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Police organization in the Republic of Croatia – problems in decision making
99-102Views:131During the last few years of my police work I had a chance to speak and share opinion with my work associates about the police system in Croatia. My colleagues sometimes shared my opinion and sometimes they did not about the quality of police organization. Everyone’s conclusion was that some sort of change in the police organization has to be made; organization of the police must follow and embrace modern standards in organization and conduct. Almost each person had the same opinion about police management and decision making. Their opinion was that management is not efficient; decision making is based on chain of command and not on finding good solutions; members of the management team do not have education or creativity to be qualified managers; form is more important than the quality of work.
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Marketing characteristics of Tokaj wine specialities based on factor and cluster analyses
93-101Views:247The marketing kind of analysis in the domestic and international markets of Tokaj’s wine speciality has not happend yet. The present research scientific method supportedly defines the consumers of Tokaj’s wine speciality and it determinates the overlay receipt. The basis of the questionnaire research at the wine consumers cirlce is a representative sample of 1179 people. It confirms the truthfulness with factos and cluster dissection. On the hungarian market 5 sections can be devided, which has been determined by the earning category, the wine savvy and the referene price interval. Tokaj Wine Specialities named “late vintage” are also available. This name can be confusing for the consumer, some do not understand in what they differ from other Tokaj Wine Specialities, as actually all Tokaj Wine Specialities are late vintage wines; particularly, wine is harvested later than usual, occasionally in October or November. The findings obtained during the research can beutilised in practice, too. In accordance with the results and conclusions, we have several practical suggestions. Our methodological suggestion is that the result of the cluster analysis based upon a large number of representative sample should be cross-checked with focus group tests; what is more, upon justification and verification, a detailed analysis of the given segments can also be performed better with this method. It would be worth studying the exact reasons for the popularity of wines with the name ”late vintage”. Such types of Tokaj Wine Specialities should be given higher priority in marketing terms. My suggestion is that the type of wine accepted and liked by consumers should be kept count of as TokajWine Specialities officially, too. The future marketing strategy has to be developed by knowing the sections and by it’s further research which has to integrate to the strategy of Tokaj’s wine region.
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Agriculture in the Netherlands: Its recent past, current state and perspectives
129-134Views:141The 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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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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Subsidies are Potential Sources of Profitable Management – Their Payment Between 2010 and 2016
97-120Views:202Based on the allocations and distributions of subsidies in the sheep sector in the previous years (2004-2009), the authors examined the sum of aids claimed and paid from 2010 to 2016 and their farm-size related changes. The following data were collected from the Agricultural and Rural Development Institute on payments under specific subsidy titles, classified by sheep and goat farm sizes: 0-50; 51-100, 101-200, 201-300 and also 0-100, 101-300, 301-500, 501-1000, 1001-5000 and above 5000. Data procession was carried out by the SPSS for Windows 22 program. The size and population of the examined sheep sector underwent visible changes during the studied years leading to a reduction rather than growth. Their analysis highlights that size distribution of sheep farms has changed significantly in recent years, combined with simultaneous modifications of their sheep stock sizes in production. Their conclusions suggest that effects of years and farm sizes in the sheep and goat sector have considerably modified the aid sums paid under different titles.
JEL Classification: H5, Q14
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Environmental management activities of NHL teams
Views:232Over the past two decades, the sports sector has paid increasing and growing attention to understanding sustainability, including the environment, and in particular what can be done in practice. The purpose of this study is to examine the environmental CSR measures adopted by professional hockey teams in North America.
To answer my research question, I used a comparative analysis based on secondary data sources. For all 32 teams, I examined the available reports and their information on CSR activities, the information published on the teams' websites, and the research results related to the teams. I have selected 3 teams (Minnesota Wild, Pittsburgh Penguins, Seattle Kraken) that are at the forefront of the issue under study, using an evaluation system based on international literature, and case studies to showcase good practices that can serve as examples for the sports sector.
