body ensure the order of the economy and its legal security. Security is not only important for the citizens and social organizations, but also for the profit and non-profit organizations. The Police carry out official work, but also provide services that presuppose two types of contact system and modes of management. There were a number of changes in the body of the Police over the past two decades (e.g. accession to the EU, accession to the Schengen area, integration of the Police and the Border Guards, outsourcing certain activities, regionalization of sponsorship activities), in which I have taken part as a manager of the developmental programs. These changes have not only affected the police organization and the approach of the employees, but also the organizational culture. The changes cannot be considered as closed: the Ministry of Interior, governing the Police, takes decisions on organizational changes, but also the managers at the Police play an important role in this process. Under „change” I do not necessarily understand a change in the structure, but also a change in the organizational culture to create support for the reform process, and the option to co-ordinate the diverse structures. The changes have obviously affected the thinking of the managers and the employees, as well as their relationship to the organization. The official duties, including the detection of the crimes (including agricultural and economic crimes), cannot be performed without the day-today cooperation with the bodies of the civil law enforcement, through which the Police may increase the effectiveness of detection of such crimes and thus the citizens’ subjective feeling of security. Therefore, the present thesis aims at the examination of the Police’s organizational culture and its management methods.
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Analysis of the cavebath of Miskolctapolca’s brand elements and guests satisfaction
155-160Views:244In 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, which 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
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Assessing Readiness Levels of Production Technologies for Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture
47-52Views:192The modern agricultural production is facing the problem of a growing society connected with the growing asking for food as well as different environmental threats. To solve this issue, agricultural production should be more sustainable and efficient which can be reached by using new technologies. In the paper the most important technologies, which were evaluated by different research methods to find how and when they could be used for a sustainable intensification of agriculture were highlighted by applying technology and market readiness models. By asking professionals from different fields of agriculture in practice as well as academia it was found that technologies that collect or utilize advanced data (sensors, drones) used for knowledge based management are more applicable for use, contrary to nanotechnologies where the costs of development and applications limits the readiness.
JEL Classification: Q16
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The economic value of grassland products
19-28Views:190The economic value of grassland products is not always clear. In addition to demonstrating the social benefits of grassland products, the objective of the present study is to present the value of their diverse forms of utilization and their definitions in practice. This study groups marketable and non-marketable grass products and introduces a new category, the animal husbandry value of grasses. Among other factors, economists differ from researchers in other areas of science, as they are basically motivated by three issues The first question economists always raise is: “What can it be used for?”, the second is: “What is it worth?”, and the third is: “How can it (its value) be determined?” Any answers to any further questions are subordinated to the answers to these three.
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Examination of the sustainability of the sport facilities in the Northern Great Plain Region of Hungary
111-117Views:157Developing sport into an industry has become a fundamental interest and a noticeable approach in Hungary in recent years. A socalled economic orientation can also be observed in the field of leisure time sports, which was made into law in Hungary in 2011 allowing the support of sport organisations and resulting in a number of infrastructural developments in Hungary. A wide range of development opportunities remain open in sports. This evaluation aims to introduce what significant sport-investment projects have been implemented in the Northern Great Plain region in recent decades and what effects these investments have had. Surveys have been used to reveal whether these facilities originating from years of sport developments are sustainable and to what extent these are exploited for organising sport events. Based on responses provided by a number of sport facilities – including ones built in the past and also ones opened recently – it can be concluded that sport in itself cannot solve the issue of operation and possible economic growth. Considering these aspects, it is important to incorporate, not only in operation but also during planning, the idea that current facilities must „serve” not solely sport events as these in themselves will not make them profitable but they must remain open for all sorts of social events as well.
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Importance of the generic segment of thye plant protection products – the case of the Polish market
25-33Views:122Authors present results of the analysis of developments in the plant protection products industry, with a focus on its generic part. Authors concentrate on long-term changes of prices, volumes and values of generic pesticides launched into the market. There were two strategic groups of producers identified: research and development (R&D) and generic. The analyses conducted prove that there is a relationship between the amount of generic products on the market and their prices. It is also clear that the number of competitors significantly influences the speed and range of price erosion. Used as examples generic plant protection products were placed on the market with an average price 15% lower comparing to branded pesticides.
