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• Performance indicators in CSR and sustainability reports in Hungary

  137-142

  Andrea Karcagi-Kováts

  Views:

  397

  Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or Corporate Sustainability reporting is a relatively new phenomenon in Hungary. As the external pressure from the civil society, public authorities and the media has so far been fairly low, this important corporate activity emerged only at the beginning of the last decade. In spite of this, several pioneering companies have started to publish information on its environmental and social performance in recent years. CSR and sustainability reports are seen increasingly as strategic documents that offer a balanced, objective, and comprehensive assessment of a firm’s non-financial performance. In 2008 and 2009, more than a third of the 100 largest companies reported on their non-financial results (most of them were GRI based reports). In 2010, sixty-one organisations published a report about their non- financial performance, and 22 of these for only the first time. The aim of this paper is to present recent attempts to use indicators in CSR and sustainability reports. On the basis of a detailed review of 70 CSR/sustainability reports published during the last 9 years in Hungary, an analysis was made on the performance indicators appearing in the reports. The motivations of indicator selection processes was analysed and the intended roles of indicator set in communication and strategy design was presented. The significance of and limits to the proposed indicators was discussed.

• Relationship between the qualification and labour market situation of disabled workers in Hungary

  23-25

  Nóra Nagymáté

  Views:

  141

  My PhD research focuses on special rehabilitation firms (they are specialised to employ disabled people) 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 to explore the relationship between the firms and their employees. Altogether 1030 employees and 109 employers filled in the questionnaires. The current study shows the results of this survey. It can be stated that this paper shows the risk of finding a workplace after a certain time period. According to the latest trends I analyse the labour market situation of people living with disabilities with survival analysis. The survival analysis is able to manage partial information, as well. After summarizing all claims of participants we can make an impression in this area and demonstrate the problems for the labour market generally. I use the Log-rank, Breslow and Tahane-Ware probe.

• An examination of the organizational culture at the policing

  43-50

  Edit Elekes

  Views:

  252

  The 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.

• Some uses, underuses, and misuses of the findings of disparities between people’s valuations of gains and losses

  7-13

  Jack L. Knetsch

  Views:

  202

  The well-known behavioural finding that losses have a greater impact on people’s well-being than gains, has important implications for the study of individual and collective choices, as well as the ways in which analyses are carried out -- many more than have yet been seriously considered. It also has many for analysts’ use of such tools as price elasticities, discount rates, value of statistical lives, risk analysis, and the like. A greater recognition of the behavioral findings would likely lead to reductions of the biases in many present analyses.

• Changing patterns in hotel room demand – case study of the Aquaticum Debrecen Thermal and Wellness Hotel

  51-55

  G. Hevessy

  Views:

  128

  Aquaticum Debrecen Thermal and Wellness Hotel is a very successful lodging property not only in Debrecen but also in the Northern Great Plain Region and in the Eastern part of Hungary and in point of fact in Hungary. In the past yearsAquaticum Thermal and Wellness Hotel has been the leader in the region by revenue per available rooms (RevPAR). RevPAR indicates the overall performance of properties, accordingly it is the most commonly used statistical indicator in comparison to competitors in Hotel industry. In the past years, demand for Hotel rooms has changed. This changing has several signs. For instance the occupancy rate, the rate of domestic and foreign guests, the nationality of foreign guests, the time between booking and travelling, andm many other demand patterns have changed. During the last year, the changing has been accelerated by the global economic crisis. Guests are waiting with their bookings hoping for better rates and last minute offers. The forecast of demand became much harder than ever before. These forecasts are basic ingredients of the revenue management systems, which systems are in use or will be in use by Hungarian Hotels. These systems are necessary to keep RevPAR at a higher level and to help Hotels to achieve better performance.

• Cognitive dimensions of subjective quality of life in Hajdú-Bihar county

  131-135

  Anett Sőrés

  Views:

  145

  The 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.

