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Transition economy and happiness the Czech Republic compared with the Netherlands in the 1990- 2004 period
119-126Views:382The paper deals with the subject Transition economy and happiness – a case study of the Czech Republic in a comparison with The Netherlands in the 1990- 2004 period. The paper addresses the following two questions: 1. How has the level of happiness changed since 1990 in the Czech Republic and in The Netherlands? 2. Are there differences with respect to variables that explain differences in happiness between both countries. It appears that. at the beginning of the 1990s of the last century, the Czechs were less happy than the Dutch and, that, people in the Czech Republic were less happy in 1999 than they were in 2004. Furthermore, Happiness in the Czech Republic is approaching the level of happiness in The Netherlands. In both countries happiness is positively affected by subjective health status, perceived freedom of choice over life, being married or living together and satisfaction with one’s financial situation and having trust in social institutions. But there are differences with respect to the impact of age, education and religion .
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Empirical research on corporate strategies in Hungarian dairy industry
169-179Views:355Corporate strategy has never been as important as it is nowadays. Markets are changing rapidly because of consumer demands, innovations, information flow and economic changes. Our paper concentrates on Hungarian dairy industry (hereinafter dairy) and four main objectives were defined to be analysed: (1) domestic dairy company features, (2) main strategic characteristics, (3) how companies’ strategy resonates on the consumer side and (4) companies’ financial background were analysed as well. A company database was made in order to prepare for the primary research and to understand better the nature of today’s market. B2B (26 companies) and B2C (503 people) surveys were used in order to gain primary data. In 2017 132 Hungarian companies were observed in milk processing, but 44% of the market participants are not present in dairy competition. It is a fairly fragmented market structure because 10-20% of the annual turnover is accumulated among the 80-90% of competitors. The factor analysis of the data proved that the dairy companies followed m strategies at the same time; and it is assumed that most of them are unconscious. Strategically, the majority of the dairy sector is not up-to-date and modern enough. SMEs sector management skills and strategic preparedness are considered to be out-of-date and insufficient. Strategic planning can possibly have an influence on financial results, which was only partly proved by the analysed criteria system. The production and use of own raw milk supplies might make companies experience financial benefits. Nearly 78% of the respondents would rather purchase goods made from own raw material. The willingness to pay a higher price for this was in average 5-15%.
JEL Code: L1, L66
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Comparative yield risk calculations of sour cherry and pear varieties regarding risk aversion
111-116Views:278Fruit production in the world is increasing continuously. Though in the past few years China and some South-American countries have extended their fruit producing areas, Europe remains to be one of the greatest fruit producers in the world. In the middle of Europe Hungary has to face several challenges as competing for market. Since yield risk has an important role in Hungarian fruit production we investigate the yield risk of two of the most important sour cherry varieties (’Újfehértói fürtös’ and ’Oblacsinszka’) grown in Újfehértó (1984-2005), moreover, two of the most important pear varieties (’Bosc Beurre’ and ’Williams’) grown in Bánfa and Zalasárszeg (1984-2009). In the examined periods we analyse yield risk with different comparative methods such as E,V-efficiency, first and second degree as well as generalized stochastic dominance methods. We conclude that the production of sour cherry variety ’Oblacsinszka’ in Újfehértó is more preferable compared to the other sour cherry varieties and pear variety ’Bosc Beurre’ in Bánfa is more advantageous than the other pear varieties and sites.
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The characteristics of consumer attitudes in the food market in Hungary
43-49Views:429The objective of our research was to examine the health status and health behaviour of the Hungarian population in relation of food consumption by identifying relationships between the underlying factors. In our research we used the objective factors from secondary data concerning nutritional status and body image as a framework for the interpretation of the examined relationship of eating attitudes and body attitudes. We chose survey as our test method, it was carried out on a national representative sample of 1000 people. After the examination of the factor structure of the two attitude measuring questionnaire, five consumer groups have been identified by the cluster analysis. The five clusters are: Uncontrolled Impulse Eaters, Dissatisfied Tense, Uninterested, Overweight Impulse Eaters and Conscious Consumers. This segmentation based on eating attitudes and body attitudes could serve as a guidance for health marketing experts and the manufacturers of health protective food to determine and address their target group.
