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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:182The 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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Economic aspects of an agricultural innovation – precision crop production
51-57Views:236Innovation in agriculture ensures the wide-spread use of the latest, up-to-date technology. Such new technology is precision farming in crop production, which serves as a validation of the criteria of environmental and economic sustainability. The economic applicability of precision crop production depends on several factors.Among them the following aspects must be emphasized: the size of the farm, the characteristics of the production structure, the current input-output prices and their tendencies, the investment needed for transitioning to precision technology and its capital source, the level of professional knowledge and the managerial attitudes of the farm. I have examined the economic relations between potential savings in chemicals on EU level. It has been found that after switching to precision farming, the active ingredient use for fertilizers can be reduced by 340 thousand tons at the same expected yield level in an optimistic scenario in the EU-27, while the savings in pesticide use can be 30 thousand tons (calculating with the current dose-level). If approximately 30% of the crop producing and mixed farms over 16 ESU adopt this new technology, this will diminish environmental loads by up to 10-35%. The majority of farms characterized by greater output and size can be based on their own equipment but it might as well be presumed that smaller farms can turn to precision farming not based on their own investment. They can buy the technical service from providers, they can establish producer cooperation, for example in the frame of machinery rings. At a certain farm size and farming intensity precision crop production is a real, environmentally friendly farming strategy, with the help of which the farm can reach earnings that cover at least the economic conditions of simple reproduction.
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Human rationality, environmental challenges and evolutionary game theory
15-19Views:159In recent years, game theory is more often applied to analyse several sustainable development issues such as climate change and biological diversity, but the explanations generally remain within a non-cooperative setting. In this paper, after reviewing important studies in this field, I will show that these methods and the assumptions upon which these explanations rest lack both descriptive accuracy and analytical power. I also argue that the problem may be better investigated within a framework of the evolutionary game theory that focuses more on the dynamics of strategy change influenced by the effect of the frequency of various competing strategies. Building on this approach, the paper demonstrates that evolutionary games can better reflect the complexity of sustainable development issues. It presents models of human – nature and human – human conflicts represented by two-player and multi-player games (with a very large population of competitors). The benefit in these games played several times (continuously) will be the ability of the human race to survive. Finally, the paper attempts to identify and classify the main problems of sustainable development on which the game theory could be applied and demonstrates that this powerful analytical tool has many further possibilities for analysing global ecological issues.
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Strategy for soil protection in cross-border region of Hungary and Romania
135-137Views:114Within the Hungary-Romania Cross-Border Co-operation Programme for 2007-2013 the University of Debrecen and the University of Oradea is to elaborate a soil strategy for the Nyírség and Bihor Mts region. Project partners expect the strategy will support and strenghten national, regional and local soil policies and contribute to the competitiveness of the region by protecting and developing various soil functions. Project partners also expect to prevent cross-border problems with soil and reduce the competition caused by cost differences.The elaboration of the strategy includes the problems of erosion, deflation, compaction, water-deficiency, inland water-threat, problems induced by the usage of fertilizers, loss and substitution of soil organic matter, amelioration (bentonite, sewage sludge, fermented biogas). Based on summarised data of former examinations and new experiments a concise database will make it possible to calculate and apply the Sustainability Index Model, which may be useful in order to address EU supports properly based on objective calculations, and may be useful to determine the optimal culture. The project also encourages the farmers to keep in mind the cross-compliance, since EU gives financial support to realise sustainable soil strategy based on EU directives. This may enhance the options to initiate the take off of rural areas with shrinking export facilities, to mitigate social tensions and the effect of migration processes.
