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Factors of success. Attitude differences of one Hungarian and one Serbian team’s youth handball players
113-116Views:149Results of the Hungarian and the Serbian handball teams are similar on the international level (IHF rankings: Serbia 4. Hungary 5. IHF-10.03.2012.), however the general supposition is that the Serbian handball players are more successful and more acknowledged. This is confirmed by numerous Serbian internationals that play at high level in Hungary and other European countries and the results of the youth national teams. In this article we were searching for the influential factors behind the success of the Serbian team. While there are no considerable differences in physical performance and anthropometric parameters so we assume the main differences are in their relation and stance to coach and to training. In our study we support an explanation for the reasons of the differences in the results between two nations youth handball players with an analysis of the attitude to the head coach and players relation to work and physical training. Our sample was chosen from one Serbian (Crvenka) and one Hungarian (Komló) youth team. The measurement was completed with a standard survey according to Hagger et al. (2007) Passes questionnaire. The results show that the Serbian youth players have better relations with their head coach and have better stance for work and training, which might be an explanation for their better success.
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Clasters and Correlations among the Eu Member States Regarding Agri-Food Foreign Trade
55-63Views:171The European Union has a significant role in international trade but this is largely in the area of industrial goods. However, in the case of some agricultural commodities the EU applies tariffs, bans, or different restrictive measures; it manages foreign trade in agricultural goods with many countries all over the world. On the other hand the member states do not contribute to the total trade of the EU to the same extent. In this study, a comparative analysis was performed in relation to the member states by means of data of Eurostat and Faostat. First, a multivariable correlation analysis was carried out in order to find the interrelation between the trade features of each country. In the second part of the study, a cluster analysis was carried out with almost the same component as in the foregoing, also in terms of the EU member states. It can be ascertained that the date of EU accession of a Member State as well as getting EU agricultural subsidies do not affect the agricultural foreign trade of the member states. Countries with significant agricultural production also export food commodities in larger quantities. Countries that have significant exports extra-EU also have larger imports in the case of both basic commodities and prepared food as well. As a result of the cluster analysis, it can be stated that the member states can be divided into specific groups according to the three examined aspects (food trade features, exports of commodities, imports of commodities). The following typical country groups can be divided as follows: non-trade countries, countries with larger trade extra-EU, agri-food exporter and importer countries, non-agri-food exporter and importer countries, primary commodity exporters and importers, and last but not least processed food exporters and importers as well.
JEL Classification: F10
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Structured commodity finance
77-83Views:250Over the past years, the financial stock market – providing the capital demand that is the result of stockpiling and the characteristic strong seasonality observed in the agricultural sector – has increasingly grown and become more “used” by market participants. Its size had reached an annual value of 200 billion HUF, of which agricultural products had received the largest proportion through the various market participants (producers, integrators, traders, feed producers, mills). In the meantime, this market had become part of the competition between the commercial banks that are the largest financers of the sector, due to which the financing credit institutions had undertaken increasing risk levels, with respect to both degree of financing and the VAT financing related to stockholding. The practice of commodity financing by banks display a rather varied picture at present. Considering the exceptional degree of fall in prices and the actions of companies totally disregarding business ethics in 2008, it seems necessary to reveal the full scope of risks inherent in commodity financing. The primary aim of such an exercise is to ensure the prudent operation of refinancing activities for commercial banks. The inherent risks in trade financing – as has been proven by the experiences of previous years – are not found primarily in the goods themselves, but rather at the actual storage facility and also emerge in relation to clients, as well as the inadequate and ineffective risk management of price volatility by the financers. Therefore, the establishment of banking risk management and risk prevention techniques, including the development of new financing procedures become indispensable, minimizing all types of risks that had emerged in previous years.
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Challenges to sustainable rural development in Russia: social issues and regional divergences
45-51Views:228Paper aims at investigation of contemporary approaches to sustainable rural development in Russia. It includes the overview of current experiences in rural development, analysis of major economic and social indicators of rural areas in comparison with urban ones. Analysis included the set of indicators such as number of rural people, number of rural settlements, rates of births and mortalities, natural and migration increases and declines of population, rates of employment and unemployment, average monthly nominal per capita wages, and level of the subsistence minimum. Indicators have been measured separately for rural and urban areas; regions have been grouped in relation to the particular indicator. The research is concluded by discovery of growth points for rural development and a set of recommendations on perspective measures of state and local policies in rural areas, directed on increase of living standards of rural population and retention of labour resources in their traditional rural areas of inhabitation.
