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• Economic Freedom and the Process of Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis Based on a New Measure

  5-30

  Judit Kapás

  Pál Czeglédi

  Views:

  301

  This paper, relying on a conceptualization of economic freedom in terms of kinds of government actions, develops a new measure of economic freedom. However, this is not art for art’s sake; instead, it allows us to provide an explanation for how particular institutions of economic freedom enhance economic development, a view upon which scholars agree. We develop two concepts related to economic freedom, namely the freedom-compatible and freedom-non-compatible institutions and use them as tools in an analysis of the process of economic growth, especially the relationship between economic freedom and long-run income. The major argument is that freedom-compatible institutions are primary determinants of income, while freedom-non-compatible institutions depend upon them and are partly the outcomes of the growth process itself, a fact which is explained by the Misesian theory of interventionism. Our regression analyses support our theoretical insights.

  JEL Classification: B53, H10, O10

• A literature review of Happiness and Economics and guide to needed research

  117-131

  Thomas Wiese

  Views:

  599

  Happiness and Economics as a new branch of behavioural economics has had a major impact on economic theory and economic policy: Several studies have been published in the last 20 years in leading journals. Furthermore, several governments have decided to collect data about the well-being of their citizens. The author claims that utility cannot only be measured by the choices individuals do: Reported happiness and life satisfaction data is also an acceptable empirical estimate for individual utility. Consequently, happiness research can bear new knowledge and important understanding of human welfare. Therefore, this paper gives an overview of the existing literature. Methods and approach of scholars is critically analysed and shortcomings are discussed. Thereafter, findings on major economic issues like growth, unemployment and inflation are presented. Besides, governmental policy and implications for society are debated. Lastly, future research possibilities are mentioned.

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) Classification: D60 D63 I31

• Hungary's dependence on external financing

  145-156

  Monika Kuti

  Views:

  73

  This 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

• Trust as a Cost Reducing Factor

  74-84

  Anett Hodosi

  Views:

  185

  The current study analyzes the cost reducing feature of one of the well-researched informal institutions, trust. The micro level analysis is followed by a macro level approach, which is aimed at highlighting trust’s direct cost reducing element via transaction costs and its indirect effect through the legal system. As part of the latter an empirical evaluation of 25 European Union countries has been carried out regarding the connection between costs due to administrative burden and trust. On the one hand academic economic literature proves that trust reduces transaction costs, and on the other hand that the effectiveness of the legal system contributes to the decrease of transaction costs. According to our assumption the increase of the level of trust improves the effectiveness of the legal system and via this
  mechanism it supports the reduction of transaction costs.

  JEL classification: D02, E02

• The Relevance of the Washington Consensus for the Post-communist Countries

  5-25

  Peter Mihalyi

  Views:

  211

  The Washington Consensus (WC) is 20 years old now. With hindsight, its main significance is the unification of the normative economics. Prior to the WC, it was widely accepted that different policies should be pursued in the developed and in the underdeveloped economies. It was a sheer coincidence that the emergence of WC occurred a few months before the collapse of the communist systems of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Many scholars believe that the WC is responsible for the recurring economic crisis of the last two decades. I reject this view. A 200-year track record confirms that depressions and financial crisis have been always the intrinsic components of market economies – for the reasons identified by Marx and Schumpeter long time ago.

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: F02, F23, F41, P11, P36

• A gazdasági növekedés gyorsításának esélyei Magyarországon 2030-ig

  5-26

  Peter Mihalyi

  Views:

  117

  The regime change in 1989/1990 has not produced the expected result: Hungary has not been able to catch-up with the Western market economies. Can Hungary grow 2-3 times faster then its competitors during the next 20 years, as the present Hungarian government declared in its economic plans? Can Hungary improve its relative position and catch-up with the per capita GDP level of the EU-27 average by 2030? The conclusion of the paper is that this is very unlikely to happen. But there is ample room for accelerating productivity growth, and in this regard, every percentage difference counts enormously in the long-term. Three factors of production are analyzed: the natural-physical-geographical endowments of Hungary (N), Labour (L) and the capital stock (C). The following new findings are discussed. First, contrary to the widely held view, the amount of labour currently used by the Hungarian economy is not low in international comparison. The education of the workforce is also adequate. The problem is its allocation: too many workers are employed in low productivity, small firms. The only way forward is to promote the concentration of enterprises, to support the increase in the number of medium-sized and large firms. Second, the rate of domestic savings needs to be increased considerably, to allow for a low-cost financing of investments. In turn, this requires a substantial reform in three areas: healthcare, pensions and higher education. As long as the welfare state exists in its present form and these three spending items are largely financed by the state, one cannot reasonably expect households to save and accumulate families" long-term reserves in financial assets. But before these changes happen the political alite must accept that the obstacles to productivity growth have to be removed from the legal and political stuctures.