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Potential impact of the European Green Agreement on EU and Hungarian crop production
Views:239European arable farming, including Hungarian arable farming, faces a huge dilemma: how to contribute to and maintain the global food supply while reducing greenhouse gas emissions while main taining biodiversity, but reducing inputs that are potentially damaging to society and the environment while ensuring that no more land is taken out of production? Not to mention that the increasingly urgent need to tackle climate change is also placing additional demands on EU agricultural decision-makers. Under the European Green Deal (GD), the 'From Farm to Fork' (F2F) strategy will help achieve climate neutrality by 2050, with a target of a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Achieving this will require significant changes in food production, a shift in crop health strategies and accelerated innovation in the agricultural sector. The study addresses these issues. Our first hypothesis (A1) is that the GD and F2F strategies can be implemented without problems and without losses. Our second assumption (A2) is that the know-how solutions and the technological conditions for precision agriculture that are already available exist, and that all of these already justify the feasibility of A1. In order to prove this, we have reviewed recent and up-to-date literature on DG and F2F. For A1, we found that there are pro and con findings in the literature. However, the summary finding is not positive. The conclusion of the studies, based on data calculations, is that EU agriculture faces huge additional costs if it is to maintain production and reduce environmental pressures. Their calculations suggest that more people will be disadvantaged by the decisions, and that millions of euros could be lost to the public. However, the article also shows that there are many cases where positive results can be achieved even with reduced chemical use. Facts and figures from international and Hungarian technological and know-how solutions and their trials at plant level show that the DG's objectives are already partially achievable. It has been established that the systematic use of precision technologies allows to increase the natural and at the same time the economic efficiency. In our work we have used the results of primary and recent secondary research. We have shown the downsides of GD, but also that with targeted support, the objectives of sustainability and GD can be approached. Changes in 2022, drastic price increases for inputs including fertilizers and pesticides, inflation at a 20-year high, energy prices spiraling out of control, and an almost unprecedented drought affecting crop production and horticulture, point to the need for a radical change in technology, thinking and regulation. And all this to ensure that there is enough affordable food in Hungary, that there are export products within and outside the Community, and that those working in agriculture have a decent living.
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Green networks: Innovative capacity of SMEs in the Dutch greenhouse horticulture industry
43-50Views:165The Dutch greenhouse horticulture industry is characterized by world leadership in high-tech innovation. The dynamics of this playing field are innovation in production systems and automation, reduction in energy consumption and sharing limited space. However, international competitive advantage of the industry is under pressure and sustainable growth of individual enterprises is no longer a certainty. The sector’s ambition is to innovate better and grow faster than the competition in the rest of the world. Realizing this ambition requires strengthening the knowledge base, stimulating entrepreneurship, innovation (not just technological, but especially business process innovation). It also requires educating and professionalizing people. However, knowledge transfer in this industry is often fragmented and innovation through horizontal and vertical collaboration throughout the value chain is limited. This paper focuses on the question: how can the grower and the supplier in the greenhouse horticulture chain gain competitive advantage through radical product and process innovation. The challenge lies in time- to-market, in customer relationship, in developing new product/market combinations and in innovative entrepreneurship. In this paper an innovation and entrepreneurial educational and research programme is introduced. The programme aims at strengthening multidisciplinary collaboration between enterprise, education and research. Using best practice examples, the paper illustrates how companies can realize growth and improve the innovative capacity of the organization as well as the individual by linking economic and social sustainability. The paper continues to show how participants of the program develop competencies by means of going through a learning cycle of single-loop, double-loop and triple loop learning: reduction of mistakes, change towards new concepts and improvement of the ability to learn. Finally, the paper illustrates the importance of combining enterprise, education and research in regional networks, with examples from the greenhouse horticulture sector. These networks generate economic growth and international competitiveness by acting as business accelerators.
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Statistical and multi-criteria decision making analysis for consumer attitude and behavior: in case of Mongolian organic food market
31-38Views:454Nowadays, consumers have a full of knowledge on products and services, and their daily consumption of healthy and environmentally friendly products has been increasing. Therefore, businesses need to implement green marketing activities, so they need to be aware of environmental issues and consumer needs while maintaining financial sustainability and competitiveness. (Belz & Karstens, 2002). Examples are the rapid growth of organic food products, as consumers are concerned with their health and environmental issues in their day-to-day purchasing decisions. Over 20 years ago, in 1999, the market for organic food products sales was $ 15.2 billion, while sales in 2017 increased to $ 97 billion, indicating that the world's organic food market is growing rapidly. The organic food market is growing by $5 billion a year, and as of 2014, 172 countries have organic food farm land according to the “The World of Organic Agriculture”. Since the market for organic products is a new market for Mongolia, previous surveys in are relatively small. Therefore, this is aimed at conducting a study on behavioral approaches of consumers of organic food products in Ulaanbaatar. We have run statistical and multi-criteria decision making analysis based on given data of consumers. We also apply Harker’s techniques for complete and incomplete evaluation matrices which are defined from consumers decision making. Numerical examples are presented.
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Examination of the sustainability of the sport facilities in the Northern Great Plain Region of Hungary
111-117Views:177Developing 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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Industrial 4.0 Revolution: Can it Positively Step into a Sustainable Hospitality?