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Evaluating linkage between operators’ satisfaction and potential of local resources for rural tourism: Evidence from Matsuura in Japan
33-41Views:309As rural tourism evolves into diversification, the connection between the individual and local resource management is becoming an important issue for the sustainable evolution of rural tourism. To explore this point, we investigated conceptually and empirically whether rural tourism operators’individual satisfaction enhances utilization of local resources and, if so, what mechanism works for it by focusing on rural tourism accompanied by an educational program, i.e. a farm-stay with farm and rural experience services implemented as a part of school trips in Matsuura, Japan. From statistical tests and an econometric estimation based on a questionnaire survey of rural tourism operators we found that operators’individual satisfaction gained from interchange with visitors and direct feedback can positively enhance locally exerted effects that stimulate operators to recognize opportunities within their community and raise the potential for local resource use. Thus, we should strengthen this connection to eventually create a new viable activity.
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The development of integrated accounting in small and medium-sized companies in the agri- and foodsector f the Russian federation
131-135Views:315This paper focuses on the regulation of financial accounting in SMEs in the agri- and food sector in Russia. The paper presents the factors which influence the accounting system and the quality of the information it provides. The information and reports that are prepared according to international standards are not comparable with reports prepared by Russian standards. They do not facilitate external users in gathering relevant information on the current financial position. The present usage of different systems for procuring information to satisfy the needs of multiple stakeholder groups takes time, distorts information, and often does not provide a true and fair view on business performance. One way to overcome this is the use of an integrated accounting system which allows, within the limits of Russian legislation, to provide a broad information base for external reporting. International standards could be used like IAS41 or those applied in the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). The derived data could be used for attraction of investments, presentation of information to all interested users, comparison of results of activities in similar companies, and as a benchmark for the activities of companies in various regions and/or segments. They could be used to compare Russian companies with similar ones in the European Union. This paper describes the benefits and pitfalls which companies potentially experience from implementing an integrated accounting information system for company management and financial reporting purposes in the Russian Federation.
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The competitiveness of rural areas in the Republic of Tatarstan
89-96Views:303This paper analyses the main factors influencing the regional competitiveness of rural areas in the Tatarstan Republic. Firstly, 19 variables related to the socio-economic situation in the Tatarstan Republic were analysed, these having been taken from the Statistics Committee of the Tatarstan Republic. Principal component analysis (PCA) was then used to determine the weights of 10 indicators that have an effect on the level of regional competitiveness. Factor weights are used as weights in the summation of the standardised scores of variables that have an impact on competitiveness. The major factors influencing the level of regional competitiveness are the level of economically active population, investment in housing and the level of education. The following results were obtained: one of the 44 regions is very highly competitive and two are highly competitive; two of 44 regions have a medium level of competitiveness and 39 regions have a low level of competitiveness.
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DIVESTITURE POST MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS IN INDIA – REASONS AND MODEL TO PREDICT
Views:262Divestitures post-acquisition are a common occurrence yet the jury is still out on whether they represent correction of prior mistakes or are a restructuring tool to improve performance in the hands of managers evaluating overall portfolio of assets. We take a sample of 1,344 deals buy Indian public listed buyers from 2000 to 2020 of which 13% were followed by a divestiture to create models to predict if an acquisition is likely to be followed by a divestiture or not using logistic regression and discriminant analysis. Our model is more than 75% accurate in its prediction even when tested on unselected data (new data for the model). We find support for portfolio theory and reject the correction of prior mistakes theory to explain post-acquisition divestitures. We support the theory that financial constraints leads to post acquisition divestiture. We also support the theory on indigestion that post acquisition divestitures are due to cookie-jar problem where buyers are finding it difficult to integrate. Increased volatility and poor mean stock price returns both contribute to conditions leading to such divestitures. The model constructed is useful for shareholders and other stakeholders to predict whether a divestiture will follow an acquisition or not. Managers can also use the model to predict eventual outcome of their acquisition decisions.