JEL Code: Q56
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Trends in agriculture and food production
99-110Views:146Agricultural 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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Multifunctional agriculture: An engine of regional economic growth?
7-15Views:140The historical role of agriculture in economic geography and recent conceptual developments – including multifunctional agriculture (MFA), the new economic geography, amenity-driven growth, and the “world is flat” and “creative class” hypotheses – are examined, and recent empirical research in NorthAmerica and Europe is reviewed, in order to assess the potential for MFA as an engine of regional economic growth. Ideal MFA policy corrects market failures and is mostly amenity-augmenting. It has the capacity to enhance opportunities for farmers on urban fringe; stimulate growth in high-amenity rural regions accessible to cities that offer opportunities for high-value work; and generate growth in relatively remote high-amenity regions. The scope for market-failure-correcting MFA policy to propel economic growth in lessfavored regions is limited – remoteness is non-responsive to policy in the short to medium term, and amenities that attract in-migration (e.g. proximity to sea, lakes, mountains, pleasant climate) are givens for favored locations but can at best be complemented by pro-active policy – but not trivial. While this paper focuses on regional economic growth, it well to rememberthat growth is not everything. Regions unlikely to experience growth need to create satisfying futures. Market-failure-correcting MFA policy has the potential to improve quality of life, well-being, and perhaps incomes in many if not all rural places regardless of location. This accomplishment would not be trivial – economic growth for all regions regardless of resources, amenities, and remoteness is not a serious prospect, and regions in decline face daunting problems maintaining essential services and quality of life.
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Labour market attributes of disabled people in Hungary
119-122Views:111Nowadays employment is an evergreen topic in Europe. The North Great Plain Region of Hungary is a typical rural area in Hungary, the unemployment rate is higher in this region as the national average, that’s why it is important, to give the possibility of job for the people living in rural areas. This paper focuses on the relationship between the disabled and the labour market in the North Great Plain Region of Hungary. On the basis of the 8/1983 Hungarian Law many kinds of supplies are provided by the State for people living with disabilities. It is very difficult to provide jobs for these people after their rehabilitation. Statistical figures show that the highest ratio of ‘people living with disabilities’ can be found in the North Great Plain Region of Hungary (30 per cent of the total number of ‘people living with disabilities’). The research focuses on special rehabilitation firms (they are specialised to employ disabled employers) and their employees. Two questionnaires for the above mentioned firms and their employees were created in order to gather information on their activities as well as relationship between the firms and its employees. Altogether 400 employees filled in the questionnaires. The current study shows the results of this survey. It can be stated that this paper shows the relationship between the employment and the types of enterprises, and disabled workers’ qualification level, the need for further education. According to the latest trends we analyse the attitude to the rehabilitation of people living with disabilities and how they will be able to work again not only in ‘rehabilitation firms’. After summarizing all claims of participants we can make an impression in this area and demonstrate the problems for the labour market generally.
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The role of trust in cooperation between farmers – the outcomes of a survey in Békés county
103-112Views:215Local socio-economic cooperation arrangements can contribute to the development of adequate solutions which can compensate the negative impacts of globalization. One of the specific areas is agriculture. Capital-intensive technology is the key element in the competitiveness and viability of firms. The present paper reviews the factors affecting the joint machine use arrangements of agricultural producers, with special regard to the role of trust. The questions of trust are examined in two dimensions: contractual and competence trust. On the basis of the survey carried out among farmers a positive connection was detected between the level of trust and the farmers’ activity in cooperation arrangements. Our results also pointed out that the trust needed in different areas of cooperation is very different. The experiences indicate a tendency, according to which contractual trust is more important in intensive cooperation arrangements which result in higher dependence, while competency trust is more emphasized in more extensive solutions.
