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Segmenting Hungarian people based on healthy eating
65-72Views:427Relying on customer trends healthy eating, which is one aspect of healthy lifestyle is becoming more and more popular. The aim of this study was to understand the healthy eating style of Hungarian adult consumers. An online empirical research with a sample of 1563 respondents (58.7% females and 41.3% males) was conducted in November 2018. Considering healthy eating two factors, namely the choice of healthy foods and the avoidance of unhealthy foods could be distinguished. A hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted to segment consumers. Four groups of consumers were identified: unhealthy food avoiders (20.3%), rejecters (11.8%), neutrals (26.2%) and healthy food choosers (14.7%). Unhealthy food avoiders are seniors. Rejecters are blue collar workers and have financial problems. Healthy food choosers live in families with children over 10 and do not have weight problems. This study is useful for the health sector and the government since targeted marketing programs can be planned to change eating behavior. To decrease overweight and obesity is the goal of all society, especially in developed countries. To increase the well-being of people and their quality of life educating social marketing campaigns are necessary with the aim of raising their awareness and explaining the basic principles of a healthy diet.
JEL Classification: 112, M30, M39
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ENHANCING AGRICULTURAL MARKET EFFICIENCY THROUGH THE INTEGRATION OF VALUE CHAINS INTO TANZANIA’S AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY EXCHANGE AND WAREHOUSE RECEIPT SYSTEM
Views:181Enhancement of small-scale agricultural performance is undoubtedly one of the Tanzanian government’s initiatives toward an industrialized economy as stipulated in “Intergrated Industrial Development Strategy 2025”. The coordination of agricultural commodity exchange market operations with those of warehouse receipt system was aimed at improving the forward market linkages for agricultural products from small-scale farming. However, due to the growth of the sector, it became imperative to review the marketing structure in place to align with the new changes. This study was conducted to assess a need of upgrading the marketing structure for small scale agribusinesses by focusing on sunflower sub-sector. Primary data were collected from 399 sunflower farmers from Kondoa and Itigi district councils based on cross-sectional survey design. The gross margin analysis revealed that, smallholder farmers engaged in sunflower oil business earned 5.085 times more than those who just sell unprocessed seeds. The secondary data from Tanzania corporation development commission (TCDC), Tanzania mercantile exchange (TMX) and warehouse receipt regulatory board (WRRB) showed that, the current marketing structure did not support the trading of processed agricultural products. It was therefore recommended to upgrade that system in place to have a designated window for trading the value added agricultural products for improved performance.
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Semi-subsistence farming situation and policy – the example of Hungary
143-148Views:283In Hungary small farms have played very important role since collectivization (1959-61). Up to radical changes small households have received strong support from coops in the field of providing inputs on one side and, marketing their products on the other. The latter was disrupted by radical reforms and small farms started struggling with survival under market conditions. Government took measures to provide a development path for those having a chance to become competitive after five years development. Three calls (2004, 205 and 2006) were released. In Hungary SSF from three regions were more interested in getting the grant as North Great Plain, South Transdanubia and South Great Plain. All three regions are agriculture dominated ones. The policy with the call has reached a very moderate number of SSFs and, on the other side small farms, either because not meeting the criteria of the call or not wanted to take the additional costs of being registered and monitored for such a small amount of support decided not to apply. The paper ends with policy lessons.
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Estimation of Armington elasticities: case of vegetables in Mongolia
Views:446Mongolian people often consume meat more than vegetable in diet due to traditional nomadic culture. Nowadays, the Mongolian people’s diet has been changing who consume more vegetables with associated urbanization (half of the population live in urban areas, mostly in the capital city). Even though vegetable consumption has been increased recently, the vegetable market is still a high reliance on imports and threatening national food security. Since 2016, the Mongolian government has especially paid attention to increasing vegetable's domestic production and substitution to import vegetables (Ministry of food and Agriculture, 2017). Therefore, this paper provided to substitution elasticity (the Armington elasticity) between import vegetables and domestic vegetables in Mongolia. Additionally, we estimated the home bias value of vegetables. The so-called Armington elasticities are widely used for computable general equilibrium (CGE) analysis, which determines a degree of substitution between import goods and domestically produced goods. Several of the authors studied Armington elasticities at the product level. We choose six vegetables (such as potato, garlic and onion, tomato, carrot and turnips, cabbage, and cucumber) related to lack of information. The empirical result shows that the Armington elasticities in the long-run higher than the short-run with exception of potato which means that products are similar in the long-run. However, our estimated Armington elasticities are quite lower than the previous studies result which means that Mongolian people indicated more prefer home growing vegetables than import vegetables. Moreover, we found that the home bias value is high in the short-run even long -run, this appears to be a higher relative weight on home vegetables.