• Conceptions and misconceptions of hostels worldwide

  61-67

  Réka Somlai

  Views:

  213

  Present research is inspired to study the conceptions and misconceptions of hostels in eight different countries (Spain, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Hungary, Venezuela, China, Australia). The outcome of the research reports that the participants in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and in Hungary define hostels as youth accommodations, Spanish participants as cheap hotels and Venezuelans call them homeless shelters. The majority of the participants of all the above mentioned countries determine that the most important difference between hostels and hotels is the price. Americans, English, Germans, and Hungarians believe that a night would cost between 10 and 30 Euro in an average hostel, while Spaniards and Venezuelans say it would be under 10 Euro. Most respondents agree that hostels are; located in the city center, great places to socialize, offer safe accommodation, staying in there allows guests to save up money, and they are popular choices among travelers. American and English participants think hostels are only for people who like to party. Spaniards and Venezuelans think, hostels are outside of the city center. Spanish and English participants believe that hostels are too cheap to be able to offer a good service. Most participants say, the low price would be the main reason to stay in a hostel. Americans, English and Germans also think that other values are important besides the price: fun, the opportunity to meet people and atmosphere. In spite of all the above, most participants think people would rather stay in a hotel than in a hostel. Stereotypes evolve in different ways, which also explains how misconceptions about hostels developed.

• The role of the time factor in the manager functions

  101-108

  Éva Bácsné Bába

  Views:

  148

  The role of the time factor in management is increasing. Change directs attention to the time factor from the point of view of the organisation,and management does the same from that of the person. I examined the time management practice of managers of organisations related to agribusiness, and the reaction time characterising the adaption ability of the organisations through a questionnaire survey. I analysed the collected data with scientifically established statistical methods. During studying resources, managing tasks, change, reaction time and effect I explored the features of time as resource, the significance of the time factor, the improvability of time efficiency in the different managing functions, the factors supporting and hindering the quick reaction of organisations, and what rearrangements can be seen in management work nowadays.

• Methodological and integration aspects of abc-method application in trade organizations

  57-60

  Klychova Guzaliya S.

  Bagaev Ilya V .

  Views:

  108

  In conditions of declining consumer demand and deficit of credit resources more and more managers of Russian companies think of necessity of introducing effective methods and systems of cost management. One of the most relevant is method of “Activity Based Costing” (ABC-method). Since, in western experts’opinion sectors of service and trade are adjusted to use ofABC-method even more than production, we should refer once more to the main methodological and integration aspects ofABC-method application and consider it from position of trade organization.

• Analysis of demand for wellness and medical tourism in Hungary

  57-62

  Katalin Kiss

  Views:

  268

  Health tourism in Hungary holds major opportunities. When analysing medical and wellness accommodation data, it can be stated that the Hungarian population is keenly interested in health-related tourism services. From the aspect of further development, health tourism based on medical services can be a take-off point for Hungarian tourism. In my opinion, the next few years will be crucial for Hungary’s ranking among health tourism destinations. The country’s initial circumstances are rather favourable, whereas the revaluation of the quality aspects of these services and the fact that the surrounding countries have also recognised the opportunities in health tourism led to an intensified competitive environment. Consequently, if Hungary does not take advantage of its current opportunities, there will be even less chance to develop the country into the primary thermal and medicinal waterbased health tourism destination of Europe in ten years. Yet, this is one of the foci of the objectives set out in the New Széchenyi Plan.

• The effects of climate change on cereals yield of production and food security in Gambia

  83-92

  Alieu Loum

  Csaba Fogarassy

  Views:

  1017

  Increasingly, empirical evidences are substantiating the effects of climate change on agricultural production is a reality. In the early part of the 20th century many were skeptical about the so-called climate change that is due to global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) defines climate change as follows: “climate change refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the mean or variability of its properties and that persists for extended periods, typically decades or longer” This study analyses the impact of climate change on cereals production (millet and maize) in the Gambia using a time series data for a period of 46 years (1960 – 2013) at an aggregate level to assess the relationship between climate (temperatures and rainfall,) and non-climate variables fertilizer, area planted respectively and yield. The specific objectives of the research are: (1) How climate change affects the expected cereals (Millet and Maize) output or yield in the Gambia. (2) How the level of output risk within cereals (Millet and Maize) farming is affected? In order to achieve these set objectives, the paper will adopt Just and Pope modified Ricardian production functions for climate change impact assessments (e.g., Chen et al. 2004), the paper will also control for the impacts of regular input factors in the production process. The study used a data set for the Gambia comprising variables relevant for cereals production and climate information from 1960 through 2013. There is strong evidence that climate will affects Maize and Millet; according to the analysis 77% and 44% of the variability in the yield of Maize and Millet respectively is explained by the climate and non-climate variables included in the model. Given the effects of climate variables on cereals production, and increasing climate change vulnerabilities on other food production section, the result of this paper will add voice to the growing call for policy makers to step up funding in research and development in climate change adaptation and mitigation.