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Bread consumption habits in the gluten free diet
113-119Views:669Gluten is a protein found in many grain products. Celiac disease is a genetic autoimmune disorder characterized by sensitivity to gluten. When a person with celiac disease consumes gluten, his/her immune system perceives the gluten to be a harmful substance and reacts negatively. The only treatment for individuals with celiac disease is lifelong adherence to a gluten-free diet. It is one of the most frequent and well defined of all lifelong diseases. In Hungary, 1-2 % of the population is said to be affected, but only every 10th has been diagnosed. Bread is a basic and frequently consumed food made principally from wheat. Gluten is the main structure-forming protein in flour, and is responsible for the elastic characteristics of dough, and contributes to the crumb structure and appearance of many baked products. Gluten removal results in major problems for bakers. Currently many gluten-free products available on the market are of low quality, exhibiting poor mouth feel and flavour. People wishing to eat bread in the gluten-free diet basically have two options: buying or baking the bread for themselves. There are several gluten-free bread brands are available on the Hungarian market. The price, ingredients, texture, colour, softness of the available breads are different. There is a rather good choice in gluten-free flour mixtures on the Hungarian market, as well. The composition of these mixtures are also different. The aim of our empirical research was to investigate the gluten-free bread consumption habits of people following gluten-free diet. The research was carried out using Google forms in January 2017. Size of the sample is 196. The online form was shared in four closed gluten free Facebook groups in Hungary since they are really active in sharing information concerning gluten-free lifestyle and diet. Summarizing, in this study we wish to examine how evolve the world pork meat production, trade and consumption, and to demonstrate the main consuming countries, highlighting the role of China, as it is the most populated country in the world with its 1.4 billion inhabitants.
JEL Code: M31
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New sources of employment to promote the wealth-generating capacity of rural communities
15-21Views:398New Sources of Employment to Promote the Wealth-Generating Capacity of Rural Communities (acronym: RuralJobs) is a collaborative research project partly funded under the European Commission Research and Development 7th Framework Program. The Rural Jobs consortium consists of partners drawn from eight European Union (EU) countries (Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Romania, Spain and UK). The project began on February 2008 and finished in October 2010. RuralJobs quantified labour market, demographic and economic trends, and the impact of employment creation measures and policies in seven, representative “reference areas” across the EU, and used the information to demonstrate how rural development measures can be better targeted and how rural development policies should evolve.We identified labour market, demographic and economic trends in rural areas across EU-27 and the potential for new sources of employment outside traditional primary and secondary sector activities, and examined the interaction between different types of rural area (peri-urban, remote, high environmental/amenity value etc.). We identified employment growth areas where rural development programmes can be targeted to increase their contribution to employment creation. Our strategic objectives were the following: review of employment policies and programmes, scenarios for new sources of employment according to rural typologies, recommendations for better targeting of strategies, dissemination and mainstreaming. The main outcome expected is that the results will allow a better targeting of rural development measures and future evolution of rural development policies in line with the Lisbon Strategy.
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The situation of agricultural sector in Hungary – trends and territorial aspects
Views:515Based on its geographical features, Hungary is basically an agricultural country. The proportion of the production area within the total area of the country is approximately 80% and the proportion of arable land is 60%. This makes our country one of the first in the European Union. In the EU, only Denmark and the United Kingdom have a higher proportion of agricultural land. Hungary accounts for only 3% of the total agricultural area of the EU-27 Member States, however, it plays a significant role in the production of certain products. (Harangi-Rákos, 2013)
In addition, the climate is favorable for agricultural production, which also strengthens the country's agricultural character. Throughout history, we have rightly been given the honorable name “pantry” (Marosi, 2009), which was true both within the Monarchy and Europe. In the socialist system the agricultural country became a so-called “industrial-agrarian” country due to the violent industrializations.