JEL code: F13, Q17, Q18
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Information content of a sports undertaking’s statements serving different purposes – particularly with reference to the player rights
119-133Views:450In the 21st century, sport is not just a fun, social cohesive force but also a business; it has become an independent industry by now and several countries possess developed sport markets. According to estimates, sport accounts for 4% of the EU’s GDP. The actuality of our research is given by the fact that the economic aspect of sports develops continuously which is also due to that more and more amounts already stream into sports in our days. In Hungary, sport is mainly state aided and has mostly financing problems while the sport businesses existing in the more developed Western Europe are principally sponsored by the private sector. The government considers sport as a strategic branch (HERCZEG et al, 2015) and manages as such because they see the international breakthrough potencies in sport as well. Sport companies must also adapt the business-based thinking, which requires the strategic planning and operation (BECSKY, 2011). The research covers the subject of economic approach of the players’ rights. The task of accounting is to give a true and fair image about the property, income and financial situation of an undertaking. Information provided by accounting is essential for both the management decisionmaking and the market operators. In Hungary, the sports undertakings, as each managing entity, have to prepare their statements according to the Act C of 2000 on Accounting (AoA.) (NAGY – BÁCSNÉ BÁBA, 2014). The purpose of this research is to examine how a domestic sports undertaking demonstrates the value of available players in the books and how the incomes and expenditures incurred with the players are accounted for, based on the regulations of the Hungarian, international associations and the Union of European Football Associations (hereinafter: UEFA). In order that the leaders of the businesses can make quick and appropriate economic decisions, it is essential in this intensively changing world that an enterprise should have a well-functioning accounting system based on up-to-date information. International Financial Reporting Standards (hereinafter: IFRS) are intended to provide the comparability across borders. Firstly, we deal with the accounting reporting system, both the Hungarian, international financial reporting standards and, relating to UEFA, the investigation of the intangible assets to a great extent during analysing the balance sheets. Then, we examine the income statements from the viewpoint player transfers. To what extent the rules of a statement laid down by UEFA differ from the ones of a statement prepared according to AoA? What is the difference in domestic and international relations? In this study, we search after the answers for questions mentioned before.
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Small and medium enterprises as development factor of agribusiness in Republic of Serbia
45-49Views:339Development of strong and competitive sector of small and medium enterprises has very important role in process of total transition in Republic of Serbia. This sector should be one of the guidelines of economical development and future, like in developed countries. Within the Strategy of development of SME and entrepreneurship in Republic of Serbia from 2003 to 2008 government of the Republic of Serbia, not accidentally, placed among many sectors which are expected to contribute and boost economical development, increase the employment rate, and realize increased influx of means deriving from export, the priority is on sector of processing of agricultural products. It can be concluded that significant contribution from agriculture to improvement of total economical situation is expected. Accession to EU should be considered primarily not only as the opportunity but serious task in regard to restructuring of the agriculture. However, impeding circumstance,in regard to export ofagricultural-foodproducts,first ofallto EU countries, isthefact that thismarket is under strict protective measures within the policy of agriculture and measures of agrarian protectionism. In such conditions it is very difficult for producers and processors of food to enter such closed markets. Small and medium enterprises are facing the choice of the business strategy:
– to place the existing product on current market;
– to place the existing product on new markets, including export;
– to sell the new product on existing market;
– to place the new product on new markets, including export.
Therefore, based on analysis of domestic market, volume and structure of import and export of agricultural and food products, as well as analysis of food industry and agricultural production in Serbia, it is necessary to define potential programs for small and medium enterprises with production which could be economically efficient and profitable from the aspect of investment.