JEL: Q18, P25
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Vertical price transmission analysis: the case of milk in the Slovak dairy sector
89-96Views:193Testing for nature price transmission and calculating elasticities of price transmission are important areas of research for providing insights into market efficiency issues. Symmetric or asymmetric price transmission has been the subject of considerable attention in agricultural economics. The concept of the price transmission is an important area of the research particularly in relation to the assessment of impact on the welfare of the vertical entities. The main goal of the paper is an analysis of the price transmission and its exploitation in case of price elasticity estimation in dairy sector. Work investigates vertical price transmission of milk in the Slovak agri-food chain. The research is based on Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) of the selected commodities at producer, processor and consumer level and the estimation of the parameters specified in the model. Moreover the paper determines the coefficient of elasticity of price transmission (EPT).
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Studying satisfaction and spending willingness of guests visiting spas and thermal baths in the Northern Hungarian Region
125-133Views:148In my study I will show the opinion of the guests familiar with seven thermal baths of the Northern-Hungarian Region (such as Eger Thermal Bath, Eger Turkish Bath, Egerszalók Salt Hill Thermal Spa, Demjén Thermal Bath, Bogács Thermal Bath and the Cave-Bath of Miskolc-tapolca) about the medical supply elements, about the price-value rate of supply elements in the thermal bath, and also the spending willingness of the guests in relation to age and earns. From the data I calculated mean, SD and spectrum and examined the crosstab correlations as well, and the Cramer’s V associate coefficient. The results of the correlation tests could be summarised as the following: Guests regardless financial state and age give grade 4 to price/value ratio, but despite their positive judgement spending is not characteristic (most guests spend nothing additional besides admission fee, if so, they do not exceed the 5000 forint amount) even among those who belong to the ’upmarket’ category. Both younger and elderly guests can be characterised with the economical approach, i.e. “Make both ends meet” although seemingly they could extend these “ends”.
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Food and nutrition security as gendered social practice
59-66Views:280In many parts of the world, the food security of households and the nutrition security of individual household members, in particular that of children, are still at risk, in spite of the progress made in combatting hunger at the global level. The prevailing opinion among scientists and development practioners alike is that women’s empowerment is the key to household food security and good nutrition of children. Similarly, it is thought that gender inequalities manifest themselves in dietary discrimination of women resulting in their lesser access to sufficient and nutritious food. To investigate the credibility of these ‘common truths’, empirical evidence on women’s roles in the social practices that aim at realizing household food security and good family nutrition was reviewed. It can be concluded that women definitely yield and wield power through their involvement in and responsibility for these practices, but that – at the same time – enhancing women’s capabilities by improved access to critical resources would benefit their household’s food security and their children’s nutrition. Furthermore, except for the region of South Asia, gender inequalities do not visibly result in a gender gap in nutrition, although women’s specific dietary needs in relation to pregnancy and motherhood are not always recognized.
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ASSESSMENT OF THE CONDITIONS OF THE FARMING HOUSEHOLDS IN NORTH COTABATO: Using Comparative Analysis
Views:290This study was conducted to assess the conditions of the farming households in North Cotabato as basis to reform the development of agri-preneurs in line with the country’s thrust of transforming farmers as entrepreneurs. The research analyzed the conditions of the farming households in North Cotabato in relation to the crops they produce. Stratified random sampling was employed in the collection of data from four hundred (400) farming households using a self-constructed questionnaire validated by the panel. Data generated were analyzed descriptively and by inferential statistics using analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The research revealed that the primary commodity produced is rice, followed by rubber and coconut. On the other hand, study revealed that respondents in the study are engaged in single farming, without Farming, and multiple farming.
Among the perceived conditions of the farming households the study also revealed that conditions in terms of infrastructure facility, market information, managerial skills and entrepreneurial competencies are ready and available for the farmers but neither agree nor disagree on the availability of the conditions in terms of market opportunity, access to credit facility, enabling environment, and government policies on entrepreneurial development. The result affirmed the hypotheses that significant differences in the conditions of the farming household when analyzed according to the crops produced.