Beyond industrial development, the service sector plays an important role in the national economy due to its technology-intensive nature. In addition, agricultural production is still significant in Hungary (Lakner et al. 2020). The agricultural sector is significantly involved in the production of the gross domestic product (Fróna-Kőmíves 2019) and in the positive development of the export-import balance. During the 2008 world crisis, it was thanks to this sector, among other factors, that the recession that affected our country did not deepen. The domestic consumption is largely covered by domestically produced commodities (Csatáriné, 2019)
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The impact of the “greening” of the common agricultural policy on the financial situation of Polish farms
49-55Views:541This paper presents an assessment of the impacts of introducing the greening scenario of the CAP, proposed by the European Commission as an alternative for the reformed CAP after 2013. In the past, the CAP has undergone numerous transformations in response to the changing macroeconomic environment and in reaction to developments in the farming sectors in EU countries. On the 12th of October 2011, the Commission presented a set of legal proposals designed to make the CAP a more effective policy to encourage more competitive and sustainable agriculture and vibrant rural areas. The proposal brings various new elements under consideration, some of them raising strong controversies such as introducing “greening” as a component of direct payments. Changes in the direct payments scheme in line with the EC proposition include forcing adjustments in the cropping pattern and creating ecological focus areas (EFA) on 7% of the farm land ; the consequences of such a proposal on the size and structure of agricultural production, and thus on the economic performance of farms and the whole agricultural sector are uncertain. The authors analyse historical changes to the CAP with a focus on a growing importance of the environmental component of the CAP, discuss different scenarios of shaping the direct payments system and present the results of modelling the impacts of greening the CAP on the Polish farming sector with the use of the LP optimisation model. The study was based on Polish FADN data. Results show that the majority of farmers in Poland comply with the crop diversification constraint of greening. However, establishing the required EFAs and necessary diversification on farms with simplified cropping structures will have a negative impact on the volume of agricultural production as well as on farm incomes.
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Human resource aspect of agricultural economy – challenges of demographic change
163-167Views:371Over the past decades, the agrarian policy has tried to contribute to the catching-up of the rural areas with varying dynamism and aid scheme. However, its result is significantly below expectations. Nowadays, the age composition of the population living in rural areas reveals an unfavourable picture; the rate of the elderly, deprived persons and people being inactive from the aspect of employment is high and it is also combined with the low educational levels. The young generations and intellectuals leave the rural areas and, consequently, the rate of the active population continues to grow narrow as well as the proportion of young and skilled employees decreases. As a consequence of changes in the past decades, the rate of agricultural employment has not led to an intensive change but a failing change in extensive direction which lays off jobs. Nowadays, this process also determines the Hungarian rural society. In the sector, the need for employment diminishes as a result of the development in technology and due to the expansion of services sector. The purpose of our study is to present and analyse the human resources of our country’s agriculture by skill level and age group and compare it with the needs of companies, by doing this we try to compare supply and demand. In details, based on secondary data source, we investigate the agricultural labour force and try to confront it with the advertisements of job search portals (three of our job search portals based on our predefined criteria), by which we achieve a current picture of the agricultural human resource circumstances.
JEL Code: J43
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Estimation of Armington elasticities: case of vegetables in Mongolia
Views:445Mongolian people often consume meat more than vegetable in diet due to traditional nomadic culture. Nowadays, the Mongolian people’s diet has been changing who consume more vegetables with associated urbanization (half of the population live in urban areas, mostly in the capital city). Even though vegetable consumption has been increased recently, the vegetable market is still a high reliance on imports and threatening national food security. Since 2016, the Mongolian government has especially paid attention to increasing vegetable's domestic production and substitution to import vegetables (Ministry of food and Agriculture, 2017). Therefore, this paper provided to substitution elasticity (the Armington elasticity) between import vegetables and domestic vegetables in Mongolia. Additionally, we estimated the home bias value of vegetables. The so-called Armington elasticities are widely used for computable general equilibrium (CGE) analysis, which determines a degree of substitution between import goods and domestically produced goods. Several of the authors studied Armington elasticities at the product level. We choose six vegetables (such as potato, garlic and onion, tomato, carrot and turnips, cabbage, and cucumber) related to lack of information. The empirical result shows that the Armington elasticities in the long-run higher than the short-run with exception of potato which means that products are similar in the long-run. However, our estimated Armington elasticities are quite lower than the previous studies result which means that Mongolian people indicated more prefer home growing vegetables than import vegetables. Moreover, we found that the home bias value is high in the short-run even long -run, this appears to be a higher relative weight on home vegetables.