  JEL classification: Q54

• Liquid bio-fuels in Hungary: effects and contradictions

  89-94

  Attila Bai

  Views:

  143

  The increase of living standard requires ever more energy, despite energy saving measures. Domestic growth was 100 PJ between 2000 and 2006, and 77% of the total utilization was importe (Hungarian Central Statistical Office, 2008).Sustainability was endangered not only in our energy and commerce policy. Our domestic natural conditions are suitable for plant production; however, the stagnation of the domestic population and decreasing livestock numbers restrict in land marketing. Therefore, significant surpluses from year to year had to be stored and sold abroad, and the fact that the interventional purchase of corn and the expected stringent new EU regulation of the sugar beet sector, make the strategic significance of these branches uncertain. The difficult marketing opportunities make the better utilization of our opportunities in producing liquid bio-fuels possible from marketing aspects, while environmental issues and realizing the EU directions enforce to do so in a longer term. Over the short term, agricultural and competitive aspects will determine its spread, which cause different effects in Europe in comparison with the developing countries. According to Nábrádi-Ficzeréné Nagymihály, 2008, one of the breaking points of Hungarian agriculture lies in the utilization of alternative energy sources. During the past period, many contradictory opinions came forward relating to economies, agricultural effects, food risks as well as the energetic and environmental efficiency of bio-fuels. One thing is certain: these fuels are already used today and their significance has been increasing. Although due to technological development, spread of new products and processes (cellulose-based bioethanol, bioethanol, biogas, hydrogen, biomethane) will obviously have to be expected in the future, at present biodiesel and bioethanol are determent among bio-fuels, thus I deal with these as well as their energetic and agricultural effects in my study.

• Tourist considerations in hosting a mega sport event: 2010 FIFA World Cup

  115-120

  Nerine Cecilia Bresler

  Views:

  124

  Tourism enterprises can create public viewing areas where shared enjoyment and heightened emotive experiences could arise, as well assentiments of patriotism, and ownership of the event itself. But, they must keep their base business happy; to ensure longterm loyalty of existing customers.

• The potential economic impact of the Western corn rootworm resistant GM variety on maize production in Hungary

  87-93

  Bertalan Kruppa

  Views:

  156

  The paper examines that how the application of the MON88017 GM maize variety could influence the profitability of maize production in Hungary. The most important benefit of this biotech crop lies in its reduced need for chemical use and the additional yield comparing to conventional varieties. Among the economical disadvantages there is the uncertain market of GM products in the EU. After weighing all these factors the results conclude that the farmers could reach an income surplus by growing this GM variety. Although, this surplus is significant only if a similar positive yield impact is achieved under the Hungarian conditions as in the USA.

• Methodological and integration aspects of ABC-method application in trade organizations

  49-52

  Guzaliya S. Klychova

  Ilya V. Bagaev

  Views:

  134

  In conditions of declining consumer demand and deficit of credit resources more and more managers of Russian companies think of necessity of introducing effective methods and systems of cost management. One of the most relevant is method of “Activity Based Costing” (ABC-method). Since, in western experts’ opinion sectors of service and trade are adjusted to use of ABC-method even more than production, we should refer once more to the main methodological and integration aspects of ABC-method application and consider it from position of trade organization.