JEL code: M31
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Athlete’s life path in the perspective of gender athletes reporting opportunities in their sports after their sport carrier
59-70Views:286Sport is the highlight of the male-female relationship system. We find that the concept of homogeneity is becoming more and more weakened, sport becomes unisex, which can strongly influence gender judgment in society. The "weaker sex" appearance and spread of the sport indicate that something has changed in the world, so thinking has to change also. Nowadays, there is a dual process in the field of sport: 1.) women appear in the traditionally masculine sports, and this plays an important role in the development of gender relations as mixed races arise; 2.) at the same time, men also appear in previously reserved areas for women, which they have not had opportunities so far (BÉKI, 2018). This phenomenon can be observed, though much slower in sports management. Yet in other sports roles, the gates for both sexes have not yet been opened in masculine and feminine sports. The study deals with how the status of an athlete will be transformed after sport if he/she wants to remain his or her sport in other sports roles - concentrating on coaching and judging roles – to represent his or her own sport. Particularly, we have been focusing on sports whose judgment is not socially acceptable to both sexes. The research sample is team and individual women athletes who are more than 14 years old. Research method is in-depth interview research (n = 145) and questionnaire research (n = 240). The results showed that female athletes are becoming more accepted in masculine sports, although more limited in their careers possibilities than men after an athlete’s life. Their athlete’s identity is strong, they want to stay in the sport on the civilian life as well.
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Labour market attributes of disabled people in Hungary
119-122Views:100Nowadays employment is an evergreen topic in Europe. The North Great Plain Region of Hungary is a typical rural area in Hungary, the unemployment rate is higher in this region as the national average, that’s why it is important, to give the possibility of job for the people living in rural areas. This paper focuses on the relationship between the disabled and the labour market in the North Great Plain Region of Hungary. On the basis of the 8/1983 Hungarian Law many kinds of supplies are provided by the State for people living with disabilities. It is very difficult to provide jobs for these people after their rehabilitation. Statistical figures show that the highest ratio of ‘people living with disabilities’ can be found in the North Great Plain Region of Hungary (30 per cent of the total number of ‘people living with disabilities’). The research focuses on special rehabilitation firms (they are specialised to employ disabled employers) and their employees. Two questionnaires for the above mentioned firms and their employees were created in order to gather information on their activities as well as relationship between the firms and its employees. Altogether 400 employees filled in the questionnaires. The current study shows the results of this survey. It can be stated that this paper shows the relationship between the employment and the types of enterprises, and disabled workers’ qualification level, the need for further education. According to the latest trends we analyse the attitude to the rehabilitation of people living with disabilities and how they will be able to work again not only in ‘rehabilitation firms’. After summarizing all claims of participants we can make an impression in this area and demonstrate the problems for the labour market generally.
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Main characteristics of trade of the Hungarian cereals and oil crops between 2000 and 2010 and the effects of changes in intervention rules to the Hungarian cop sector from 2004 to 2010
47-54Views:132In this paper the trade of the Hungarian cereal and oil crops from 2000 and 2010 are introduced. The general attributes of the Hungarian crop sector are analyzed and a specific picture from aspect of the trade in Hungarian cereal and oilseed sector, with a focus on the quantity of the export and import of wheat, maize, rapeseed, sunflower and other crops and their main target countries. This article also aims to show the impacts of the changes in the EU’s intervention rules and provide analysis.
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New tools and opportunities in growth and climate friendly greening for small and medium enterprises in the European Union
25-31Views:158The role of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is unquestionable in the European economies, while financial opportunities are still inadequate for them. The more than 20 million SMEs play a significant role in European economic growth, innovation and job creation. According to the latest EC Annual Report , SMEs are accounting for 99% of all non-financial enterprises, employing 88.8 million people and generating almost EUR 3.7 tn in added value for our economy. Despite the fact that there is plenty of EU funding available for these SMEs, for certain reasons these funds hardly reach them. But we have to see that the EU supports SMEs by various way, e.g. by grants, regulatory changes, financial instrument, direct funds. On the other hand, SMEs and decision makers realised that the environmental sustainability has to be attached to the economic growth, therefore more and more tools are available for these enterprises. Over the last few years, public institutions, the market, the financial community and non-governmental associations have explicitly demanded that firms improve their environmental performance. One of the greatest opportunities might lay in the Climate- and Energy Strategy till 2030 as 20% of the EU budget is allocated to climate-related actions, however the easy access to finance is still a key question. Does the EU recognise the actual difficulties? Is there a systemic reason behind the absorption problems? Is the EU creating a more businessfriendly environment for SMEs, facilitating access to finance, stimulates the green and sustainable growth and improving access to new markets? The paper analyses the current European situation of the SMEs and the effectiveness of some new tools, which are specially targeting SMEs.