JEL Code: Q13
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Note on simple and logarithmic return
127-136Views:721In this paper we describe and clarify the definitions and the usage of the simple and logarithmic returns for financial assets like stocks or portfolios. It can be proven that the distributions of the simple and logarithmic returns are really close to each other. Because of this fact we investigate the question whether the calculated financial risk depends on the use of simple or log returns. To show the effect of the return-type on the calculations, we consider and compare the riskiness order of stocks and portfolios. For our purposes, in the empirical study we use seven Hungarian daily stock prices and for the risk calculation we focus on the following risk measures: standard deviation, semivariance, Value at Risk and Expected Shortfall. The results clearly show that the riskiness order can depend on the use of the return type (i.e. log or simple return). Generally, often – due to missing data or the nature of the analysis – one has to use approximations. We also examine the effect of these approximations on the riskiness order of stocks and of portfolios. We found differences in the riskiness order using exact or approximated values. Therefore, we believe, if this is possible, exact values instead of approximated ones should be used for calculations. Additionally, it is important that one uses the same type of return within one study and one has to be aware of the possible instabilities when comparing return results.
JEL Code: C18
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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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Experiences on organisation of fruit and vegetable sector in Hungary
65-67Views:148The objectives are (1) to reveal some current issues on organisations founded by fruit and vegetable producers and (2) to stress upon those factors that should be highlighted in the very next future. In Hungary, POs have been accounting for bigger share of fruit and vegetable trading in Hungary, which refers to a better organisation in the sector. Bargaining force and level of experience on running such businesses, although, are still much behind the level expected. Flexibility and speed of a running business are highly determined by the legal form of Pos. The most favourite form is cooperative that is not flexible enough as a business form, especially for starting businesses. Low yearly turnover and weak market power feature the POs, preferring short time solutions to strategic thinking. It is macro environmental factors that generate short term thinking, but coupled with mismanagement on different levels of corporate management.
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Role of innovations and knowledge – infrastructure and institutions
7-10Views:290There is a well known saying: Research converts money into knowledge, innovation converts knowledge into money. The knowledge-based economy has four pillars: innovation, education, the economic and institutional regime, and information infrastructure. Transformation towards a knowledge-based economy will necessarily shift the proportion and growth of national income derived from knowledge-based industries, the percentage of the workforce employed in knowledge-based jobs and the ratio of firms using technology to innovate. Progress towards a knowledge-based economy will be driven by four elements: human capital development, knowledge generation and exploitation (R&D), knowledge infrastructure. Increased investment in these four areas will certainly have an impact. National experience, however, suggests that an incremental approach will not work. Nations that have achieved accelerated growth in outputs and capabilities have acted decisively, targeting investments in areas of strategic opportunity. The organizational and infrastructural improvement of research requires supranational cooperation and the promotion of the free movement of knowledge. Therefore, the EU decision on the establishment of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), which ensures that the GDP proportion for research and development (R&D) shall achieve 3% stipulated by member states in the long run, is particularly welcome.
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The future role of agriculture in multifunctional rural development: The case of Italy
15-22Views:143This paper addresses the issue of the role of agriculture in multifunctional rural development in Italy. Italy is characterised by high heterogeneity in terms of territorial composition, rural areas and the role of agriculture. The paper reviews the main multifunctionality concerns in Italy, by discussing rural development issues and policies and addressing the role of agriculture in such a context. The further development of agriculture and related future issues are then discussed, both in terms of dominant themes and most relevant policy design issues.
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Analysis of the producer price of Hungarian raw milk in international comparison
27-32Views:181Although the dairy market crisis eased in 2011, Hungarian dairy farmers still find it difficult to produce milk profitably. As a result of the crisis, many dairy farmers abandoned milk production or reduced the size of their dairy herds in 2009 and 2010. Today, many of farmers are also considering ceasing production, in spite of the fact that the global dairy industry is facing an upturn. A dairy farm can operate profitablyy in three ways: 1) if it can reach a relatively high level of producer price 2) if it can increase milk production per cow 3) if it can achieve a relatively low cost of production. In the present study, I primarily analyse the development of the Hungarian producer price of raw milk in international comparison. Next, I list those factors which directly or indirectly influence the producer price of raw milk. Finally, I examine the relationship among disposable income, milk consumption and milk price. Since the start of 2009, the dairy market has been confronted with a period of extraordinary law prices. After bottoming out, prices had begun to slowly stabilise during the second half of 2009. By the end of that summer, international prices had started to strengthen and the last quarter of 2009 was characterized by a steady rise in prices. The strong recovery in prices experienced after 2009 was triggered by increased demand, mainly from oil exporting countries, but also from China.