  JEL classification: E66, O47, O50, O52

• Should Economists Like Predation or Not?

  Adam Torok

  Views:

  85

  (A Note on 'Economic Principles of Predatory (Exclusionary Pricing in the US and in the EU - Their (mis) Application in Some Recent Competition Law Cases of the European Community Commission and the Court of First Instance' by Zoltan Bara).

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: K21, L12, L41

• Financial Crisis, Economic Policy and Economics

  19-34

  Jozsef Moczar

  Views:

  116

  Concerning the financial crisis in 2007-2009 many politicians and economists, in addition
  to representatives of other disciplines have asked: why could it not have been avoided,
  why could it not have been forecast? The present paper provides a new answer to these
  questions. The main argument is that empirical economic policy reached a deadlock when
  economists acknowledged the equilibrium models based on efficient market theory. The
  static equilibrium paradigm which appeared in the middle of last century has strongly
  prevailed to the present day, leaving aside Kornai’s (1971) or Benassy’s (1982) or Goodwin’s
  (1991) warnings. Since the economy is never in equilibrium the simultaneous equations
  describing it may not provide any guide for politicians; what they should do and how they
  should do it in a time of economic crisis. The present author’s newest book (Móczár, 2008),
  besides the dynamic equilibrium, also sketches a new paradigm, i.e., non equilibrium
  modelling, instead of the orthodox equilibrium paradigm, which allows us to treat bubbles,
  to regulate money markets etc. Its necessity is outlined here.

  JEL classification: E00, E5, E6, G28 

• Empirical analysis in the context of economic, technological and institutional development: the distinction between innovator and imitator countries

  3-21

  Julianna Csugány

  Views:

  166

  The driving force of economic growth is technological progress, which can be realized in two ways at the aggregate level. On the one hand, it can be a result of independent research and development, i.e. it can be realized in an innovation-driven manner. Alternatively, it can be the result of an adaptation from other countries, i.e. through imitation, which is a strategy that many countries employ successfully today. In both cases, it is the institutions, including both their formal and informal elements, which create the opportunity for technological progress. The aim of this study is to differentiate between the innovator and the imitator countries in order to highlight the differences in their institutions. The classification is done by a cluster analysis of countries, which is performed with the help of a technological and institutional environment index constructed by a principal-component analysis. The analysis confirms that economic, technological and institutional development are closely linked in the countries studied.

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: O31, O33, O43

• The suspicion of Dutch Disease in Russia

  103-124

  Tamas Borko

  Views:

  166

  The main statement of the paper is the suspicion that Russia carries the symptoms of Dutch disease. The main justifications behind it are the appreciation of real exchange rates, the deterioration of the performance of the manufacturing sector and the improvement of service sector results. However it is difficult to prove the determining factors behind these processes, so the conclusion that Russia has this ailment has to be treated with caution. As the Dutch disease is only one of the determining factors of the resource curse hypothesis, in the case of Russia other relevant aspects may also play a significant role, such as, inter alia, continuous and considerable corruption, the weaknesse of democratic political system, a protectionist economic policy and a low level of competition, especially in the energy sectors. All of the reasons behind the paradox of the plenty type resource curse phenomenon, and among them the Dutch disease, can jeopardise long-run growth sustainability.

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: F31, L60, L72, Q32, Q33

• A közigazgatás verbális modellje és a modell következményei

  103-119

  Eniko Szilagyi

  Views:

  79

  The article illustrates how to build up a practical and suitable economic model of public administration. The system described by the author cannot explain every single phenomena of the so called "public administration acting space". The primary function of the model is rather to prepare the public administration (as a test object) for other, further analysis - especially for measuring performance. The conclusion of the article is that public administration is not a special test object. A significant quantity of measurement tools is available so that we can understand the main issues of the operation of public administration - from an economic point of view.

