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Allocation of structural funds before and after the brexit: An exercise in the economics of cake-sharing
69-71Views:207What impact has the Brexit on the allocation of money from the structural funds? As the UK is a net contributor to the EU budget, the budget for Structural and Cohesion Policy will shrink. This will have an impact on the allocations of the structural funds to the remaining members of the EU. In order to estimate the allocation of the structural funds to the remaining EU members an allocation model is developed in this article. It appears that the model results do not only show the sharing of the cake, but also the size of it.
JEL Code: F00, Q00
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Measuring efficiency of intellectual capital in agriculture sector of Vojvodina
25-31Views:154During three-hundred-year history of the market economy, the main sources of wealth creation have changed from the natural resources (mainly land and relatively unskilled labor with the exception of the master craftsman), tangible material assets (buildings, machinery and equipment, funds) to intangible assets (knowledge and information of all types) that may be contained in the people, organizations, or physical resources. In the later period of the twentieth century, science has acquired the features of direct production force. The term direct implies that unlike the relationship which existed between science and production in the IXX century, where scientific advances was incorporated through the physical labor in the tools, which, in turn, created new value through the physical labor, the relationship between science and production has become all direct, immediate, because the scientific advances allowed the funds to be produced with less labor and allowed funds itself to become "smarter" and as such to require less human intervention and human physical labor in the final production process.As a result, the need for physical labor continuously declined with time, and the application of labor is moved from direct production to processes of preparing and organizing production. Also, a large part of today's knowledge that is used in production is not embodied in machinery, and the effects of this are immense.
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Issues in the economic development and utilization of EU funds in a disadvantaged sub-region of the Southern Great Plain region
43-46Views:129The development period between 2007 and 2013 had a historical significance for Hungary as the funds that were provided by the European Union and were supplemented by the domestic and public sectors naturally offered great possibilities for the country’s sub-statistical regions and regions to inspire their development and innovation. In order to use these funds efficiently it is essential to incorporate the developments into the area’s capabilities, to harmonize them and to increase the role of the sub-statistical regions and regions. This study ranks the sub-regions of the Southern Great Plain Region in terms of their economic characteristics and identifies the most disadvantageous ones. Using as an example a specific sub-region it determines the local effects of EU payments with the application of different statistical methods.
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Reasons for and obstacles to cycling in opinions of residents of Debrecen, Hungary
53-59Views:185It is a basic aim of the European Union that due to the developments in 2014-2020 the bicycle would become one of the most often used transportation, touristic, and sports equipment. We were interested to see to what extent is bicycling present in the transportation system of Debrecen and what are the most important reasons for its residents to use the bicycles. The dedication of Debrecen to promote cycling is clearly proven by the number of newly built or resurfaced bike paths and by the fact that the University of Debrecen has introduced – alone in the region – UniBike which is a bicycle renting system brought forth by the need of its students. Here we present the developments that took place in the North Plain Region in the past few years. We have also analyzed the national and European strategies and reports on bicycling. A survey was conducted among the youth of Debrecen to explore their cycling habits. The data were evaluated using the EvaSys program. Until the end of 2011 with the help of different funds 862 km of bike paths had been built in Hungary. In the North Plain Region due to funds totaling 777 million HUF 15.7 km long bike paths had been constructed until 2015. The development of tourism in this direction is promoted by the web-pages and brochures offering bicycle-tours around Debrecen. Nevertheless, bicycling in the neighboring townships is present not as an instrument for sports and/or tourism, rather as a mean of transportation. It is a clear goal in Europe and thus in Hungary to have bike paths that can provide the means of safe cycling. In parallel, it is also important to promote the benefits of bicycling, including positive physiological effects, cost-effectiveness, and environment-friendliness to increase the proportion of those who select bicycling as an alternative.
