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• The connenction between global innovation index and economic well-being indexes

  87-92

  Szlobodan Vukoszavlyev

  Views:

  582

  We study the connection of innovation in 126 countries by different well-being indicators and whether there are differences among geographical regions with respect to innovation index score. We approach and define innovation based on Global Innovation Index (GII). The following well-being indicators were emphasized in the research: GDP per capita measured at purchasing power parity, unemployment rate, life expectancy, crude mortality rate, human development index (HDI). Innovation index score was downloaded from the joint publication of 2018 of Cornell University, INSEAD and WIPO, HDI from the website of the UN while we obtained other well-being indicators from the database of the World Bank. Non-parametric hypothesis testing, post-hoc tests and linear regression were used in the study.
  We concluded that there are differences among regions/continents based on GII. It is scarcely surprising that North America is the best performer followed by Europe (with significant differences among countries). Central and South Asia scored the next places with high standard deviation. The following regions with significant backwardness include North Africa, West Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean Area, Central and South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Regions lagging behind have lower standard deviation, that is, they are more homogeneous therefore there are no significant differences among countries in the particular region.
  In the regression modelling of the Global Innovation Index, it was concluded that GDP per capita, life expectancy and human development index are significant explanatory indicators. In the multivariable regression analysis, HDI remained the only explanatory variable in the final model. It is due to the fact that there was significant multicollinearity among the explanatory variables and the HDI aggregates several non-economic indicators like GII.

  JEL Classification: B41, I31, O31, Q55

• Water footprint in Hungary

  83-91

  Eva Neubauer

  Views:

  192

  More 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.

• Differences of the primary energy consumption of the countries all over the world

  155-161

  Judit Tóth

  Róbert Magda

  Views:

  172

  The global energy consumption is continuously growing, because the population of Earth and the standard of living expands day by day. As a result, the emission of greenhouse gases increases further more. The various countries use the different types of fuels in varying amount.In this study we have examined the primary energy consumption of the countries, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy June 2016 (BP, 2016), based upon their usage of fuels.The assay resulted in a 7 cluster model. With one exception, each cluster contains a resource, which is used in a much larger amount than in the other clusters. As a result, we may differentiate between an average cluster, and the clusters of countries that use primarily hydropower, nuclear energy, renewable energy, coal, fossil oil, and natural gas.We have examined if there is any connection between the location of a country in a cluster and its HDI, as well as the countries’ competitiveness.

  JEL Code: Q42, Q43, Q35, Q01, P28, P18