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Tourism Development Challenges of an Island Destination in a Aging Society, Case Study of Ojika Island of Japan
31-38Views:545Japan’s inbound tourism numbers have been steadily rising in the past decade due to active promotion, easing of visa regulations, rapidly developing Asian economies and the depreciation of the Japanese Yen. The government’s goal is welcoming 40 million foreigners yearly by 2020, and leading them to rural destinations. There is a concern whether rural destinations in Japan are prepared for this sudden surge of tourists. The plans to bring masses to rural destinations implies a steady supply of tourism service, but the ageing and shrinking population of Japan together with the migration towards cities, leave some destinations without a key resource: workforce. This paper tries to understand the current situation of such rural, isolated communities, and whether they have the capacity to develop and expand the tourism industry. The case study was carried out on Ojika, an island destination in Nagasaki Prefecture. Several visits to the destination, participant observation and structured as well as unstructured interviews with stakeholders provide the primary data for the research. Through interviews with town officials, businesses and residents, different approaches to the demographic problems are introduced. The results show that the tourism development strategies cannot concentrate only on the strictly tourism industry elements of the destination but have to look at the community and infrastructure too, in this case, the labor market. The demographic change in society can put a limitation on development, thus counter measurements have to be considered and included in the tourism strategy. Further research is needed on less remote destinations, where there is a land-connection with another settlement, and whether a “commute based workforce” can ease the problem or by raising the costs of labour, a different, feasibility problem arises in the accommodations.
JEL Classification: Z32
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HOUSEHOLDS’ FOOD CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOUR DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: EVIDENCE FROM RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Views:369The food consumption behaviour of households has been affected by the lockdown restrictions that were implemented to reduce the COVID-19 infection rate. This study was aimed at analysing the food consumption behaviour of rural households during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. To achieve this, a simple random technique was used to collect data from 120 in Merry Pebble (MP) Stream Village. Thereafter, an Ordered Probit Model was used to examine the extent to which households have increased, decreased or maintained the same quantity of food consumed during COVID-19. The results indicated that 46.7% of the rural households had consumed less food during COVID-19 pandemic, 32.5% consumed about the same amount of food, and 20.8% consumed more food. The variables that contributed towards a decrease in food consumption are employment status, household size, loss of income, and social relief grants. On the contrary, bulk buying and food parcels had stabilised food consumption, while the number of employed people in a household and food bought from restaurants contributed towards an increase in food consumption during COVID-19 pandemic. With regard to consumption behaviour per food item, fresh produce, meat, snacks and fast food were consumed less during COVID-19, while there was a constant consumption in dairy products, and an increase in consumption of canned food, frozen food, prepared food, grains and water. The study recommends that the government should continue with the economic and social relief programmes that were created during COVID-19, as they play an important role in increasing and stabilising food consumption by rural households.
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Using sustainable development tools for solving property rights in Montenegro
127-131Views:263In recent months Montenegro has been faced with serious budget problems , one proposed solution of which has been to reduce the number of employees in state administration. Additionally, the costs of living are above the disposable budget of most households, in particular the high cost of electricity. While the government warns about a lack of electricity, the citizens are hardly in the position to cover these costs. Montenegro is dealing with the double challenge of inefficient use of space (the country features over 100,000 illegal homes)(I don’t understand the link between inefficient use of space and illegal homes) and inefficient energy use (Montenegro needs an average of 8.5 times more energy per unit produced than an average EU country). How can these problems be solved in a way which pleases both sides? In this paper, an approach is presented which links the solving of the problem of illegal construction with increasing the level of energy efficiency in households, businesses and other facilities. There is a model developed by UNDP Montenegro – an integrated policy solution to the double challenge of providing energy efficiency measures to incentivise households to legalise their homes. The legalisation of illegal buildings by the introduction of mandatory energy efficiency measures in them may at the same time result in an increase of revenue to the central and local budgets, the reduction of negative impacts on the environment, an increase in employment, the engagement of the economy, a reduction of electricity consumption and thereby to reduce the need to import electricity, and ultimately the increased welfare of the population.