JEL classification: Q18
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Management issues of cropping with sorghum in the production structure - a case study of Hungary
Views:177One of the goals of the developments is to improve the efficiency of the activity by making the currently used traditional production structure more flexible and by making the necessary changes to the technology in the case of farmers with large agricultural land, having necessary machinery and equipments required. Farms with larger arables land are able to offset the effects of changes affecting efficacy and profitability. The main sector of Hungarian agriculture is crop production, so performance is largely determined by the annual output of the crop production sector and the price development of crop products. In the course of our analytical work, we defined a farm of 2100 hectares, for which we examined crop production, crop machinery and economic aspects. From the enterprise data, farm level results compiled according to the crop structure were calculated. Sorghum is suitable for replacing corn in the crop rotation in areas with unfavorable conditions, so a stably growing crop can be added to the crop rotation of autumn ears of corn, rape, and sunflower, instead of corn. It does not hinder the machinery modernization efforts either, since the precision tools and developments already started in corn production can be used well, and it does not require a special equipment park. At the same time, in light of the increasingly frequent negative climatic effects, sorghum’s integration into the plant production structure is encouraging, because we have to count on 3-4 drought years in a decade. Based on our analysis, the inclusion of sorghum in the crop structure does not significantly reduce the available income, which is acceptable in the given economic environment. However, its stability can significantly contribute to improving the resilience of farming, especially in comparison with corn.
JEL Code: Q12
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Using DEA to evaluate efficiency of higher education
79-82Views:521The aim of the higher education reform process both in Hungary and in the European countries is establishing a competitive, qualitative higher education with efficiently operating institutions. The question of efficiency needs increased attention not only because of the decline of the state support but also the rapid raise of the student mass. In the educationsystemit’snot easy to measurethe output of the services.The situation is more complicated if an organisation or a sector has multiple inputs and outputs. In this case a possible method of determining efficiency is Data Envelopment Analysis. In my paper I’d like to introduce this method and use it to compare the efficiency of higher education systems. urthermore I am examining whether their efficiency is influenced by the extent of the contribution of the state and the private sector or socio-economic factors like GDP per capita and education level of parents.
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Multifunctionality of agriculture, public policies and scientific evidences: Some critical issues of contemporary controversies
53-58Views:129Various theoretical models of public policy analysis are used to treat situations of decision-making in which public deciders have to take into account the multifunctionality of agriculture. For some, science-society relations are not really problematical. Others acknowledge the current attempts of these policy-makers to find adequate scientific knowledge, and the difficulties they encounter. These difficulties stem partly from the very content of knowledge produced by research. Could other modes of production be more efficient? The status of the knowledge produced by these approaches is a subject of debate. Bridging the divide between science and policy more effectively is not only a question of knowledge brokerage.Accessibility and reliability of the existing evidences are also problems to be addressed. The debates around evidence-based practices may provide some landmarks in this new situation although they also emphasize the limits of the tools that can be built for this purpose.
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The economic efficiency of apple production in terms of post‑harvest technology
99-106Views:117This study analyses how the level of postharvest technology’s development influences the economic efficiency of apple production with the help of a deterministic simulation model based on primary data gathering in producer undertakings. To accomplish our objectives and to support our hypotheses three processing plant types are included in the model: firstly apple production with no postharvest and prompt sale after the harvest, secondly parallel production and storage combined with an extended selling period and thirdly production and entire postharvest infrastructure (storage, sorting-ranking, packing) with the highest level of goods production and continuous sales. Based on our results it can be stated that the parallel production (plantation) and cold storage, so the second case is proved to be totally inefficient, considering that the establishment of a cold storage carries enormously high costs with resulting a relative low plus profit compared to the first type of processing plant. The reason for this is that this type is selling bulk goods without sorting-grading or packaging; storage itself – as a means of continuously servicing the market – is not covered properly by the consumers. Absolute efficiency ranking cannot be established regarding the other two processing plants: plantation without post-harvest infrastructure resulting lower NPV, but a more favourable IRR, DPP and PI as developing a plantation and a whole post-harvest infrastructure.