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Agricultural development and government expenditures in the new EU countries
21-35Views:198The main ambition of this paper is to analyse agricultural developments in selected new EU member states with particular emphasis on government expenditures in agriculture. The main objective is to identify the relationship between government expenditures development on one side, and agrarian sector performance (the value of production) in selected member states on the other. The conclusions drawn from this analysis are that the agricultural sector has changed its structure and position within the national economy of selected new EU member states significantly in the 20 years since the early 1990s. Member states included in the analysis reduced both the size of their agricultural sector (number of people working in agriculture, total arable areas, number of animals, etc.), and the value of agricultural output. Despite the significant reduction of the agricultural output, member states became more efficient – and in particular their productivity per farmer increased significantly. Selected country’s agricultural sector, its structure and production value development are closely related to government expenditures. Significant correlation is apparent between agricultural government expenditures and the change in the number of economically active persons in agriculture, development of agricultural production, agricultural area, agricultural GDP and agricultural capital stock. Regarding the elasticity of new EU member states’ agricultural sector in relation to changes in government expenditures, significant elasticity is apparent in the case of the number of economically active persons in agriculture, agricultural production (especially livestock production), area of arable land, agricultural GDP and capital stock.
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Cost analysis of pig slaughtering: A Hungarian case study
121-129Views:248The scale of Hungarian slaughterhouses is small in international comparison and the cost of slaughter and cutting a pig of average live weight is relatively high at 16.1-19.4 EUR on average. The aim of this study is to evaluate the cost of pig slaughter and cutting through the case study of a medium-scale plant in Hungary. Based on data from the enterprise, a calculation was performed in relation to the “output” quantity of pig slaughter and cutting, as well as its value and the cost and cost structure of processing. The capacity of the examined plant and its utilisation were analysed and cost reductions were estimated for various increases of output. In 2015, the direct cost of slaughter and cutting was 18.9 EUR per pig for the medium-scale plant which processed 100 thousand pigs. When the purchase cost of pigs is excluded, labour costs accounted for the highest share (30%) of costs, followed by services (29%) and energy costs (21%). For this reason, the level of wages and employer’s contributions has a rather high significance. Analysis showed that significant increases in Hungarian minimum wage and guaranteed living wage in 2017 resulted in an estimated 7% increase in the cost of slaughter and cutting compared to 2015, despite the decrease of contributions. The capacity utilisation of the plant was a low 28% when compared to a single 8-hour shift considered full capacity. The cost of slaughter and cutting was estimated to be reduced to 14.2-17.0 EUR per pig if the plant operated at full capacity. This may be considered a lower bound estimate of cost because there are numerous restricting factors on optimising capacity utilisation, such as: 1) number of live animals available for purchase and related logistics; 2) cooling capacity availability; 3) labour availability; 4) market position of the enterprise and potential for marketing additional pig meat products. Enterprises of this scale are recommended to consider producing more value-added products and, accordingly, investing in product development.
JEL Classification: Q13, Q19
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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE CORPORATE SECTOR
Views:157Humanity has made huge progress over the past millennia. We are working with technologies, robots that not only help us to work accurately, efficiently and quickly, but they work in a similar way to the human brain: they perceive, think, learn and solve problems.
In my research, I will focus on artificial intelligence, which is becoming more and more popular nowadays, looking at its past, present and future, its main trends in the corporate sector, and how it threatens people's job opportunities.
At the same time, one of my research objectives is to investigate how much the development of a country is related to the uptake of AI in the European Union, which I will test with correlation analysis, taking into account indicators of artificial intelligence penetration in the corporate sector from one side and the various AI indicators such as digital penetration, internet usage, computer culture, and economic indicators as GDP per capita from the other side.
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The characteristics of consumer attitudes in the food market in Hungary
43-49Views:216The 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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Differences in travel behaviors of small and large cycling events participants
77-82Views:182Tourism has been and will continue to be one of the biggest and most profitable industries in the world. Sport is obviously a very important aspect of society in many different ways: culturally, economically and socially. Like in the past, local authorities continue to regard all sporting events as a way of promoting and positioning their destination. Participation in sport events relates to tourism because it also involves travelling to host destinations. Therefore, the aim of our study is to compare participation in small and large sport-for-all events in relation to tourism in Slovenia. We analysed the factors determining differences in the travel behaviours of sport event participants and certain aspects of participation (travel behaviour, frequency of sport event participation, reasons for participation) at the largest cycling event in Slovenia (the Franja cycling marathon) and two smaller cycling events (the “Three hearts Radenci” recreational cycling marathon and the “Around the region of Prlekija” recreational cycling marathon). The study analysed the active participants of different cycling sport events. The sample of respondents consisted of 382 participants. We found that over the third of the participants take on the role of a sport tourist in their travels. They are also very sport-active in their leisure time. The majority of them are engaged in sport activities more than three times a week. The results indicate differences in travel behaviour and sport-active lifestyles among the participants of different types of small and larger sport events.