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Towards innovative environmental management in the Agro-food Industry
7-14Views:294This article focuses on the problem: what external (stakeholder) and (internal structural/organizational) factors drive companies in the food- and agribusiness towards innovative environmental management? Innovative companies are those considered to have adopted a supply chain perspective, instead of a focus on the single business unit. We propose that innovativeness is associated with stakeholder wishes (the government, the public environmental policy being a major influential factor), in combination with structural characteristics of the firm (like R&D-efforts, culture and managerial competences). We surveyed 492 companies in 2002, to get insight into the causes of innovativeness in the Dutch agri-food sector, and supplemented this data by means of a similar questionnaire in 2005. Structural equation modeling and correlation analysis were applied. The research provided evidence that companies are restricted by, and therefore not comfortable with, public environmental policies, which seem to obstruct innovativeness rather than stimulate it. Firms that(1) have enough internal (physical, financial, social)resourcestoinnovate, and (2) are more embedded in a web of (commercial) stakeholder wishes, prove to be more innovative. Suggestions are made to shift the corporate and public policies towards a supply chain-oriented approach by granting benefits for vertical cooperation in supply-chains.
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Hungarian spirits palinka as a “hungaricum” II. The effect of tax-free production in Hungary and in the European Union
137-144Views:486Palinka 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 free 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
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ACCESS TO CREDIT AND ITS INFLUENCE ON COCOA FARMERS’ WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR EU-APPROVED PESTICIDES IN ONDO AND OSUN STATES
Views:129This study investigated the effect of credit access on cocoa farmers’ willingness to pay for EU-approved pesticides in Osun and Ondo State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to select 240 cocoa farmers for the study. Data collected were analyzed with the aid of descriptive statistics, contingent valuation method and logit regression model. The results for the entire respondents showed average values of 46 years for age, 23 years for years of experience, 7 persons for household size, and 8.54 hectares for farm size. The majority (83.3%) of the farmers used Redforce. Given the current standard mean price of N365 per litre, the majority (62.5%) of the cocoa farmers are willing to pay 25% (price between N 365 – N 466) more on the actual price of the EU-approved pesticides. Logit regression estimates showed that gender, age, marital status, education, extension visit, access to credit, household size, farm size, and quantity of pesticide used significantly influenced cocoa farmers’ willingness to pay for EU-approved pesticides. This study concluded that credit access is an important variable affecting cocoa farmers’ willingness to pay for EU-approved pesticides. This suggests that policy strategies aimed at improving the cocoa farmers’ willingness to pay for EU-approved pesticides must consider their credit access. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that Government and agricultural-related organisations should provide credit to farmers to boost their willingness to pay for the approved pesticides.
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Impacts of the global financial and economic crisis on the agro-food industry and rural livelihoods in Serbia
113-118Views:336Sixty-five per cent of the Serbian land area is agricultural and 55% of the population is rural.Agriculture share of GDP is more than 10% and about 47% of the rural labour force deals with agriculture. The aim of this work is to analyse the impacts of the global financial and economic crisis on the Serbian agro-food sector and rural communities. Measures introduced, mainly by public institutions, for relieving the consequences of the crisis are presented and discussed. Easily accessible yet high quality data from the central Office of Statistics in Serbia and specialized literature have been used. Impacts have been assessed by analyzing and discussing the trends of many socio-economic indicators. The crisis has had general impacts on the Serbian economy (low GDP growth, unemployment increase, price volatility, purchasing power decrease, etc.). Due to the crisis growth in agricultural production has been very low (0.1% in 2009). Agro-food exports decreased dramatically in 2008. About 9000 agricultural jobs were lost in 2008 and 2009. Reduced exports and lower domestic demand impacted negatively on agricultural commodity prices and agricultural household incomes.Access to credit became more difficult especially for small producers. However, agriculture is still a very important safety net. Agricultural employment share has increased both for men and women. The importance of agriculture is even higher if we consider the “grey agricultural economy”. To mitigate the crisis effects, the Government provided subsidies to rural people and will adopt the National Strategic Plan and Programme for Rural Development. Nevertheless, public institutions - in partnership with private, civil society and international organisations - should improve rural producers’ access to market information and credits and foster investments in rural areas including non-agricultural ones and those aiming at improving physical capital.