JEL code: F13, Q17, Q18
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Analysis of the chain of the banana industry of Ecuador and the European market
57-65Views:1765Bananas are among the four main crops in the world, including wheat, rice, and corn. It is the most exported fresh fruit in the world in terms of volume and value. The European Union (EU) is the largest banana importer globally with an estimated volume share of 33%. Ecuador is the top exporter since it is responsible for one-quarter of the world banana exportation. It represents 22% of total world exports, 27% of total agricultural exports in the country and 8% of the value of all exports (including oil). The present work analyzed the chain of the banana industry of Ecuador and its position in the EU market. A non-experimental empirical method with a quantitative and qualitative approach was used supported by scholarly literature and secondary research data collection. Results obtained show that the main countries destination shipped 87.8 % of total bananas exported from Ecuador in the period of 2007 – 2017. The largest importer of Ecuadorian banana is the European Union (28.9%). In Ecuador, approximately 78% of the banana producers are small companies, by adding the medium ones 95.6% is reached. Thus, the production of bananas in the country is mainly based on the family economy. In 2019, the official banana box price for producers in Ecuador is USD 6.30. In the EU market, it can reach over USD 18.00. It suggested an unfair payment to small and medium producers.
JEL CODE: Q13, M16, M21
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New venture creation – the influence of entrepreneurship education on students’ behavior (a literature – review based study)
147-153Views:895Entrepreneurship brings economic growth and development through the process of venture creation. These new business enterprises have a very important and positive impact on employment generation, poverty alleviation, and socio-economic development. Entrepreneurship education influences the attitude and behavior of students to form intentions of self-employability. We have analyzed the literature to clearly understand the relationship between entrepreneurship education and intentionality and the underlying mechanisms through which entrepreneurship education impacts intentions to start new ventures. By utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), we propose that entrepreneurship education increases students’ perceived entrepreneurial self-efficacy and perceived desirability for starting new ventures. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy and desirability in turn impact and increase students’ entrepreneurial intentions for creating new ventures. Entrepreneurship Education Programs (EEPs) focusing “Education for entrepreneurship” have more influence on intentionality through self-efficacy and desirability. Comparatively, EEPs concentrating on “Education about entrepreneurship” will have less impacts on the intentionality. The study has important theoretical and practical implications for researchers, academicians, policy makers and potential entrepreneurs – the students.