Views:232Technological advancements recently affected production, social and sustainable development. Few publications have addressed the industry 4.0 contribution to the sustainable hospitality industry. In this study, we review the ways and effectiveness of industry 4.0 in achieving sustainable development goals in the hospitality sector. Due to the modernity of the issue, resources used in this paper included articles from databases like SCOPUS, Sage, Elsevier, and google scholar using keywords such as big data analytics, simulation, Artificial intelligence, Industry 4.0 in hospitality, sustainable hotels, Industry 4.0 adaption in hospitality and smart hospitality system. This literature paper outline has five main sections—section one introduces industry 4.0. Section two is a literature review that includes Industry 4.0 connotation, sustainable development (SD), (SD) goals, challenges of (SD), and industry 4.0 solution for SD challenges. Industry 4.0 and sustainable hospitality. Section three is the methodology. The conclusion is the fourth section.
JEL classification code: L83
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Regional differences in the economical sustainability of sports halls
85-91Views:170The 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 hand, 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
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Agri-environmental management and rural development: Hungary after EU accession
35-40Views:138In Hungary, similarly to developed countries, the share of agriculture in the GDP has declined. Even so, preparation of the sector’s long term strategy is crucial, as the role of agriculture exceeds the results represented in the GDP. Environmental and social functions of agriculture are revaluated in developed countries, and consumers at the end of the food chain actually govern the entire process. This is why information plays an increasingly important role, and gives signals (Verbeke, 2005) to the actors in the economy and society. This research area is diverse (including agricultural policy, environmental policy, rural development and sustainable development), and so I applied an interdisciplinary approach and conducted an integrated examination. The results show that in recent decades, the pressure of agriculture on the environment has been lower in Hungary than in the EU-15 and agri-environmental measures have taken hold in all types of land-use systems, even though they are more important in protected areas. Although this development provides a good basis for a long term strategy social capital has lost strength (Csath, 2002), so fostering the creation of internal and external rural networks – one instrument for this could be the Leader programme – is essential for sustainable rural development.
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Analysing sporting goods manufacturers’ environmental management tools
23-29Views:243Organizations around the developed world are facing pressure from governments, international agreements, society and various stakeholders, to improve their behavior towards the natural environment. The application of environmental management tools may be an important step towards sustainability and the preservation of environmental values, however marketing could be the key – with the help of information and communication technologies (ICT) – in publicizing and spreading these ideas thus forming customers’, stakeholders’ attitude in this respect.The aim of this study was to define the concept of environmental consciousness and environmentally conscious behaviour, then to present the shift the traditional marketing philosophy towards the sustainable marketing approach, finally to analyse two top sporting goods manufacturers’ (Nike, Adidas) environmental management tools with the help of data gained from their web sites, reports, case studies. Interpreting environmental consciousness is difficult without knowing the attitude to it. In spite of that it is important to distinguish between environmental consciousness and environmentally conscious attitude, because consciousness often appears in attitude influenced by other, outer effects.The environmental conscious attitude of companies in itself is not enough for making use of the advantages deriving from a positive environmental concern. They need to pursue more active communication, to „green” the whole of marketing activities. Thus marketing seems a possible means to naturalize and expand environmental protection both among customers and in company practice. According to the analysed companies, we need to say, that they are commitment with the environmental protection. They are used state-of-theart technologies to make their activity greener and introduce these with full particulars, examples e.g. ColorDry technologies, Better Cotton, The Framaprene ECO heel. Either Nike, Inc., or Adidas Group realised that ICT have the ability to improve efficiency and cut the use of material goods, thus reducing energy demands and the burden upon the environment.
JEL code: Q01
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Portuguese agriculture and its role in multifunctional rural development
39-46Views:151Paper aims to demonstrate the ability or inability of Portuguese agriculture to respond to changing economic conditions as well as societal expectations and demands. The main question is to know how the CAP’s evolutions through a policy with a double emphasis – on market orientation and competitiveness and on sustainability.