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Factors associated with sustainability of agripreneurship interest among graduate youth in Southwestern Nigeria
Views:492The paper examined factors associated with sustainability of agripreneurship interest of graduate youth in Southwestern Nigeria. It specifically described the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents; identified their agripreneurship activities of interest and identified factors associated with their interest. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 185 respondents from the selected the Local Government Areas in Southwestern States, quantitative and qualitative data were collected using semi structured questionnaire and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical tool such as frequency counts, percentages, means and standard deviation while factor analysis was used to isolate crucial factors associated with sustainability of agripreneurship interest of serving graduate youth in the study areas. Results showed that respondents had a mean age of 26.18 ± 2.74 years and majority (75.7%) were not graduates of agriculture. The agricultural enterprises of interest to the respondents were poultry farming (67.6%)’ fish farming (56.5%) and snail farming (50.9%). Crucial factors found to influence sustainability of graduate youth’s interest in agripreneurship were motivational, parental influence, community asset and institutional factors among other. The study concluded that these identified factors were germane to the sustainability of graduate youth’s interest in agripreneurship in Southwestern Nigeria.
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Coach education approach in 16 Hungarian sport federations results of the first sport organizational audit
87-91Views:371Nowadays the Hungarian government finances the sports in many ways; one of these grant forms is the group of 16 prioritized sports (biking, boxing, fencing, gymnastic, judo, track and field, kayak-canoeing, modern pentathlon, rowing, shooting, skating, swimming, tennis, table tennis, volleyball and wrestling) which are supported notably by the Hungarian Olympic Committee (HOC) till 2020. The purpose of the 1st sport vocational audit was to identify the current status of these sports, and also to create a database in many fields as a benchmark of the development. The sport management department of the Semmelweis University, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences (TF) contracted with the Hungarian Olympic Committee (HOC) in order to carry the sport vocational audit out. A sport develops if the numbers of the athletes grow or the results of the national teams are better. The coaches are the key persons in this development, if they could gather more children into the sport or they work better with the elite athletes the development has already done. It was examined the existence of the coach education programs; all the federations were running coaching programs for adults (OKJ) in both levels (coach assistant, coach). By 14 associations existed the first level of the higher education coaching program (BSc) and in 13 federations operated the MSc coaching program as well. All these coaching courses were common programs with schools, or universities. It was no evidence found that the federations run own coaching program but coaching license system existed in two sports at the time of the investigation.
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Agriculture in the Netherlands: Its recent past, current state and perspectives
129-134Views:305The driving forces that determine the prospects of the agricultural sector are dominated by international and European developments related to the demand for and supply of products. In this context, European policy, (such as the CAP), and national policy (e.g. nature management) can greatly influence the development of the agricultural sector.A further reduction of the support by the government forms an important element in the expected future developments.
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MARKET CONCENTRATION AND DEMAND FOR ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES IN MAJOR MOTOR PARKS WITHIN IBADAN METROPOLIS, OYO STATE, NIGERIA
Views:376The value addition to alcoholic beverages through packaging in small nylon and increase in the introduction of new brands has led to its high demand and many Nigerians earning their means of livelihood through the sales. The study showed that the average consumption per day was 6.1 sachets per week. The study revealed that 28.6% of the consumers’ monthly income was spent on alcoholic beverages per month. Seaman brand had the highest market share (73.4%); this was followed by Chelsea (66.2%). The study affirmed that 62.9% of the consumers based their choice on high alcoholic content while 3.1% claimed the choice was based on the medicinal (cures pile) value. Also, Captain Jack had the highest market concentration (0.35). The age of respondents, marital status, household size, and the quantity consumed per week were the factors that influenced consumers’ monthly expenditure on alcoholic beverages. It is recommended that efforts should be made by the government to reduce the rate of consumption of alcoholic beverages at the motor parks by enforcing the existing (FRSC Act cap 141 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria) law banning/regulating the sales or increasing tax on the brands to make it out of reach for most consumers.
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Planning practices of local governments based on the results of an empirical research
79-92Views:249The purpose of this study is to explore the most important findings of the empirical research conducted amongst local governments of settlements in Hungary, in order to perform a comprehensive analysis on their practices and methods regarding planning. The primary research was conducted in the spring of 2013, with respondent local governments answering relevant questions by submitting a selfadministered questionnaire. The main purpose of the questionnaire survey was to find out whether the involved parties perform actual formal strategic and operative planning activities, and what kind of management planning methods – solutions already working and widespread in the business sector – they apply within the process of planning. In this study, we attempt to conduct a comprehensive analysis on modern planning systems and to appoint the fields that need to be improved, through the results of the questionnaire survey and our own experiences.