The price increase, however, reflected a significant increase in input costs in Hungary; the high level of feed prices and the unfavourable change in the macroeconomic environment must be stressed. The rising excise duty on diesel fuel and the VAT increase had a direct impact on Hungarian dairy farmers. These negative factors have increased the costs of the sector, narrowing the ability of those active in it to operate efficiently. -
The conditions of security in sustainable rural economics
51-57Views:137This work aims to map the potentials of safe rural economy. This topic cannot be separated from the processes of globalization and localization, affecting each other, whose positive and negative effects have been focussed on, especially in terms of the protection of security and sustainability or their damaging. In Hungary, sustainable rural economy cannot be achieved only by the rural economy’s systematic stabilization but its present structure and the security system, accompanying the process, also needs to undergo some drastic changes. Sustainable rural economy means a modern economy that aims to keep the rural inhabitants while increases the wealth of the whole society. The legal security of the sustainable local economy is guaranteed by the state in Hungary. The security of the rural areas is provided by the police as an armed force, the auxiliary police, the public place supervision, the local agricultural rangers, the environment wardens, and by the fish- and game-keepers. The Police Act allows cooperation with the further organizations of the society to preserve public order, and to protect property and prevent and detect crimes. The purpose of my thesis is to present security as one of the most important factors to improve the rural areas. I also aim to map the possibilities of improving security (such as cooperation, naming the resources assisting strategic tenders and participation in rural development programs).
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More insurance subsidies for European farmers – is it needed?
33-38Views:150In addition to traditional sources of uncertainties, such as market price volatility and animal and plant health-related risks, the impacts of climate change have recently become a major concern in the agricultural sector throughout the world. Insurance has been commonly proposed as a key instrument in farm risk management, and agricultural insurance schemes have become more widespread both in developed and developing countries. We conducted a case study in the UK to investigate farmers’ risk perception and willingness to pay for crop insurance by using contingent valuation method (CVM). Similarly to the experience from developing countries, we found that farmers are less willing to pay for insurance, however they do take actions to reduce their risks. While these results suggest that the provision of premium subsidies to European farmers can be justified; in order to avoid counter-productive policy outcomes, one may consider the introduction of a risk-based approach in agricultural risk management.
JEL classification: Q14
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Economic Performances of German Agri-Food Businesses: an Extension of Existing Discourses on the Topic
67-80Views:196Considering the circumstance that literature dealing with the economic performance of agri-food businesses in general, or particularly with the German agricultural sector, mainly deals with strictly agricultural-related theory in order to explain the economic success of agri-food businesses, the present paper aims to extend existing discourses to further areas of thought. Consequently, the characteristics: a) increased size of agribusiness, b) pull-strategies, c) the development of new markets and d) focus on the processing industry, that all correspond to the current picture of the German agricultural sector and are considered to be significantly responsible for recently managing to outpace the French agri-food sector, will be first explained in their success against the background of mainly non-agricultural-related literature. By doing so helpful and rather unnoted perspectives can be contributed to existing discourses. Second, the paper presents scatter plots which portray correlations between a) the added value of agriculture and the regular labor force, b) the added value of agriculture and the number of agricultural holdings and c) the added value of agriculture and the number of enterprises concerning milk consumption. Corresponding scatter plots which show different developments in Germany and France can be related to the findings of the first part of the paper and allow new perspectives in existing discourses as well.