  Journal of Eonomic Literature (JEL) classification: H44, H70, H83, K10

• The role of the institutional system in the globalizing finance of culture

  131-148

  Akos Toth

  Views:

  80

  The article focuses on how the connection between the institutional system of a country and the role of the state changes in the financing of the cultural sphere. To examine the changes, the author analysis the financing model of the USA and the Russian Federation, countries which use very different methods and techniques for the financing of the cultural sphere. The author assumes in his hypothesis that in those countries which have an underdeveloped institutional system, the possibility of direct state support and control for the financing of the cultural sphere is much greater. The results of the analyses are tested on the cultural economy of the Netherlands where the cultural financing system exhibits characteristics of both the American and the Russian models at the same time.

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: P14, P39, Z10, Z11

• A comparison of efforts to set up cluster initiatives in two Hungarian regions – submitted cluster proposals in North Hungary and the Northern Great Plain

  133-140

  Mate Pecze

  Views:

  95

  The Hungarian government has taken the initiative to finance the formation of new entrepreneurial co-operations using the cluster theory. It is not certain whether or not the Hungarian economy is ready for an initiative such as this. In North Hungary and the Northern Great Plain (two Hungarian NUTS 2 regions) project teams set up fresh clusters to obtain the subsidy – as in other regions. Their level of cooperation, the number of submitted projects and the ratio of successful projects tell us if theory and the western practice fit with the local needs - if Hungarian companies want to work and can be successful in clusters or not. In this article I examine the willingness of regional business actors to cooperate and start new business networks in the framework of the 2008 regional cluster calls. The two regions have similar but not identical results.

  JEL classification: R58, L2

• Political leadership and economic growth: Do the leaders matter? A vezető személye számít?

  101-116

  Dora Zolcsak

  Views:

  136

  The paper analyses the role political leadership plays in economic growth by reviewing the literature that argues for, or presents evidence on, the proposition that leadership and the leader him/herself are crucial factors in economic growth. The article considers institutional economics as a starting point, a field which, so far, has paid little attention to the role of individuals and only focuses on the significance of institutions. The institutional theory of economic development has been criticized for using endogenous indicators and for only emphasising political output. However, political leaders are also able to make good and efficient economic policies. That is the reason leaders do matter

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) Classification: B3, O4, P48

• The timing of the EMU accession

  45-62

  Laszlo Jankovics

  Views:

  216

  Following the Eu-accession the next major challenge is the preparation for and finally the introduction of the single currency for the Central Eastern European countries. In this paper, I analyze the legal, economic and political factors regarding the preparedness of the whole region, with special emphasis on Hungary. After taking the pros and cons of the official "as soon as possible" strategy into consideration, we can conclude that there is no convincing case for further postponing eurozone entry. Additionally, putting off the date indefinitely or ambiguously could result in growing economic uncertainty and dangerous financial instability. In the case of Hungary, it is very likely that the country would suffer serious loss of reputation and credibility were it to put off the target date a second time, i.e. beyond 2010. Lack of strong political commitment could unfortunately easily lead to a postponement of the adaption of the single currency. The potential implication might well be debated, but no doubt would be serious in terms of reputation and economic development.

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: E42, E58, F33 

• Western Balkans: Opportunities for Agriculture on the Eve of EU Accession

  52-73

  Tamas Mizik

  Views:

  133

  The Western Balkan countries can be characterised by their shared goal, which is to achieve the quickest accession to the European Union. Agriculture is an important obstacle to achieving this goal. The role of agriculture differs widely among the countries analysed but is more important than the average of the EU. This study gives a comprehensive overview of the most important agricultural indicators. These indicators allow us to acquire a precise picture of the sector’s relevance, production structure, efficiency and international relations. After demonstrating changes in input use, production structure, prices, terms of trade and agricultural policies, the next section identifies some of the reasons for these changes. The analysis concentrates on the most recent years for which data is available. In the last few years Serbia became the leading producer and the only net exporter of agricultural goods in the region. Nevertheless, the current situation is endangered by several issues, such as imbalanced sectoral production, fragmented production structure, relatively low yields, unfavourable export composition, and poor food hygiene and quality control, which anticipate painful and difficult measure which need to be carried out.

  JEL classification: Q15, Q17, Q18

• The growing state presence in the world economy: Sovereign Wealth Funds

  149-166

  Eniko Agnes Kovacs

  Views:

  231

  While sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) were formerly considered to be passive financial investors, today we can see their active presence in international capital markets. The aim of this study is to give an overall view of these funds, which are becoming increasingly important actors in the international monetary and financial system. This study presents the formation and purposes of sovereign wealth funds, as well as the main factors contributing to their growing presence. Moreover, this study provides an insight into the investment activities and practices of these funds.