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Trends in agriculture and food production
99-110Views:307Agricultural reform resulted a shift from collective farming to small-scale production in China. This reform also has resulted a strong increase in gross agricultural output, which coincides with a slower increase in labour productivity. At the beginning of the reforms, agriculture accounted for 70 percent of total employment in China and still employs more than 50%. As a result of these reforms, China has undergone impressive economic growth also in the agriculture; the country has become one of the world’s top exporters and is attracting record amounts of foreign investment. The government has also stepped up investments in rural areas to meet the market demand for agricultural products. Results are very competitive compared to Central and Eastern European countries, where agriculture accounted for only 15 percent of total employment, but agricultural reform resulted a strong decline in gross agricultural output, which coincides with a similarly strong decline in employment. When approaching the issue of sustainable agriculture, we have to take into consideration, which China and India feed the largest populations in the world and both countries have had its own agricultural successes in the past 50 years. China has used land far more efficiently than many developed countries. With nine percent of the world’s arable land, China is responsible for the greatest share of agricultural production worldwide. Volume of produced pork, eggs, wheat, cotton, tobacco, and rice has increased and China exports an increasing amount of product each year. China has opened his borders, but do not expose food consumers to price shocks and producers to risks and disincentives. In this paper, the land-tenure system and the trends of agricultural developments are analysed in China and selected countries of EU.
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WHAT DRIVES FEMALE FARMERS’ PARTICIPATION IN OFF-FARM ACTIVITIES? THE CASE OF RURAL NIGERIA
Views:293Women often lack access to productive resources such as land and capital in most developing countries. This forces them to take part in off-farm activities to augment their little farm income. This study investigated factors that affect the involvement of women farmers in different types of off-farm entrepreneurial livelihood activities in rural Bauchi state, Nigeria. A purposive sampling method was used in selecting three local government areas in the western agricultural zone of the state and a random sampling method was used in selecting ten wards. 5% registered women farmers in each selected ward, making 134 respondents. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to women farmers in 2017. The results revealed that food processing, farm product sales, trading and tailoring are the major off-farm livelihood activities engaged in by rural female farmers. Logit regression results revealed, as expected, that different factors affect their involvement in various types of off-farm activities. Food processing and tailoring required relatively high start-up capital and access to electricity as an investment and the use of machines was needed. Thus, access to credit or remittances and to electricity increases the probability of being involved in these activities. The requirements of trading being lower and access to market increases the probability of being involved. Provision of extension services, rural credit facilitation programmes, rural electrification, road and market structure development are instruments that are appropriate to support women farmers' involvement in off-farm activities.
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International students in Hungarian higher education
113-132Views:664Overall, higher education in Hungary is popular with students from abroad, even if there are significant differences in terms of its structure. The ever-faster increase in the annual headcount of the international student body serves as proof to this statement. The expansion of the size of the body of international students is of special importance in higher education since in 2016 the Hungarian government set the objective of having 40,000 international students by 2023 (EMMI, 2016).
Numerous studies have been published on this topic, usually focusing on specific issues, including, for example, the countries from which we receive most of the students, the most popular majors, possible economic advantages due to the presence of a great number of international students, and how internationalization takes place in higher education in Hungary.
By means of processing data published by the Hungarian Educational Authority [Oktatási Hivatal], this paper aims to present the changes in the number of international students in Hungary over the past ten years. This also includes the discussion of the structure of these changes related to a variety of issues such as relations, types of institutions and their ownership, levels and types of programs, as well as gender proportions. However, even with this effort, the officially available statistics are suitable for presenting a properly detailed assessment of the situation only to a limited extent.