• New approaches to youth in thrill society: sport participation as fuel to boost outlook on future and concepts on self

  97-104

  Szilvia Perenyi

  Views:

  143

  The theory of “thrill-society” (Schulze 1992) conceptualizes that increased economic status that allows the focus of daily life to switch from providing for physical needs to searching for a meaningful life and self-fulfilment. Combined with the expansion of education, it causes a smooth transition from traditionally inherited social positions and class-based hierarchy in society to a higher degree of social mobility, increased individualisation and diversification of life styles. Noting that, the actualization of this concept in Hungarian society came into effect only along societal discrepancies; still, the uncertainties and insecurities that accompany the process of ‘thrill projects’ collection are substantial. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of sport participation in the lives of young people, how sport may assist young people in coping with the insecurities and uncertainties created in the societal scene that is characterised by the combination of Schulze’s “thrill-society” and the inheritance of political, economic and societal transition of Hungary. Specifically, this study aims to find differences between sport participants and non-participants in their perception of future on micro and macro level, their readiness to take risks and challenges, and their self-concept related to their own health, physical condition, and physical appearance. Stratified random sampling was applied to obtain an accurate representation of Hungarian youth population. Data were analysed by using cross tabulation, non-parametric and multidimensional statistical methods. The results showed that sport participants adopted a more positive image of the future, higher ability to assume risks and a more modern state of mind, as well as a more stable self-concept in comparison to non-participant youth. Also, it seems that the sporting contest may be as strong as sociodemographic positioning in the formulation of these life capabilities. It can be suggested that sport may assist youth with a stable and accountable value environment that reduces the variety of opportunities and provides resources to better deal with societal uncertainties; meanwhile it opens new avenues of personal freedom even in a “thrill society” that filled with deficits in transitioning societies.

• IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON PEOPLES’ LIVELIHOOD AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION IN UGANDA

  Ivan Wafana

  Views:

  146

  Livestock sector in Uganda contributes significantly towards individual household income and food security and even though peoples’ dependance on livestock production for survival in Uganda is a reality, it’s also undeniable that livestock, which provides food and revenue on a worldwide scale, would be vulnerable to the direct or indirect consequences of climate change. Agriculture contributed 24.1% of the Uganda’s GDP in the financial year (FY) 2021–2022 and according to the Uganda bureau of standards (UBOS), agriculture employs over 70% of Uganda's working population. The purpose of this present study was to to evaluate the impact of climate change on peoples’ livelihood and livestock production in Uganda. Bibliometric analysis was the quantitative technique used for reviewing and describing published publications that assisted in evaluating academic works from secondary data obtained on digital databases in the context of this study. The VOS viewer software was used as a tool to perform the co-occurrence analysis, and then to realize the visualization of the impact of climate change on peoples’ livelihood and livestock production in Uganda using articles analysed on platform research with associated references from the Web of Science database. The visualisation highlighted topical areas that reflect the impacts of climate on peoples’ livelihood and livestock such as diseases, drought, coping strategies, greenhouse gases, drought, vulnerability, dry lands, mobility among pastoral communities, low productivity, reduced forage resources, elevated temperature extra all of which negatively affects the economic levels of individuals and the national income from livestock either directly or directly. Conclusively, interventions that are aimed at improving climate smartness in Uganda’s livestock farming communities may have significant food security and income benefits for different livelihoods.

   

  Keywords: climate, livestock animals, livelihood, income

• Farmers’ knowledge on fall armyworm (spodoptera frugiperda) pesticide application and its relationship with quantity of maize that is lost to fall armyworm

  Jacqueline Baidoo

  Alex Quansah

  Keneth Kwapong

  Views:

  143

  Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) has spread rapidly and posed numerous threats to the food security and livelihood of millions of smallholder farmers in Ghana. This study quantifies the damages of fall armyworm infestation in maize production and identifies the various methods used in controlling fall armyworm infestation. Almost all farmers 94% experienced fall armyworm infestation on their farms. They cited key common visual damages as yellowish leaves, stunted growth, poor yield quality, holes in leaves, and egg masses on leaves. Farmer’s loss an average of GH¢2616.07 to fall armyworm infestation. Pesticide application is the frequent control measure mostly used by farmers. Farmers do not mostly use biological methods for the control of the fall armyworm. The use of pesticide as a control method is however not effective as about GH¢ 3 000 per 1 acre is lost with the use of insecticides. It is recommended that the use of other control measures like the contemporary measures involving the use of birds and chickens as predators of eggs and worms of fall armyworm should be encouraged.