JEL Code: I15
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New tools and opportunities in growth and climate friendly greening for small and medium enterprises in the European Union
25-31Views:182The role of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is unquestionable in the European economies, while financial opportunities are still inadequate for them. The more than 20 million SMEs play a significant role in European economic growth, innovation and job creation. According to the latest EC Annual Report , SMEs are accounting for 99% of all non-financial enterprises, employing 88.8 million people and generating almost EUR 3.7 tn in added value for our economy. Despite the fact that there is plenty of EU funding available for these SMEs, for certain reasons these funds hardly reach them. But we have to see that the EU supports SMEs by various way, e.g. by grants, regulatory changes, financial instrument, direct funds. On the other hand, SMEs and decision makers realised that the environmental sustainability has to be attached to the economic growth, therefore more and more tools are available for these enterprises. Over the last few years, public institutions, the market, the financial community and non-governmental associations have explicitly demanded that firms improve their environmental performance. One of the greatest opportunities might lay in the Climate- and Energy Strategy till 2030 as 20% of the EU budget is allocated to climate-related actions, however the easy access to finance is still a key question. Does the EU recognise the actual difficulties? Is there a systemic reason behind the absorption problems? Is the EU creating a more businessfriendly environment for SMEs, facilitating access to finance, stimulates the green and sustainable growth and improving access to new markets? The paper analyses the current European situation of the SMEs and the effectiveness of some new tools, which are specially targeting SMEs.
JEL classification: Q18
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The analysis of absorption capacity of project beneficiaries contributing to cross-border programmes based on the most fundamental criteria
93-100Views:135Subsequent to the experience with the international aid programmes of the 1990’s, from the very beginning of the accession negotiations and since 2004 in particular, the notion of absorption capacity of using EU funds has gradually been in focus. The subject of early scientific investigations concentrated mainly on the analysis of the macro-economic conditions of individual countries; furthermore, on increasing absorption capacities as well as how to develop the institutional system of cohesion policy further. After 2004, however, succeeding further rounds of the enlargement as well as after the programming period 2007-2013 in particular – meaning as well the conclusion of the EU budgetary period – the analysis of absorption capacities could be produced at the level of project beneficiaries. The aim of this study is to examine the most prominent determinants influencing successful outcomes and the quality of vigorous projects managed by potent beneficiaries and consortia participating in the European Territorial Co-operation Programmes with the contribution of Hungary. In the course of research correlations between determinants have been subject to econometric analysis revealing the fact that the implementation capacities of state-owned project beneficiaries and those of the non-governmental sector diverge significantly. Moreover, the study aims to show how the institutional system distributing EU funds tends to be rather lax towards the beneficiaries with weak absorption capacities, thus sacrificing the efficiency of developments for pure statistics.
JEL code: R58
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Current situation and development of the bee-keeping sector in Hungary
71-74Views:219Rural development has become more and more important issue in Hungary since rural areas also contribute to the efficiency of the national economy. Development of rural areas also very important issue in the European Union, which could contribute to the improvement of profitability of small family businesses, higher employment rate in rural areas as well as slow down the migration of people from rural into urban areas. Nowadays the bee-keeping– as one of the activities can provide alternative income for small businesses in rural areas– has become more and more important topic in Hungary. Bee-keeping sector provides income roughly 15 thousands families in Hungary. At the same time it takes important role in the preservation of rural landscape, traditions and their regional values. However, the sector has serious problems, as well (for instance quality issues, competitors on the market, etc.). It can be stated that the market position of Hungarian honey can be preserved through the improvement of quality assurance and product development. These developments can be carried out by the utilization of national and European Union funds.
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The effects of health tourism investments in tourism businesses in the Northern Hungarian Region
45-50Views:186In my article I woud like to find answers for the question how frequently and effectively the region’s business leaders in Northern Hungary participated in various development programs, as regards investments in health tourism, what developments have been made mainly in the area, what the positive effects of these developments were in the life of businesses, whether the businesses (leaders) feel successful, and how their success was manifested. I carried out a questionnaire survey among enterprises. From the data I calculated mean, SD and spectrum and examined the crosstab correlations as well, and the Cramer’s V associate coefficient and Contingency coefficient. The results of the correlation tests could be summarised as the following: According to the survey, the number of the medium-sized enterprises being involved utilised a significant proportion of their development funds, compared to the micro and small enterprises. Although the idea of spas winterizing their pools was not considered an important development, both the adventure and wellness elements were important for the construction of thermal baths. In the case of hotels, the expansion of wellness elements and other additional services together with the development of marketing activities played an important role. Besides the positive business publicity, enterprises see the positive effects of the investment in the increase of their income; the success can be the result of the adequate supply of components, the professional management and that of positive image.