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Responsible behaviour or business? Social responsibility (CSR) in sport management
83-90Views:518CSR has become increasingly important in today’s business world and managers must consider not only the economic results of their decisions but also the legal, ethical, moral, and social impact and repercussions of each of their decisions. Some multinational companies’ CSR activities even clearly represent applicability of CSR in sport management. The aim of this study was to do a critical comparative analysis, present the changes, alterations in the traditional company philosophy, objectsystem; then to define the concept of CSR, its importance in sport, finally to analyze some of the top 20 World Food & Beverage Companies’ (Coca-Cola, Danone, Nestle) CSR activities in sport management. Similarly to the whole economics – beside traditional theoretical tendencies, parallel to them and not developing them – a new kind of company theory concerning the long-term balance problems of the natural environment and society is being formed. Although the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is prominent in some of the current discussions and investigations about the role of business in society, the concept – integrate social and environmental aspects in their business activity – is not new. According to the websites and sustainability reports of the international parent companies and domestic subsidiaries, we can say, that the companies show similarity at several points with regard to social responsibility within the field of sport management. However we must emphasize that we can find in the domestic practice fewer examples. In this case probably the media plays important role, which prefer the news of scandals such as CSR-related initiatives. In the public the companies’ CSR activities are even less known. Finally we can establish, that about the sport sponsorship the parent companies we have more information, their reports and websites are more transparency. In contracts, in the case of subsidiaries we can meet deficiencies.
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Strategy for soil protection in cross-border region of Hungary and Romania
173-175Views:120Within the Hungary-Romania Cross-Border Co-operation Programme for 2007-2013 the University of Debrecen and the University of Oradea is to elaborate a soil strategy for the Nyírség and Bihor Mts region.Project partners expect the strategy will support and strenghten national, regional and local soil policies and contribute to the competitiveness of the region by protecting and developing various soil functions.Project partners also expect to prevent cross-border problems with soil and reduce the competition caused by cost differences.The elaboration of the strategy includes the problems of erosion, deflation, compaction, water-deficiency, inland water-threat, problems induced by the usage of fertilizers, loss and substitution of soil organic matter, amelioration (bentonite, sewage sludge, fermented biogas). Based on summarised data of former examinations and new experiments a concise database will make it possible to calculate and apply the Sustainability Index Model, which may be useful in order to address EU supports properly based on objective calculations,and may be useful to determine the optimal culture. The project also encourages the farmers to keep in mind the cross-compliance, since EU gives financial support to realise sustainable soil strategy based on EU directives. This may enhance the options to initiate the take off of rural areas with shrinking export facilities, to mitigate social tensions and the effect of migration processes.
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An analysis of the national strategies for sustainable development with special emphasis on the issues of Agriculture and Rural development
53-60Views:123In this paper which is based on my dissertation I carried out a comprehensive analysis of the national strategies for sustainable development prepared by the EU and its member states. I paid special attention to agricultural and rural development issues discussed in the strategies. According to my hypothesis the sets of objectives defined in accordance with the principles of sustainable development provide a firm basis for the objectives of the ongoing reforms of the European Union’s CommonAgricultural Policy. Due to the complexity of the topic I applied an interdisciplinary approach in my research.
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Sustainable initiatives in marginal rural areas of Serbia: A case study of Dimitrovgrad municipality
7-13Views:137his paper is based on a 2009 case study research on the role and impacts of rural initiatives in Dimitrovgrad, South-eastern Serbia region. This area is of interest, because of local efforts to conserve autochthonous livestock breeds,andtheworkofsmallholdersandindependent professionals involved farming and rural tourism activities. The research used participant visits to initiative places, drawing on farm visits, meetings with stakeholders and analysis of secondary information. The study highlights that local organizations are running without link to initiatives.Although, Serbia country has well structured rural developments programs, those still are harmonising.Thus, throughActor-Network approach is suggested which turn around a farm manager. This may represent to all stakeholders with initiatives (on-farm and non-farm). Besides, local food products issues from initiatives may reconnect providers and consumers, revaluing local food products. However, is necessary the institutional and organizational involvement to encourage the initiatives. Furthermore, to promote touristic places, by an integrated rural tourism approach it may involve all stakeholders to promote local products and issues from initiatives. Indirectly it may create local employs.
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Analysis of household crop commercialization in Nigeria
Views:306Nigeria is experiencing a gradual shift from subsistence to commercialized agriculture, thereby increasing involvement and activities at different nodes of agribusiness. Participation of farmers in markets is an important determinant of well-being and development, and one of the pathways towards economic growth. This study analysed household crop commercialization in Nigeria. The secondary data used were the General Household Survey (GHS, 2018) Wave 4. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, household crop commercialization index (HCCI) and ordered probit regression model.