JEL code: I23
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Sport as power of integration among minorities
57-62Views:408The opportunities and development of skills in the field of sports may open a door to social inclusion that also facilitates social integration. Based on the funding provided by the national sports strategy and integration, the research project can be developed further on and implemented. The efforts of the European Union (EU) and of the European Council towards the member states are carried out through its directives, and the analyses of these documents provide guidelines for the elaboration of the Hungarian Roma strategies. Funding is one of the key factors for the elaboration of Roma integration strategy and its efficiency. The research highlights upon the way of thinking and mentality of Roma young people about sports currently, and on the importance of sport affairs for them. Also, reflects on the factors which promote motivation to have successful career goals and achieve those based on the program. The sports integration survey suggests conclusions on the role of mentoring in Roma youngsters’ studies, in sports, in building social relations, the role model motivating for them, or on the supportive role of the parents or even the lack of it in their families. The expected result would be a survey on sporting habits of the Roma minority and disadvantaged youth and their positioning in education through which we could develop programs to promote the integration of the Roma minority and to improve their general circumstances. The National Social Inclusion Strategy (Ministry of Human Capacities, National Social Inclusion Strategy 2011–2020) provides the financial background of the integration project whose application also prevails in the field of sports integration. The aspirations of the EU provide guidance to the amount of funding and its allocation manners. The National Roma Self-Government’s (NRSG) sports integration project and best practice has provided the basis for the sports integration research project. The survey is examining the recreational habits, motivational factors, study levels among the Roma minority and the disadvantaged young people. Based on the questionnaire, we can draw some conclusions about the development of sports integration programs. The issues cover the field of sport activities of young people aged between 9-18 and on the significance of sport opportunities for break-out for the Roma youth, and on the effect of role models for them. The sports integration projects treat simultaneously the development of education and sport, furthermore they are significantly linked to each other. The target group of the questionnaire survey are mainly the Roma and disadvantaged people. The sample item number is 1216 completed questionnaires from the whole territory of the country, from 16 schools. As shown in the survey, the sport and the level of education are significantly related to each other. Those who do any sports, obtain higher level of achievement in their studies. It can be revealed by the fact that through mentoring the sportsmen can promote their school performance and sport development together. The research highlights on another observation, namely, it also confirms the legitimacy of sports integration program and points out the direction for development. For accomplishing the goal of social inclusion through sport we have at hand the appropriate concept. It is, furthermore necessary to strengthen and to develop the mentoring program, which ensures the lower drop-out rate among the participants. The effect of Sports integration is motivating for the Roma and for the disadvantaged youth. The use of sport as a tool for social inclusion proves to be of utmost importance.
JEL code: Z23
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Comparison study of the agricultural subsidy policy applied by Ecuador and Hungary in the last 10 years
Views:479Agricultural subsidies have long been a consistent concern of government policies; they influence the use of resources for pursuing different goals in this sector. In this research, we are making a comparison study of the agricultural subsidy policies of Ecuador and Hungary in the last ten years by a comparative analysis applied for empirical generalization to explain and get a better understanding of the subsidies used in the two countries. The results show an enormous advantage for Hungary compared to Ecuador regarding the agricultural subsidies. Since they are part of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, Hungary's subsidies are institutionalized and planned in the long term within a series of programs financed by the EU and national funds. While in Ecuador, agricultural policies exist as a general framework, and the governing body manages the subsidies through programs and projects that do not remain over time and depend on the current political situation in the country. In the same way, the data collected reflects that although the share of the agricultural sector in Ecuador's GDP is higher than in Hungary, the subsidy amounts for this sector are 36% lower than in Hungary.JEL CODE: Q13 -
Assessing the financial viability of the floricultural industry in Ghana
119-126Views:410This study determines the financial viability of the floricultural industry in Ghana using both discounting and non-discounting investment appraisal methods. The feasibility analysis suggests that large-scale floricultural firms are more profitable particularly with the production of cut flowers. However, investors with limited capital can venture into small-scale production specifically cut flowers. The conclusion is that the floriculture industry is financially viable therefore investors are encouraged to expend their resources in the industry. We recommend that the government and stakeholders need to create institutional support to enable the already established firms to further develop and attract new investors in the sector.
JEL. Code: Q13
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Improving audit functions of supreme audit institutions to promote sustainable development
63-69Views:381In this paper, we demonstrate and analyze the substance of the added value effect of a Supreme Audit Institution (SAI), focusing on sustainable development issues.We intend to answer such questions as: how could a SAI respond to global and local challenges and how it could help government to implement commitments towards sustainability. Finally, we trace a possible way to improve external audit functions both on the state level and at the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), by using some ideas from network theory.
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