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Food and nutrition security as gendered social practice
59-66Views:235In many parts of the world, the food security of households and the nutrition security of individual household members, in particular that of children, are still at risk, in spite of the progress made in combatting hunger at the global level. The prevailing opinion among scientists and development practioners alike is that women’s empowerment is the key to household food security and good nutrition of children. Similarly, it is thought that gender inequalities manifest themselves in dietary discrimination of women resulting in their lesser access to sufficient and nutritious food. To investigate the credibility of these ‘common truths’, empirical evidence on women’s roles in the social practices that aim at realizing household food security and good family nutrition was reviewed. It can be concluded that women definitely yield and wield power through their involvement in and responsibility for these practices, but that – at the same time – enhancing women’s capabilities by improved access to critical resources would benefit their household’s food security and their children’s nutrition. Furthermore, except for the region of South Asia, gender inequalities do not visibly result in a gender gap in nutrition, although women’s specific dietary needs in relation to pregnancy and motherhood are not always recognized.
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Estimating the economic potential of rural microregions
71-79Views:107Experts have been involved in the problems of determining microregions in Hungary since their establishment. In Hungary, the microregions (NUTS17 IV) were established by top-down method. This system cut through existing economic and cultural connections. The villages set up their own bottom-up microregions, which have tighter connections than the official regions. In my article, I estimate the economic potential of two regions, the regions Erdôspuszta (Hungary) and Hohenlohe (Germany), after analyzing the relevant literature on determining economic potential. Projects realized by enterprises and civil organizations have strategic significance in the economies of settlements, and it is true that their developers are not members of the formal management of the settlement. The local governments, however, should conduct realization and topdown of projects, and they have to have an image of the future and strategic plans. The present Hungarian practice, which appears in supply oriented applications, is not expedient over the long-run.The projects of settlements are run parallel to each other; they therefore fail to reach any synergic effect. The aim is harmonizing and building projects onto each other.
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New types of tourism and tourism marketing in the post-industrial world
33-37Views:269At the end of the 20th century in the most developed countries economy and society went through profound transformation. The emerging post-industrial society can be characterised by the dominance of service industry, more leisure time of the population, higher disposable income and more conscious consumers. These conscious consumers are more and more quality orientated and reject undifferentiated mass products. New customers of tourism and hospitality industry are not only more affluent – so less price conscious – and more quality orientated but they are also seeking activity, participation, fantasy, and experience. These new types of tourists are interested rather in aesthetic aspects of life and are seeking highly differentiated, personalised experience. In the following article the authors, professors of the French ESSCA business school overview theoretical aspects of new, post-Fordist tourism demand and present examples of the new tourism and hospitality products having emerged in the developed countries during the last years.
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Cognitive dimensions of subjective quality of life in Hajdú-Bihar county
131-135Views:133The objective of the present study is an investigation of the objective and subjective factors of life quality. Researchers and political leaders show increasing interest in the question: on what grounds do people judge their quality of life, what satisfies or makes them happy? Do we subconsciously make some kinds of mathematical calculations weighing our results achieved in certain areas of life to assess how we are getting on? Or rather we use one “indicator” (e.g. money, number of friends, professional recognition) and we assess our situation accordingly? These issues necessarily emerge when it comes to the consideration of the quality of life. Among factors determining life satisfaction, earnings, employment, health and relationships play significant roles. Therefore, on the leading edge of this research are primarily the cognitive factors of life quality, i.e. external factors influencing satisfaction. The present study also seeks to identify the role of health tourism in the assessment of the quality of life. Questionnaires were completed in one of the most popular tourist destinations of Hajdú-Bihar County. The 805 local respondents expressed their views primarily about factors determining their well-being and about the impacts of the dominant presence of health tourism on their lives.
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Financing and operating questions of sports facilities
5-8Views:267This paper tends to present financing and operating questions of sports facilities. Infrastructure is very important for the sport businesses. Sports facilities and sports institutions, infrastructure development, and their legal, financial, accounting conditionality can be defined by the investors and the government (subsidies, taxes, etc.). Financial questions and IT background of facility management can be crucial for the enterprises interested in operating sports businesses. The paper focuses on these kinds of aspects of facility management based on practical examples.
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