JEL Classification: Q10
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Historic landmarks in the development of Agricultural Land Market in Poland after the year 1989
41-44Views:156For a number of decades in the second half of the XXth century, agricultural land has been divided in Poland between three sectors: family, state owned and cooperative farms, with a dominating share of private, individual farmers in land use. As a result, ownership structure of agricultural land in Poland is quite unique among the former socialist Central and East European countries. Until the year1989, when the transformation to a market economy was initiated, the land market in Poland was almost non-existent. The State Land Fund(SLF), an institution created in 1944 was fordecades a substitute to land market. Originally, the Fund was responsible for the implementation of the land reform. After nationalization or confiscation of real estates, state farms have been established on a larger part of agricultural land under Fund’s management. Therest has been divided between formerfarm workers and small farmers owing less than 5 hectares of land.
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The institutional determinants of bilateral Agricultural and food trade
53-57Views:154The paper investigates the effects of the institutional determinants on trade in agricultural and food products among the OECD countries using a gravity model approach. We focus on the impact of the quality of governance and the similarity of institutions in explaining variation in bilateral agricultural and food trade patterns. Results confirmed the separate effects for the institutional similarity and the institutional quality on trade patterns. The institutional similarity has positive and significant impact on trade in a similar institutional framework for agricultural, but less for food products. The institutional quality has significant positive impact on trade in both agricultural and food products for importing countries.
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Reducing consumption of food with high level of fat, sugar and/or salt among young generation
85-91Views:168The young generation is the most influenced and vulnerable segment of the market. Food with high level of fat, sugar and/or salt are popularised for this segment.At the same time nearly 7 people die of obesity or from complications of obesity in Hungary each hour – one every 9minutes. Less than 10% of youth are of the belief of eating healthy and more then one third of youth don’t take care about healthy eating. The young generation can be especially influenced by use of well-known persons, prize games and free gifts. The idea of fat tax’s introduction could be an obvious proposal.
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Effect of climate therapy and rehabilitation in Mátra Medical Institute
39-42Views:176Our research we organised at the Mátra Medical Institute in Mátraháza and Kékestetô among sick of asthma, COPD and hayfever. Our aim was to prove the effect of climate therapy in the Mátra Medical Institute. The subalpine climate to plays a very important role in the cure of the Respiratory diseases, because to improve the life quality of the sick and reduce the medicine uses afther the therapy. Our researche took part more than 100 respiratory diseased. We analyse the data with SPSS.version16. We measure average, standard deviation, Chi²probe, t-probe.You can see our results in the article.
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Leisure activities and travel habits of college students in the light of a survey
57-61Views:832In our article we deal with leisure activities and travel habits of 150 college students from Szolnok. We have analyzed the relationship between the frequencies of watching TV, that is: the time spent watching TV and doing sports. Furthermore, we have also investigated the frequencies of travels, and main motives of choosing travel destinations. We have found that college students have several hours of leisure time daily. Among the recreational activities, the ones that occurred predominantly are watching TV, doing sports, and travelling. It is interesting to note that the relationship between the frequency of watching TV and doing sports has not been significant while the relationship between watching TV occasionally and doing regular physical activity has turned out to be significant. Students who play sports for 1-2 hours a day spend significantly less time in front of the TV compared to their peers who do not do sports. 92% of the students travel at least once a year. The participants of youth tourism are quite price-conscious. In choosing travel destinations favorable prices play an important role.
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Civic organizations and citizens-an alternative approach to understanding civic engagement
137-141Views:122The importance of nonprofit, and inside classic civic sector is usually approached on the basis of figures of the Statistical Office. Based on these, we may assume these to have a slight or intermediate role in the greater economy regarding economic capacity and human resources. Actually, we cannot have a closer look into local conditions and circumstances which would contribute to a better understanding of how civic organizations are connected to citizens. It is difficult to estimate the background, effect, personal movements behind the civic sector; international literature discusses this issue in the framework of civic engagement. In a private examination, I may also contribute to the alternative approach to the importance of the civic organization sector by studying and measuring the complex indicator termed “civic involvement”. Additionally, a small scale pilot examination has revealed a better, more precise description of the connection between citizens and civic organizations, which may also enable the better planning of local municipal interventions.
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