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Determining fair rental value of land in the Hungarian valuation practice – a methodological approach
13-18Views:198The directive of 1666/2015. (IX. 21.) called ’Land for Farmers!’ has changed not only the legal terms and conditions but also the economic basis of land use in the relation of land use and resulting derivative demand. Institutionalized rental fees can be modified to market level only if it is confirmed by qualified expert’s report hired by the new land owner. Setting a fair rental value has quite a few methodological approaches. Due to the lack of a legally recommended calculation process, authors hereby are presenting a method to calculate fair rental value that is beneficial for both renter and owner. Foreign rental conditions related to the topic are also concerned in the article.
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A study on consumer habits in the dietary supplements market
5-12Views:682There has been a continuous increase in the proportion of consumers using dietary supplements worldwide. Evidence based on former surveys suggests that in Hungary more than half of the population buy at least one type of dietary supplement (hereinafter DS). By using secondary research, the authors of the present paper examine the demographic factors determining the consumption of DS on a global scale. Consumption of DS increases with age and is more frequent among women. Consumers with higher qualifications and income tend to buy products containing vitamins and minerals to a greater degree. In the vast majority of cases the purchase and consumption of DS is based on consumers’ personal preferences and decisions, rather than on their physicians’ advice. It has been found that a high percentage of DS consumers probably do not even need any extra nutrient intake. In our primary research (N=1000) the specific attitudes to and characteristics of DS consumption among Hungarian adults are analysed on the basis of on a nationally representative survey. First, we identify the most important reasons which encourage consumers to buy DS. Consumer awareness concerning DS with a particular vitamin and mineral content and of other sources is examined, and we also assess the consumption of the product which is the most popular. The current paper attempts to identify the outlets Hungarian consumers typically buy DS from, and also what resources they use to keep themselves informed about these products. Consumers who admittedly reported (regular) consumption of a certain kind of DS product 6 months prior to the survey are further examined in relation to certain additional issues. The results of our survey provide an accurate picture of the DS consumption habits of the Hungarian population.
JEL CODE: I12, M31
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Masculine brave in the feminine winter sports
81-85Views:184The sport has significant role in the changes of the genders relation and helped to transform the conception of the sexes during the last fifty years. The women started to do conventionally male sports; the newest event was the ski jumping for female athletes at the Olympic Games of Soci. The gender stereotypes in the women sports can be stronger or weaker depending on the success or on the water haul. This phenomenon helps us to understand the new conceptions of the sexes in the context of the relationships of genders.
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Success factors of international sporting events in different regions of Europe
25-29Views:306Sport events always played an important role in human life from the ancient Olympics and marathon races to today’s modern Olympics, World and continental championships. In our days these remarkable sport events come to the fore because participants of the sporting world effectuate even more, greater and more varied ones. Furthermore, the competition for organisation between cities and countries is becoming more and more intense (Zeman 2005). The organisation of international sporting events is an extremely complicated and multiple task. The organising committee has to manage the duties and activities, to co-ordinate the participants’ work, to satisfy the needs of international sport association(s), sponsors and other stakeholders. Within the frame of the research we reveal the success factors of international sporting events in different segments of Europe, and in addition to this compare the event organization practices of analysed regions along the identified success factors. In this study we represent the results of a quantitative research, where organizers of World and European Championships – organised between 2000 and 2008 in different European countries – were asked and statistical analyses have been applied. According to our results beside the essential technical and task oriented areas the human aspects of organisation, the partnerships, coordination and communication are all-important factors. Especially in countries of East-Central Europe, where organisers have to pay more attention on selection, control of partners as well as on continuous communication with them in order to assure accurate performance in time.