JEL. Code: A2, L6
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Nexus of non-farm enterprises and rural households’ livelihood: evidence from Nigeria
Views:319Agricultural sector in Nigeria is faced with diverse challenges that threaten the survival of rural households who constitute a significant proportion of the country’s population, thereby forcing them to diversify into alternative occupations outside farming. This study assessed the contributions of non-farm enterprises to livelihood of rural households in Osun State, Nigeria. The quantitative data were elicited from120 rural households’ heads across the state. The data collected analysis appropriate statistics. Results revealed that majority of rural households were involved in multiple non-farm enterprises and provide full-time employment for majority. Many were favourably disposed to contribution of non-farm enterprises to their households’ livelihood. Majority indicated that non-farm enterprises contributed moderately to their households’ livelihood. Income from non-farm enterprises, association membership and age were significantly correlated with the contribution of non-farm enterprises to rural households’ livelihood. It was concluded that non-farm enterprises play significant roles in sustaining the livelihood of rural households in the study area
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Resource use efficiency among rice farmers around fragile ecosystems: evidence from Kilombero Wetland, Tanzania
77-88Views:434Farmers have been encroaching fragile wetlands as a strategy to increase their rice production thus threatening wetlands’ existence and capacity to other critical ecosystem services. This calls for efficient production to strike the balance between food rice production and wetlands’ sustainable existence. The current study sought to provide assess rice farmers’ technical efficiency of resource use by detecting the determinants of rice yield and further identify the determinants of technical efficiency of the resources used by rice farmers in Kilombero wetland. A cross-sectional survey of 145 randomly sampled farmers aided in achieving the study objective. A stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) model was used to analyze data. The mean technical efficiency among farmers was at 60.54% level. The positive determinants of rice yield were land and fertilizers while labor influenced it negatively. Age, education, farming experience, group membership, and credit access reduced inefficiency while the distance to the extension agent and off-farm income increased farmers’ inefficiency. The study concludes that there is a possibility of expanding rice production without threatening the wetland’s existence. It recommends that government and other stakeholders to ensure that rice farmers are up-to-date with optimal use of fertilizers in rice production since it will assist in improving rice yield while the rate of expansion of rice lands in the wetlands will lower. Policy implementers ought to establish initiatives that inspire rice farmers to capitalize on farmer groups and join education programs to take full advantage of their potential efficiency and might participate in community development activities.
JEL code: Q15
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The planned development’s effect on the performance in ice hockey
31-35Views:393The sports are growing everywhere in the world, so there is no other way to maintain or to increase the level of quality just the strategic planned development (GÉCZI, 2012), because thousands of specialist are working hardly on the better results worldwide. The aim of this study was to monitor the ice hockey players’ physical development in Hungary since 2007, focusing the results after opening the federations’ Methodical Center (MC). One can see a remarkable development during the last years in the domestic ice hockey, which is perceptible following the sport performance and results. The first step of the planned development was the reform of the curriculum in the coaches courses (from 2004 continuously) at every level, the second step was the opening our MC in 2010, where the Hungarian players and experts (coaches and officials) can develop their skills and their knowledge about the ice hockey. We examined the effect of the above mentioned procedures, comparing the national try-out test running events (10 m, 60 m, 6×9 m, 400 m, 1500 m) by the best twenty U18 players (N=80). According to the opening of the Methodical Center, we used the data from 2012, 2009, 2008 and 2007.
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Tests of differential diesel fuels in engine testing room
59-65Views:340The portion of oil could be estimated 33 % of global primary energy consumption in 2012 (BP, 2012) and its average price – beside the products produced from it as well - significantly increased, unlike the demand for transport which has been reduced. This tendency is expected to remain unchanged in the long run, therefore, there is a great importance for the variety of diesel fuel distributors, in comparison of the ratio value for each of them, and replacing them with biodiesel can be used in the comparison. We executed 3 dynamometer measurements performed to determine three different dealers purchased diesel oil, some economical examinations of the diesel oil retail price, and the use of biodiesel all based on the expected economic studies in the literature studies of extra fuel consumption values. The results of these tests indicate that the differences of consumption between diesel oils can be up to 5 %, the conclusion is that distinctions of diesel oil consumptions are almost the same when we tested the differences between diesel oil and biodiesel. This means we can reach the same result with a high quality biodiesel as with poor quality diesel oil. This also means that– below 20% of mixing ratio we can easily choose by prices alone. Between these prices and products ( D1, D2, D3), we can save 4.8% diesel oil by using D2, 6.2% diesel oil by using D3 compared to D1. There could be a little revolution variance (D2: 2.9-6%, D3: 4.9- 7.1%), but this variance is under 1% so it is negligible.