  JEL code:  Q16

• Analysis of the process of introducing euro in new member states: Defining lessons for Croatia case study: Slovenia

  93-94

  Marina Drinkovic

  Views:

  156

  On 1 May 2004, EU made a historical enlargement by expanding from 15 to 25 members, and with another enlargement in 2007, EU is now a union of 27 member states. Following the new member states accession to the EU the next challenge for them is joining European Monetary Union and introducing the euro as a national legal currency. This thesis concentrated on the analysis on how the new member states handle the process of joining the Euro-zone with the main objective to examine whether there are any possible lessons that Croatia can apply to its EMU integration path. The thesis is mainly focused on analysing the Slovenian EMU integration process, as this member state has been identified by the Croatian Authorities and Croatian National Bank as the one whose experience Croatia should try to follow. The central questions that are discussed are weather Croatia is economically and politically capable to follow the Slovenian example, and, on the other side, weather the Slovenian example is the best one to follow i.e. should Croatia introduce euro by using the quick EMU entry strategy as Slovenia did. In order to answer those questions thesis focused on analysing and explaining different strategies for euro adoption chosen by the new member states with special emphasis on the strategy of quick EMU entry approach chosen by Slovenia. The thesis also concentrated on analysing the Slovenian political and economical path from Yugoslavia to the EU and especially on its economic performance and key economic indicators prior to introducing euro. Finally, with the aim to compare the economic performance between Slovenia and Croatia and define similarities/differences in their transition and EU accession process, the thesis gave a detailed overview of the Croatian current economical and political situation. After brief analysis of all pros and cons of an early euro adoption, the thesis concluded that following the experiences of small sized countries with opened economies and strong trade orientation towards the countries of the Euro-zone, such Slovenia is, would be a comprehensive and logical strategy for Croatia. Early euro adoption would provide more benefits than costs for Croatian economy and society in general. The thesis also concluded that Croatia should face no major problems when it comes to fulfilling most of the Maastricht criterion on time, in order to be able to adopt the euro in the shortest possible period as Slovenia did. However, the thesis also highlighted that in order to do so Croatia has to put a serious emphasis on improving certain aspects of its current macroeconomic situation, in particular the one concerning the percentage of state sector deficit in the GDP and the size of public debt.

• Adaptations to potential impacts of climate change in the “New Hungary” Rural Development Programme

  133-137

  János Lazányi

  Views:

  169

  There are evidences that the climate is changing and the effects on agriculture and wildlife are discernible. Spring is occurring earlier and autumn later, all of which have impacts on agriculture and forestry. Climate change is also predicted to result in more frequent droughts, increased flooding in Hungary, but the relationship between agriculture and climate change is more complex. Climate change has physical effects on farming and farm based wildlife. Agriculture needs to adapt to climate change by exploring, which crops and farming systems are best adapted to the changed conditions. Land management also needs to adapt to preserve biodiversity by protecting valuable habitats and species and helping them in the changing environment. With better management, agriculture and forestry can also mitigate climate change by reducing direct greenhouse gas emissions from land use, land use change and forestry, by producing crops as a source of renewable energy and by protecting carbon stored in soils and in manure. The HRDP comprises of a series of funding based on the following overarching priorities: (i) enhance the environment and countryside, (ii) making agriculture and forestry more competitive and sustainable, (iii) enhancing opportunity in rural areas, whether in the farming sector or the broader rural economy. Actions discussed in this paper are based on the New Hungary Rural Development Programme (2007–2013) and focused on reducing the effects of climate change in rural area. Establishment of agro-forestry systems and integrated pest management help mitigation goals and increase climate change adaptation potential. Minimizing unwanted side effects of agriculture by reducing the use of fertilizer and increasing the safety for environment (soil, water, and air) and human health have positive effects on adaptation potential. Restoration of agricultural production though diversification of agriculture and pastures management, improvement in drain age and irrigation equipment are good examples of adaptation for climate change. Integrated production, which is oriented to controlled cultivation of crops, vine, fruits and vegetables, and improvement of animal rearing conditions to increase production standards and overall welfare are preferred and ecologically sound methods of adaptation.