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Trends on the Artificial Fertilizer Market and in Fertilizers Use in Hungary
5-12Views:266The fertilizer market in Hungary is rather concentrated, which has a strong influence on the price of the fertilizer. Our domestic fertilizer use is primarily determined by that of nitrogen. The use of phosphorus is also significant but the trends in the use of potassium do not match the total quantities applied in individual years. Consequently, it can be concluded that the majority of farmers still focus on the application of nitrogen and also apply phosphorus but either neglect or do not pay enough attention to potassium fertilization. The changes in fertilizer prices between 2006 and 2017 can be broken down into two periods. Until 2012 a very important and dynamic increase was observed as a result of which the prices of N, P and K fertilizers increased by 80-120%, 160% and about 120%, respectively. This was followed by a downturn in the market and in relation to 2012 prices there were 20-30/ decreases experienced until 2017 but the rate of this lagged behind the prices in other European countries. Owing to this trend the prices of N, P and K have increased by 60%, 100% and 80%, respectively, over the past ten years. The correlation between fertilizer application and the prices of fertilizers in any given year is low but there is a positive one observed between fertilizer application and the fertilizer prices in the preceding year. This means supposedly that farmers mostly buy the fertilizers they wish to apply not in the current but in the preceding year and store them until these are applied. There is a strong correlation seen between fertilizer prices and the prices of corn and wheat, which means that fertilizer traders also keep tabs on economic results and also increase fertilizer prices under the influence of higher prices. Furthermore, it can be claimed that there is no correlation between crude oil prices on the world market and domestic N fertilizer prices. This is an important factor since the primary base material of N fertilizers is natural gas and their production involves considerable energy costs as well. It can be seen, however, that this is not what determines our domestic fertilizer prices, which can be explained by the fact that the price calculations by the determining actors on the Hungarian fertilizer market is not based on costs but on the demand.
JEL Classification: Q13
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Characteristics of physical activity at the university of Debrecen
115-120Views:207The assessment of physical activity is a much-researched field. Physical inactivity has negative consequences. In the development of diseases, a key risk factor is insufficient exercise. Emphasizing the relation between physical activity and health is a constantly discussed matter. UD-FCSNE students will play a key role in educating children for a healthy lifestyle. They will become teachers and specialists. Mapping students’ motives concerning physical activity, we can see the order of motive factors and the factors influencing the different age groups. The majority of students exercise less than 30 minutes per day. Most of them do leisure sporting. To increase physical activity we must provide leisure sporting facilities, based on the population’s needs. Maintaining and increasing fitness are chief motivational factors, unlike expectations and competition. The order of motives is significantly different. These differences occurred in five categories. There is a difference in physical activity between full and part-time students.
JEL code: Z2
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Communication of trainers as one of the means for customer retention in fitness clubs
35-40Views:387Acquiring the adequate communication style is a vital element in trainers’ profession. This research aims to reveal the effects generated via the communicative style by trainers of fitness club customers. It also intends to explore whether communication style has any relation to the regularity of class attendance as well as to the length of training periods which is conceptualised in this paper as trainers’ economic efficiency. Data collection was carried out by structured interviews in a country-side large sport centre. Trainers with at least three training sessions per week (N=20) and their groups (N=160) were interviewed using Rudas (1994) communication style survey and additional selfdeveloped interview protocols. The results revealed that the examined trainers were distributed in all four communications styles, but showing dominance in aggressive and passive styles. The classes of trainers with aggressive and assertive communication style were those that showed the highest and maintained attendance rates. It seems, that classes held by trainers who communicate in a deliberate way and convey positive messages are attended more and in a sustained way. Accordingly, their precisely set targets and explanation of training sessions content correlated with repeated attendance and customer retention. It seems that groups with extended scope of communication are characterised by stronger group cohesion where social relationships could develop easier, which have relations to perseverance and commitment. Therefore development of trainers’ communication skills may be considered as an effective tool for fitness clubs for customer retention.
JEL code: Z20
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Safety culture measurements results in the agricultural sector
143-150Views:126The author examined the safety culture and in relation to that the safety and health-related human factors. The examination was conducted primarily in the agricultural sector. Safety culture is also a key factor in business life especially in productive sectors. Basically, it determines the general work safety and occupational hazard situations, which may have an impact on business, competitiveness, and efficiency, and also employee satisfaction.The concept of safety culture is new in the applied sciences. Scientific investigations of safety culture are diverse, varying by country, science background and economic sphere. The author has created a dimension-model, which organically reflects the relations of safety culture within an organization, projected mainly on conditions in Hungary. Some safety culture dimensions have been also examined on the basis of international safety culture research methodology. The author investigated some safety culture dimensions on the basis of international safety culture research methodology. This method is suitable to investigate the status of the relevant safety culture dimensions at agricultural organizations. It has possibilities, in the course of safety culture operationalization, to mark out dimensions which as elements of organization culture are suitable for denotation of safety culture. In this paper the author publishes some of his results about the examined 18 agricultural enterprises. The author used a self-made questionnaire for the interviews. In the questionnaire he used Likert-type scale to measure the qualitative elements of the dimensions.
