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Hungary's dependence on external financing
145-156Views:88This paper demonstrates that Hungary has been dependent on external financing for several decades. In the 1970s and 1980s, debt was prevelant in the external capital structure of the Hungarian economy, but since the transformation to a market economy internation equity finance has reahced a level of capital accumulation and plays a very complex role in export potential, debt srvicing capacity and the modernization of the country. This paper argues that in general the forced increase in domestic demand is not able to substitute for the inherent need to realize export surplus in a small open economy in the long run. In the subsystem of the real economy there is a self-financing circuit driven by foreign direct investments which can meet the economy's current liabilities and profit remittance requirements, while this circuit cannot compensate for the consequences of the soft budgeting constraints of the general government.
JEL classification: H6, F4
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Examining the relationship between gambling and crime in Hungary
48-61Views:488We examined the connection between gambling and crime with the participation of 175 prisoners from four Hungarian prisons. We used the South Oaks Gambling Screen test to measure gambling behaviour before a prison sentence. We compared our results to our previous research findings of 2009 and 2014. From our 10-year-long perspective, the number of problematic gamblers has reduced in the Hungarian penal system in the past years, but the dilemma is still essential. Feminization, the appearance of gambling-addict women in a significant number, is also a trend we would like to pay attention to. We found 28 per cent of problematic gamblers in the prison population, but only less than half of them said that the reason for their conviction is in connection with gambling. Furthermore, gambling addiction is associated with other addictions in many cases.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: I12, K14
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ESG regulation and what lies behind it - opportunities and challenges in preparing businesses for ESG in Hungary
Views:29On 12 December 2023, the Parliament adopted the proposal on the rules of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and other related laws to promote sustainable financing and unified corporate responsibility (ESG Act). Companies subject to the Act will gradually have to comply with several qualitative and quantitative requirements, which will pose significant challenges for market players and regulators monitoring their operations. This paper aims to review how the gradual extension of the scope of the Act will affect market and industry players, highlighting the opportunities and challenges for stakeholders in meeting regulatory requirements in environmental, corporate governance and social matters.
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Regional netwrok cooperation
115-130Views:123The current study aims to reveal the regional network cooperations - found primarily in the construction industry -, in particular in the Észak-Alföld Region. The study includes three main parts: after the industry analysis of the construction industry a short summary follows about the theoretical bases of today's business network cooperations, clustering, and such relationships especially among firms operating in the construction industry, and finally it is closed by a case study revealing the relationship network of a dominant construction company of the Észak-Alföld Region. The most important finding is that in Hungary clustering in the construction industry - that has already existed in several developed economies - has not started yet, however, networking - that can be the basis for the development of a construction industry cluster - has already began, and if it continues, it further increased the advantages already experienced.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: L140, L850
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Regions and the European integration: The Europeanization of the regions in Central and Eastern Europe
54-68Views:103The process of Europeanization that is the adjustment of the national legal regulations, intstitutions and decision making patterns to the European political practice leads to the significant transformation of the national political systems. In the horizontal dimension of the state institutions this concerns primarily the relationship between the executive and the legislative powres whereas in the vertical dimension this influences the relationship bewteen the central state and the regions or provinces. The paper examines the source and durability of the Europeanization process in three Central and Easterna European countries, in Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic. Focus is primarily laid upon the institutional adjustments.
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Political Economy of Fiscal Reform in Central and Eastern Europe
66-75Views:100The reform of public finances has been at the centre of the post-socialist transition of Central and Eastern Europe since the early 1990s. At various stages of the transition, the reform process encompassed the entire gamut of public finances: the national budget, sub-national finances, extrabudgetary operations, and state-owned financial and non-financial enterprises. For the most part, fiscal reform was a non-linear stop-and-go process – often characterised by backtracking as well – and was uneven across countries. Moreover, unlike most reform experience in the rest of the world, fiscal reform in this region took place against the backdrop of a radical break, as sovereign countries emerged from a colonial past following the collapse of the Soviet Union. An important milestone was reached in 2004–2007, when all ten countries covered in this article became members of the European Union. The purpose of this article is to discuss fiscal reform in Central and Eastern Europe from the perspective of political economy. Following an overview of basic reform trends, the article focuses on the principal drivers and impediments to reform in the region. To conclude, the ingredients of successful reform are examined. The article does not provide an exhaustive inventory of reform measures, nor does it offer a survey of broad political economy issues prior to or during the transition period. Country references are intended to serve as stylised illustrations of main points, rather than as a comprehensive documentation of reform episodes.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classifications: H1, H3, P2, P52.
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The institutional background of factoring
71-96Views:148The article examines the Hungarian financial institution system from the point of view of factoring. In the interest of clarifying concepts, the article compares the judicial and economic use of the concept, introduces the intermediary system, the banking system, and the financial institution system. It outlines the contradictions in institutional regulations relating to factoring and the history of the development of regulation in the financial sector in Hungary from the 1970 to the present. Besides presenting the deficiences in the regulatory system, the article suggests several alternative modifications to the Law, thus highlighting the significance of factoring. In this analysis the author deals with both international and national practices, which can both be used as a basis for future legal regulations, providing answres to the questions raised in the article concerning the institutional structure.