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Information content of a sports undertaking’s statements serving different purposes – particularly with reference to the player rights
119-133Views:450In the 21st century, sport is not just a fun, social cohesive force but also a business; it has become an independent industry by now and several countries possess developed sport markets. According to estimates, sport accounts for 4% of the EU’s GDP. The actuality of our research is given by the fact that the economic aspect of sports develops continuously which is also due to that more and more amounts already stream into sports in our days. In Hungary, sport is mainly state aided and has mostly financing problems while the sport businesses existing in the more developed Western Europe are principally sponsored by the private sector. The government considers sport as a strategic branch (HERCZEG et al, 2015) and manages as such because they see the international breakthrough potencies in sport as well. Sport companies must also adapt the business-based thinking, which requires the strategic planning and operation (BECSKY, 2011). The research covers the subject of economic approach of the players’ rights. The task of accounting is to give a true and fair image about the property, income and financial situation of an undertaking. Information provided by accounting is essential for both the management decisionmaking and the market operators. In Hungary, the sports undertakings, as each managing entity, have to prepare their statements according to the Act C of 2000 on Accounting (AoA.) (NAGY – BÁCSNÉ BÁBA, 2014). The purpose of this research is to examine how a domestic sports undertaking demonstrates the value of available players in the books and how the incomes and expenditures incurred with the players are accounted for, based on the regulations of the Hungarian, international associations and the Union of European Football Associations (hereinafter: UEFA). In order that the leaders of the businesses can make quick and appropriate economic decisions, it is essential in this intensively changing world that an enterprise should have a well-functioning accounting system based on up-to-date information. International Financial Reporting Standards (hereinafter: IFRS) are intended to provide the comparability across borders. Firstly, we deal with the accounting reporting system, both the Hungarian, international financial reporting standards and, relating to UEFA, the investigation of the intangible assets to a great extent during analysing the balance sheets. Then, we examine the income statements from the viewpoint player transfers. To what extent the rules of a statement laid down by UEFA differ from the ones of a statement prepared according to AoA? What is the difference in domestic and international relations? In this study, we search after the answers for questions mentioned before.
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Consumption habits of “Free range chicken” in Hungary
69-73Views:379Poultry is highly ranked in theWorld meat production and consumption (it accounted for 32% in 2007), and, in the past 20 years it was growing with an annual rate of 3–6%, higher than in case of any other meat-types. This tendency is also valid for Hungary: poultry has the largest share (29.8 kg/person/year, 47%) in the domestic meat consumption since 2000, which is among the EU top (KSH, 2007). As the result of the animal health and nutrition scandals, the EU animal welfare and quality requirements and the advancements in health consciousness the Master-Good group launched the production, processing and trade of free-range poultry under the brand “Free-range chicken”. The new products had good consumer responses, because at present 1.5% of the processed chicken in Hungary (25 tons/week) is under this brand. As it regards the future of this product, we can expect the decrease of the current 1.5 times higher production price over broiler chicken, due to the increasing energy, labour and other cost items, thus the increase of the domestic consumption by 25–30% per annum can be foreseen. Besides the growth in domestic demand, increasing foreign consumer demand can also be expected because of the space requirement of the production. Summarising the above mentioned: „Free range chicken” can be one of the most successful products of the Hungarian poultry industry. In order to realise the prognosis mentioned above, it is inevitable to learn the consumer attitudes towards the brand. A primary market research programme supported by the Master Good group has been launched to study the main features of the domestic chicken meat consumption – including the „Free-range chicken” as highlighted brand. The primary aim of the research was the complete assessment and evaluation of the Hungarian chicken consumption habits and the identification of the possible take-off points. The research undertaken resulted basic information concerning the internal structure of the Hungarian poultry consumption (including that of the „Free-range chicken”), the potential consumer groups and their requirements, provided information on the consumers’knowledge of the products and identified the elements of the consumers’ judgements. This will serve as basis for a marketing communication programme to increase the domestic „Free-range chicken” consumption.