Mean age of Nigerian farmers was 50.04 years (±15.22), majority (85.68%) were male, married (82.51%), and 72.14% had formal education. Farming is viable in all the geopolitical zones and majority (87.64%) of the farmers were from the rural sector, holding a mean total plot size of 12.61(±15.63) hectares, and planted 3 crops on the average. The most produced crop categories are cereals (46.75%), tubers (20.70%) and legumes (19.00%); legumes and cereals are highest in the North, and tubers in the South. Subsistence households were 32.81% (HCCI=0), only 1.71% of the households were fully commercial (HCCI=100), while semi-subsistence households (0≤HCCI≤100) constitute 65.48%. Years of education (p<0.05) and crop production in North East and North West zones (p<0.01) constrain commercialization, while at p<0.01, crop production in the rural sector and the South zones, and increased land holding are the drivers of household crop commercialization in Nigeria.
Nigerian farming households are mainly semi-subsistence and are diversified in crop production. Nigeria relies more on market participation of the semi-subsistence households, through their marketable surplus, to feed her teeming population and for exports. Further attention on rural infrastructure development in all geopolitical zones and awareness creation on producing market oriented products will increase agribusiness activities. This will generate green decent jobs that will take unemployed youths off the streets of urban centres. This is in tune with the economy diversification bid and the new Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
JEL CODE – Q13
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Water footprint in Hungary
83-91Views:192More and more news report on water-related extreme environmental phenomena. Some of these are natural, which are often beyond the human race. But others are definitely due to anthropogenic effects. I think the water footprint index is able to highlight national and international water-use processes and gives us the opportunity of organizing a sustainable, consumer-, environmental- and governancefriendly management. 81% of the fresh water withdrawal is from surface water bodies in the EU. In Europe as a whole, 44% of abstraction is used for energy production, 24% for agriculture, 21% for public water supply and 11% for industry. Public water supply is confined to ground waters. To the water resources related human activity caused qualitative and quantitative amortisation will grow worse in the foreseeable future due to the climate change. Beside seasonal differences the sectoral differences are increasingly becoming critical between different areas, such as Southern and Western Europe. The former, wrong agricultural support system has worsened the situation since it gave financial aid for the used improper techniques of water-intensive crop cultivation. By today, this seems to be solved. Public water abstraction is affected by many factors, of which mostly are based on social situation and habits, but technological leakage receives a big role as well. Interesting, that for example the residents’water consumption in Eastern Europe decreased because price were raised and regular measurements were introduced. But in Southern Europe it increased due to tourism in the past period. Industrial water withdrawal decreased across Europe because of the decline of industry and the development of technologies. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), the Union needs a sustainable, demand-driven leadership which focuses on the preservation and use efficiency. This have already appeared in politics and legal administration as well. Current research calls the attention to the significance and difficulties of this kind of domestic estimation presented trough the water footprint calculation of bread and pork in Hungary. The received data indicate the domestic water consumption trends in a modern approach. There is no doubt for me about the urgent necessity of water footprint calculation because as a result innovative, sustainability supported environmental, social, economical, and political relationships can be created – not just on local, regional or national level, but on interregional, European and even global stage.
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Greener cement sector and potential climate strategy development between 2015-2030 (Hungarian case study)
65-74Views:387Advancing the domestic industrial production towards a sustainable, resource-preserving direction can become an important pillar to support competitiveness in the European Union, as well as in Hungary. Reaching the de-carbonization goals for industrial production via lowering the production volume may result in less desirable macro-economic effects, so decisions which concern the industry require a lot of attention from the climate policy as well. In the case of the cement sector, economic actors have to be motivated to make energy-efficiency investments and technology developments, which also show promise in terms of business efficiency. In the more natural-resource-intensive branches of the industry, both innovations and technological developments will be required to reduce the amount of used non-renewable energy resources, keep it in the industrial cycle, and reduce environmental load. The importance of greener cement will be essential in the near future to reduce the sector’s CO2 emission levels. We need to identify more sector branches which relate to sustainability, which can aid the country in establishing long-term competitiveness that points towards the de-carbonization goals. The cost-efficiency aspects of this development process are the most tedious questions in today’s business planning.