• Competiveness of the Hungarian pig sector

  103-107

  Andrea Bartha

  Views:

  113

  The number of Hungarian pig population was 3.2 million in February 2010, 150 thousand less than in the previous year. This included 226 thousand brood sows, 54 thousand less than in the previous year, and this number is expected to fall further next year. In the past two years the number of brood sows decreased to a larger extent in economic organizations than in private farms (KSH, 2010). Despite the rising costs of feedingstuffs, producer prices for slaughter pigs have decreased, therefore private farms with small herds of brood sows haves old their breeding animals for slaughter houses. However, economic organizations mostly tried to restructure their production and place emphasis on plant production, thus improving their situation. These market changes indicate that the sector continues to scale down, production shrinks, market losses are continuous within the sector and vulnerability threaten the players of the product cycle increasingly.

   

• Significance of wheat production in world economy and position of Hungary in it

  115-119

  István Kiss

  Views:

  276

  This article intends to introduce the significance of wheat production in world economy and role of Hungary in it on the basis of statistic database of FAO. Importance of wheat production in world economy is proven by its share of 15% from 1500 million hectares arable land in the world. This rate is equivalent to 225 million hectares of wheat area based on FAO figures for 2009. From its world economy significance view point, on the basis of some significant features it sets order of ranks among wheat producing countries, accompanied by Hungary too. Setting of rank orders is based on the quantity of wheat produced by countries, cultivated area and exported, imported wheat quantity. As regards wheat export in 2008, Hungary was placed as 11. in the world while on the basis of produced quantity and cultivated area it did not achieve any of top 20 countries. Wheat import of Hungary is negligible since its wheat production is greatly over the self-sufficiency level in one production year. Our logistics disadvantages indicate one of considerable difficulties of market access for primary materials in domestic plant production.

• The role of beekeeping in production of oil crops

  77-82

  Andor Kovács

  Views:

  148

  Production of sunflower oil are expected to serve larger and larger extent – over the demand of food industry and chemical industry – biofuel production. This could be especially true for that areas where climate is not allowed to grow winter rape safely and economically. Ecological role of honey-bees can be considered undoubtful in preservation of biodiversity of flora and fauna. I analyse the following problems in our study:
  • What is the significance of oil plants in European and Hungarian energy production?
  • How influence pollination the yields and the safety of production of oil plants?
  • What is the role of oil plants in the development of production structure of beekeeping?
  • What are the economical advantages of the above-mentioned effects?

• Demographic and lifestyle attributes with a fundamental role in food supplement consumption (exploratory research)

  181-185

  Zsófia Nábrádi

  Views:

  183

  The worldwide proportion of food supplement consumers has been steadily increasing, more than 50% of the Hungarian population tends to buy at least one type of dietary supplement. In most cases, the purchase and consumption of food supplements are not based on medical indications but depends on consumers’ individual decisions. The study of consumer groups enables the investigation of typicalities which have an impact on attitudes related to the consumption of food additives. The present study explores the demographical factors determining the global consumption of dietary supplements by secondary research. It sought to explore the typical features of consumer lifestyles in line with the research findings, based on previously specified criteria, through qualitative focus group examinations. My study focused on subjects who bought and purchased at least one type of food supplement in the previous year and placed a high emphasis on healthy diet and lifestyle in their everyday lives. The consumption of dietary supplements indicates growth with age and it is more common among women. Consumers with higher qualifications and incomes tend to buy products with vitamins and minerals in a greater proportion. The identification of nutrition factors revealed that the proportion of those who do not need extra nutrient intake is high among food supplement consumers. It is primarily true of women having a healthy lifestyle (they typically consume high amounts of vegetables and fruits, they are physically active, non-smokers and do not use alcohol); moreover, their socio-economic status is typically high. The findings of my quantitative research suggest that the purchase and consumption of dietary supplements are most characteristic of the “Successful”, “Quality oriented- successful” and “Loyal to the brand - modest” groups in the lifestyle-based consumer segments. The investigated sample showed ambiguous attitudes towards product quality and willingness to pay in all the three batches. Nevertheless, it can be established, when consumers buy food supplements, brand sensitivity proves to be a dominant factor in addition to - typically Hungarian - price sensitivity. Based on lifestyle factors, the current research may bring us closer to the exploration of the motivational and attitude patterns of consumers’ food supplement purchases.
  
  

  JEL Code: I12, M31

• Tourism Development Challenges of an Island Destination in a Aging Society, Case Study of Ojika Island of Japan

  31-38

  Denes Perlaky

  Views:

  351

  Japan’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