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The Role of „Handball At School” Program in Ability Development and Replenishment Training
53-60Views:228In Hungary the undisputable merit of TAO subsidy is realized in replenishment training, human resource development and development of sports infrastructure. The other important base of replenishment development is „Handball at School” programme managed by Hungarian Handball Federation. „Handball at School” programme was launched in relation to every-day physical education and we undertook the skills-building role of its impact assessment. A survey programme was organised by us in the autumn and spring semesters of 2015/ 2016 academic year aiming to prove that project has positive effect on aiming accuracy and performance stability results of pupils, as well as their precision of technical implemetation. 183 pupils were examined who had two sponge-handball lessons a week out of their 5 physical education lessons. When choosing the pilot scenes it was considered important to get Budapest, Easternand Western Hungary also involved. To examine aiming accuracy two tests were applied. One is „throwing at a target from throwing straddle without previous swing” performed by the pupils. The children were expected to hit the small box five times with right technical implementation meaning that it was done with lifted elbow. After the first implementation they were given some time to relax and the the shots were repeated five times again. The children were asked another task to perform, a similar one to the first, but it had to be performed from running up, that is they ran back from a line, took the sponge ball, ran back to the line and had to hit the small box again with lifted elbow. At this task several aspects were noted and measured again: the time needed for implementation, target accuracy and also whether the technical implementation of the throw was accurate.
JEL Classification: I21, Z28
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Performance imbalances in the chain: EU traditional food sector
7-11Views:171Organizations nowadays no longer competeas independent entities, but as chains(Christopher, 1998; Cox, 1999; Lambertand Cooper, 2000). Hence, being part of a well-performing chain is crucial for the future of the individual food firm, especially in the context of the globalizing economy. As a result, the objective of this study is to identify performance imbalances of traditional food chains.Therefore, quantitative data were collected via individual interviews with 271 chain member (91 suppliers, 91 focal companies and 89 customers) of 91 traditional food chains from three European countries(Belgium, Italy and Hungary), representing six different traditional food product categories (cheese, beer, ham, sausage, white pepper and bakery). The results differentiate six different kinds of chain imbalances, namely: dyadic upper and lower, up-and down stream, internal and external indicate both dyadic and chain-wise imbalance. Most chain imbalances are noticed in relation to lowering logistic costs and to reducing lead time. Future research should extend the list of performance indicators with parameters other than economical ones such as ecological and social ones.
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An application of the error correction model in analyzing the long run equilibrium between Ghana’s exports and imports
57-62Views:140This study investigates the long-run relationship between Ghana’s exports and imports for the period of 1948 to 2012. Using the Engle Granger two-step procedure we find that Ghana’s exports and imports are cointegrated. However, the slope coefficients from the cointegration equations were not statistically equal to 1. Furthermore, application of the error correction model reveals that 1% increase in the imports will significantly result in 0.56% increase in exports, suggesting that the exports’ responsiveness to imports is low. The estimated error correction coefficient suggests that 32% of the deviation from the long run equilibrium relation is eliminated, leaving 68% to persist into the next period. These results suggest persistence in the trade deficit and an option of curbing the deficit is to re-order the relationship between imports and exports with a view to reducing imports demand. These results imply that though Ghana’s past macroeconomic policies have been effective in bringing its imports and exports into a long run equilibrium, it is yet to satisfy the sufficient condition for sustainability of foreign deficit.
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Aspects of working Ukrainian citizens in Hungary
113-120Views:155The primary focus of the joint survey, by the National Employment Foundation (OFA) and the researchers of the University of Debrecen in 2009, was to identify the employment characteristics of Ukrainian citizens in Hungary in relation to their impact on the labour market. Our research activities implied the analysis of existing data, relevant scientific literature and a survey questionnaire. For all the target groups, we were guided by the principle of representativity. Statistical analyses and the survey questionnaire were supplemented by indepth interviews. Our research findings are instrumental in simplifying the administration of the Foreign Affairs Police, the process of issuing work permits for foreign employees and their access to employment. The responses given by employees revealed that access to employment in Hungary posed several administrative and official problems for both Hungarian and Ukrainian citizens. Moreover, Ukrainian employees felt a kind of negative discrimination regarding their wages and the conditions of employment as compared to Hungarian employees and they sought remedy from Hungarian official bodies for this problem. The authors hope to call the attention of competent authorities to structural problems and loopholes in the employment of foreign citizens. If these are corrected, it will not only improve employment conditions for foreign workers, but for Hungarian ones as well.
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