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Legal-economic barriers to price transfers in food supply chains
27-33Views:331Recent price movements have put food supply chains under pressure. On the one side, upward price tendencies on commodity markets result in higher costs to processing firms. On the other side, these firms are confronted with a strong retail sector that is able to prevent compensation to protect consumers’ and own economic interests. Regulatory impediments of European law, especially with respect to foodstuffs, can adversely be utilized as barriers to protect the interest downstream the supply chain. The problem is that legal-economic instruments which can serve to smooth price volatility in supply markets can also opportunistically be used at the expense of the middlesection in food supply chains (i.e., mainly small and medium sized producers). The aim of this article is to identify the legal-economic mechanisms that effect price transfers in food supply chains in the European Union and define policy adjustments to improve pricing mechanisms, while safeguarding the interests of the processing industry. Policy alternatives to improve the smooth functioning of notably intermediate markets in food supply chains are the restructuring of competition law, improved processor information management and creating transparency of value added in the supply chain by means of labelling devices.
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Graduate students’ opinions about entrepreneurship as an employment opportunity
23-29Views:385One of the most unwanted and unavoidable consequences of the economic recession is the high rate of unemployment. Graduate students in Croatia are faced with lack of employment possibilities, and for some of them the self-employment looks like a good solution. In this paper, we investigate attitudes and intentions of graduate students at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture regarding to selfemployment. Most of the surveyed students are in the age between 21 and 25 years, and they have already got some kind of knowledge about entrepreneurship during the formal education. In addition, majority of them have the experience of part-time jobs. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) model was used to find out to which extent students’ attitudes and experience influence their expressed self-employment intentions. The results revealed that Zagreb students’ scores are close but somewhat lower than the same scores found in the comparable study from Australia. This goes for the investigated variables: (1) previous entrepreneurial experience (PEE), perceived desirability of selfemployment (PDSE), perceived entrepreneurial self-efficacy (PESE) and self-employment intentions (SEI). It was found that the score on the PEE is significantly related to scores on the PDSE (p=0.000), and PESE (p=0.000), which means that the experience positively influence respondents’ attitudes on self-employment and self-efficacy. There is also a statistically significant difference in the on the SEI with respect to the PDSE (ANOVA F=9.804, p=0.000): respondents that consider self-employment more desirable expressed higher intention to perform it. The PDSE was found as the most influencing model variable in regards to the self-employment intention. The results points out the importance of previous experience, role models and positive attitudes towards self-employment in the process of the entrepreneurship development in young, educated population.
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Investment analysis of a piglet producer farm – a Hungarian case study
141-152Views:599The pig population in Hungary was about 8 million in 1990, while this number dropped to only 2.8 million by 2018. The previously so successful integrated domestic pig farming has almost completely disappeared and most of the smaller farms still operating in the 1990s are no longer functioning. At present, a process of concentration can be observed, which was accompanied by the further specialization of pig farming. The main profile of most pig farms is fattening, but there is a smaller number of farms in Hungary today specialized for piglet production, the successful operation of which requires significantly more expertise and more complex technology.
The main aim of this study is to present the production and economic indicators of a pig farm specialized in piglet production in Hungary as a result of a greenfield investment in the current economic environment, on a case study basis. For this purpose, an economic simulation was prepared based on primary data collection, operating on a deterministic basis, modelling the production and economic processes of the farm. The performed calculation does not derive the economic indicators of the activity from accounting records, but assigns the prices of natural inputs used on the basis of technological data. Primary data and information collection (e.g. technological data, input and output prices, unit cost items, etc.) took place between 2018-2019.
At the purchase prices of pigs in the last two years, which have increased significantly due to the African Swine Fever (ASF), the majority of pig farms in Hungary have an outstanding profit-making capacity. The physical efficiency indicators of the analysed pig farm are almost identical to the average data of such farms in the Netherlands, which has one of the most developed pig industry. The income of the examined pig farm at farm level is about 734 thousand EUR, i.e. 232 EUR per sow. Moreover, this activity is profitable even without subsidies. As a result, the greenfield investment pays off in the 8th year by default (average scenario). The investment has a Net Present Value (NPVr=3%) of EUR 2,609 thousand for 10 years, an Internal Rate of Return of 8.5%, and a Profitability Index (PIr=3%) of 1.3. At the same time, risk factors such as sales prices, output and capacity utilization, and feed costs should be taken into consideration as in extreme cases the return on investment may be unfavourable (pessimistic scenario).
JEL code: D24, M11, Q12