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Eastern-European education and economy
73-82Views:117The main reason for the inability of the Eastern-European region to catch up economically is thought by many to be the fact that for a decisive period the state curtailed the incentive power of private property. The harmful effect of this was aggravated by the arms race. Contrary to this, this paper claims that the main reason is the underdevelopmnet of the population's knowledge base. The direct factor in this is the mistaken education policy, which because of the emphasis on quaility in schooling, imparted a low and weak knowledge base to the growing generation. The author claims that without a general and radical reform of education the eastern European region and Hungary as well, will lag behind in international competition.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL): I21, I28, O15
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The international competitiveness of the domestic economy: interpretations, figures and a few considerations
20-41Views:113Although the (improvement of) international competitiveness of the Hungarian economy is in the foreground of both the proclaimed efforts of the economic policy and that of the discussions of the trade, the fact that competitiveness at national level is a less precise term of economics with various meanings. This paper first discusses whether competitiveness at national economy level is interpretable at all. Then it examines what this notion does not mean and what it might mean. After reviewing the possible interpretations, the paper describes some of the figure of competitiveness of the domestic economy relating to a few international comparisons. Finally, it draws up some considerations as to what might and what might not be (or only with limitations) the means for the economic policiy to improve domestic competitiveness in the short and long terms.
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A kulturális és kreatív iparágak a világ legfrekventáltabb régióiban
Views:207This study touches on and organises the definition of the creative industry, creativity and the differences in terminologies used within the creative economy. These help to form and idea of which areas different countries or regions consider dominant from the developmet point of view. Beyond this, the study describes the attempts to map out the conceptual system of the creative economy and its statistical measurement. It therefore examines the statistical, economical and social characteristics of the creative industries, in accordance with the Europe 2020 Strategy and other professional documents. It aims to provide a comparative analysis of different regions' creative industries. Lastly, regarding to Hungary, it defines future tasks.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: Z1
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Prognosis of the Roma population in Hungary by region till 2061
39-74Views:1040In our paper we try to give an overall picture about the countrywide and regional demographic characteristics of the Hungarian Roma population, to make a roll-forward calculation of the next decades until 2061 by region. It indicates the actuality of the study that in the last decades the population of the Hungarian Roma minority and its rate according to the whole Hungarian population permanently and materially increased. In the next decades in both further growth is expected, but the speed of this growth will be slower and slower. The fertility and the mortality of the Roma population will decrease, life expectancy will increase, these result in the increase of the rate of the aged population. Out estimation indicates that until 2061 the age pyramid of the gypsies’ changes, it will be more and more similar to the present one of the whole Hungarian population.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: C82, J11, J13, J19
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Was there a stock market bubble in Hungary?
Views:252Bubble is one of the most frequently used and colorful terms in economics. However, it is rarely explained in detail, most economists more or less agree on what it means. In the following paper we are going to show that the widely accepted explanation of bubble contains controversial, tautological reasoning. It is challenged from the theoretical side, but practical consequences will also be mentioned. Two questions hiding in the title above will be answered. First is to give a conceptual framework for analyzing stock prices to decide whether we can label as a bubble particular movements, upward and downward tendencies in stock prices. Second, with a coherent and consistent definition we will be able to answer the question whether there was a bubble in the Hungarian stock market between 1995-2002.
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Nyugdíjreform-dilemmák – jövedelemelosztási arányok és makropénzügyi egyensúly
5-32Views:145The paper aims to outline the main relations and critical points of the pension system which make the reform of the whole system inevitable in near future. The most important cause stems from demographic change: in the developed countries average life expectancy is rising rapidly while the number of births is diminishing. This results in rising retirement outgoings and decreasing revenues from superannuation taxes. In addition to this medical expenses are increasing due to the development of treatment methods. In contrast, in Hungary the average life expectancy will only increase after 20-30 years. The main problems of the distributive systems are rooted in the particular characteristics of the political change following the collapse of communism. The level of employment decreased dramatically and there are many tax arbitrage opportunities. In addition nowadays 90% of employers tend to retire on a pension before retirement age. These factors make the main distributive system unsustainable. Additionally the elderly dependence rate will double in the next few decades. Parties debating a socially and financially sustainable main distributive system agree on the inevitability of an increasing role for self-provision and a cut in the growth in expenditure. The pension system will not be able to keep pace with growing wages, to guarantee insurance principals and a minimal income in old-age, and to meet the requirements of long-term financing at the same time, especially not in the period of demographic changes.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL): I38, J11, J26
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The joining negotiations in rapport with the EMU
75-87Views:133The study surveys the field that deals with the Eastward expansion of the European Economic and Monetary Union /EMU/ after the joining negotiations, involving the probable legal, political and economic dilemmas and problems of the introduction of euro in Hungary. The joining contract and the relevant documents unambiguosly outlining the items within the monetary integration for the Hungarian economy can be planned. It also examines the chosen monetary integration for the Hungarian economy can be planned. It also examines the chosen monetary-political systems of the candidate for membership countries from the relevant European regulation point of view, just as the possibility of individual solutions.