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An approach to understanding the specific subsidies recevied by rural civic organizations: A case of a settlement in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County
117-124Views:258Nowadays the sport related civic organizations form a special segment within the civic sector. In particular, the current situation of these organizations – who are operating in rural settlements – should be considered as special. In rural settlements the local sport related civic organizations by all means could be justified to make a difference on the basis of an essential aspect, that how they secure the funds from the external sources, and because of certain aspects it is closely related with the local politics. The purpose of our study was to investigate through the example of a small rural town in Hungary, that what kind of subsidies can the locally registered sport related civic organizations can get by focusing on the local football club’s results and the subsidies which were granted to the club between 2007 and 2015. We were also curious about, that is there any possible connection between the club’s performance and these certified subsidies.
JEL CODE: L31, Z20, H71, D72
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Comparison study of the agricultural subsidy policy applied by Ecuador and Hungary in the last 10 years
Views:179Agricultural subsidies have long been a consistent concern of government policies; they influence the use of resources for pursuing different goals in this sector. In this research, we are making a comparison study of the agricultural subsidy policies of Ecuador and Hungary in the last ten years by a comparative analysis applied for empirical generalization to explain and get a better understanding of the subsidies used in the two countries. The results show an enormous advantage for Hungary compared to Ecuador regarding the agricultural subsidies. Since they are part of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, Hungary's subsidies are institutionalized and planned in the long term within a series of programs financed by the EU and national funds. While in Ecuador, agricultural policies exist as a general framework, and the governing body manages the subsidies through programs and projects that do not remain over time and depend on the current political situation in the country. In the same way, the data collected reflects that although the share of the agricultural sector in Ecuador's GDP is higher than in Hungary, the subsidy amounts for this sector are 36% lower than in Hungary.JEL CODE: Q13 -
Women and microcredit in rural agrarian households of Uganda: Match or mismatch between lender and borrower?
77-88Views:370The alignment of microfinance programs with the context and expectations of the recipients is critical for ensuring clients’ satisfaction and desired program outcomes. This study sought to investigate the extent to which the objectives and design of the BRAC microfinance program match the expectations, context and characteristics of female borrowers in a rural agrarian setting in Uganda. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to obtain socio-demographic, personality and microenterprise (ME) characteristics of existing borrowers, incoming borrowers and non-borrowers and to obtain information about the microcredit program. We found that BRAC uses a modified Grameen group-lending model to provide small, high-interest rate production loans and follows a rigorous loan processing and recovery procedure. BRAC clients are mainly poor subsistence farmers who derive income from diverse farming and non-farm activities. The major objective to borrow is to meet lump-sum monetary needs usually for school fees and for investment in informal small non-farm businesses. Many borrowers use diverse sources of funds to meet repayment obligations. Defaulting on loans is quite low. The stress caused by weekly loan repayment and resolution of lump-sum cash needs were identified as reasons for women to stop borrowing. The limited loan amounts, the diversions of loans to non-production activities, the stages of the businesses and the weekly recovery program without a grace period may limit the contribution of these loans to ME expansion and increase in income.
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Impact of economic globalization on the human trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-region countries
123-130Views:411This study examines the impact of economic globalization on the human trafficking inflows into the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries. The paper empirically tests for a cross-section of six countries, including Cambodia, the Yunnan Province of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PRD), Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Employing the Pooled OLS estimator, as the theory predicts, the economic globalization increases trafficking inflow into the GMS. However, only foreign direct investment (FDI) affects the degree of trafficking of persons, while the effect of trade is insignificant. Moreover, Exchange rate, Migration, Population and Democracy induce higher rates of trafficked persons, whereas Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and other factors, such as education, vocational training and micro-finance through village development funds decrease this problem in the region. Gross National Income per capita (GNI per capita) and rule of law do not have any significant effect on human trafficking.
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