JEL classification: Q55
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Opportunities and obstacles of areabased partnerships in rural Hungary – main features of the operations of leader local action groups based on a nationwide survey
109-117Views:189Based on the results of our questionnaire survey, our study presents the major operational features of LEADER LAGs established in Hungary in the second half of 2007. Our national survey indicated that most of the partnerships established do not have experience in the implementation of community-based rural development programmes and there are no traditions and practices for development cooperation, which may cause problems as the success of programme implementation highly depends on the preparedness of local society, on the cooperation of local people. The survey indicates that the development of areas covered by LAGs is hindered by so-called soft factors characterizing human resources (rural people and communities). Therefore human resources are not only factors of the rural economy but areas for development as well. Having examined the tasks of LAGs,it can be established that they deem it to be their principal task to grant support funds.Inouropinion, performance of this task is obviously necessary but far from sufficient to fulfil their catalyst role expected in local developments. For this purpose, it is essential for action groups to play a proactive role in organizing and thereby increase the capacity of local communities, a prerequisite for implementing a LEADER programme. In accordance with the basic principle of subsidiarity, rural development should be implemented locally, managed by local communities, and decisions should be made at local levels in a decentralized manner. At the same time, the survey points out that LAGs operate under strong government influence and control, leading to the conclusion that the Hungarian practice of the LEADER programme is characterized by decentralization without subsidiarity. In the present structure, the activities of LAGs are predominantly financed from central resources.Administration is the primary goal of their financing, which restricts their effective and efficient operations, thereby the successful implementation of the LEADER programme. It is unquestionable that LAGs need to be centrally financed since their operation is fundamental for programme implementation, but this requires more than acting in their present role of distributing resources. In order for action groups to fulfil their real roles to boost local developments, they need to recognize their mission; and from the financing and regulatory side, they must be enabled to complete the tasks expected from them and their function.
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A multi-dimensional ethical approach to accounting and reporting practices
13-26Views:147Purpose – The purpose of this research is to find out the multi-dimensional ethical approach to accounting and reporting practices going on in India and abroad. What has been the shift in Reporting Practices by Indian companies? What drives the Indian companies to report on the non-financial matters?
Design/methodology/approach – This paper mainly focuses on the inclusion of Non-Financial Matters in the Corporate Annual Reports. An Empirical Survey was carried out and the questionnaires were administered to 122 respondents comprising of 75 academicians and 47 chartered accountants. This paper compares the perceptions of academicians and accounting professionals on the ethical reporting practices of the Indian companies.
Findings – The results were tested using the t-test analysis. The research suggests that more companies should report on their environmental, social, and corporate governance performance and find a way to express them in their Annual Reports and the reporting of data regarding the carbon emissions, energy use, pollution, impact on the local economy, etc., should be made mandatory for companies.
Research limitations/implications – The research included respondents who are currently living in Delhi. For more generalized opinion nationwide survey can be carried out. Another important category of stakeholder for judging the usability of Corporate Annual Reports could be the Institutional Investors.
Practical implications – The results of this study would help the policy makers in framing the guidelines for standardized annual reports, synergizing social and business interest needs on top priority. Corporate philanthropy needs to transform into the realm of core business and corporate social responsibility. Integrated reporting could pave the way for synthesizing financial and non-financial reporting into one form and give a holistic view of companies’ strategies to its stakeholders incorporating new dimensions of IFRS.
Social implications – More emphasis on Non-financial matters will certainly contribute in making the corporates more responsible to the society, environment, and to the future generations. -
Consumers’ Awareness, Perception and Interest in Labelling of Processed Foods in Ghana: A Case of ‘Sobolo’
Views:434Food labels contain much information that helps consumers to make decisions based on the details which are of much importance to them. The study assessed awareness, perception and factors that influence consumers’ interest in labelling of sobolo in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ashanti region, Ghana. Systematic random sampling was used to select 300 respondents from five randomly selected sub-metros and data were collected using a semi structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, tables and percentages were used to summarize the socio-economic characteristics of respondents. Perception index was used to assess the perception statements on the product labelling and the Logistic Regression Model was used to analyze the factors that significantly influence consumers’ interest in labelling of sobolo. Results of the study showed that majority (97.3%) of respondents were not aware of labelled sobolo but 67% was interested, though with low awareness. The estimated perception index (2.8) showed that consumers had positive perception about labelling of sobolo. Among the socio-economic characteristics; age, education, household income and household size and respondents’ perception on health and safety aspects of sobolo were found to significantly influence interest in labelling of sobolo. In conclusion, the study found that, consumers would prefer different information on labels and thus their interests are significantly influenced by different factors. It is recommended that efforts should be made to promote the awareness, education and interest in labelling of food products to enhance production, consumption and sustainability of the food industry.
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The application of balanced scorecard in team sports
37-40Views:132The present article discusses the application possibilities of the Balanced Scorecard strategic planning and controlling device for businesses managing team sports with the goal of professional efficiency and its long term sustainability.
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Assessing Readiness Levels of Production Technologies for Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture
47-52Views:229The 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
Keywords