  JEL classification: E58, F21, F30, G15

• The role of dynamic relationship capabilities and loyalty in organisational relationships

  76-92

  Erzsebet Hetesi

  Marton Vilmanyi

  Views:

  227

  In this study we try to answer the question of how Hungarian organisations can be depicted in terms of relationship management in networked relationships, and how the nearly fouryear global economic crisis influences the perception of relationship capability and B2B loyalty in organisational relationships. First we review the theoretical background of dynamic relationship capabilities and B2B loyalty, then we show our empirical research results, and we try to identify the factors involved in relationship management and B2B loyalty. From our point of view relationship management has an effect on B2B loyalty, and we support the hypothesis that where relationship management is a conscious action, there are evolved procedures for this. These connected mechanisms have a positive impact on the evaluation of relationship quality and contribute to partners’ loyalty.

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: M10, M14, M31, M39

• A reklámberuházások versenyre gyakorolt hatásának és gazdasági növekedéssel való összefüggéseinek vizsgálata

  Karmen Kovacs

  Views:

  109

  The amount of advertising investments is increasing dynamically worldwide, but returns are decreasing significantly. This is largely the consequence of growing market competition. In connection with this I analyze the role of advertising and the effect of advertising on demand and competition, then I study the relation between advertising and economic growth in this paper. I have conducted a survey among European countries to scrutinize the relation between advertising expenditures. My other assumption had to be rejected as a positive relation does not exist between GDP per capita and advertising investment rate.

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: D21, E01, M21, M37

• Quantophrenia? – Some remarks on the possibilities and constraints of mathematical formalization in economic and social sciences

  5-18

  Istvan Musto

  Views:

  106

  This article deals with some aspects of the constraints to the formal mathematization of economic theories and models. It points out that complex, dynamic and open systems dispose of a memory so that past events, statements or beliefs, even if they have turned out to be wrong or untrue, exert a potentially significant influence on the present state of issues, so they cannot be completely substracted from models representing reality. Reference is also made to the fact that in such complex, evolutionary systems strong interdependences and interactions exist between the subject and the object of scientific inquiry since economic actors strongly influence each other and, consequently, aggregate reality through their mutual actions and expectations. Furthermore, it is argued that the comparability of findings is highly dependent on the identity or dissimilarity of the initial conditions of the objects of economic research. The article does not take a position either for or against mathematical modelling; it limits itself to comments on some of the conditions of meaningful formalization.

  JEL classification: A1, B10, B41, C10

• Business Ethics and Ethics Education in American Business Programs

  195-200

  John D. Keiser

  Views:

  90

  This essay presents an overview of what American business programs cover in their curricula regarding ethics and the reasons behind teaching ethics-related material to business students. Topics for the paper
  include; requirements for having ethics in the curricula, broad perspectives of what constitutes ethical business practices, and the difference between professional ethics and business ethics.

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: M14, A20

• A Journey Through the Theory of Economic Development

  Lavinia Sidonia Delcea

  Views:

  101

  The theory of development economics changed signifcantly from the first attempts of defining the concepts in the 50s until nowadays. The contributions to the development theory are at the same time closely related to the historical context of the underdeveloped and developing countries. This paper tries to facilitate the understanding of the way development economics evolved, by presenting the main contributions to the theory. The research methodology used in this study is analytical, based on the gatherinf of the information, its organisation in a logical way, the presentation and analysis of the most significant ones, and finally the drawing of relevant conclusions. The main findings of this paper are that after five decades of strong ideas and recipes of economic development we have reached a point of uncertainty regarding what is beneficial or harmful for the nations' economic development.

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: O10.

• Regional netwrok cooperation

  115-130

  Marietta Kiss

  Views:

  106

  The 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

• The characteristics of the Hungarian cafeteria system examined in the context of changes in tax laws

  126-132

  Emese Törö

  Views:

  101

  The article deals with the system and function of optional fringe benefits in the Hungarian labour law as well as with the taxation rules in connection with fringe benefits. In this context, we deal firstly with the conditions of the use of the cafeteria system and present the advantages connected to them. Then, the individual regulation of different allowances which are grouped according to different criteria is analysed, with special emphasise on the changes in tax law.

  JEL classification: J32, K34

• The Cross-border Mergers’ Market and Financial Characteristics from the Perspective of Foreign Direct Investments in Hungary

  30-46

  Laszlo Zoltan Kucseber

  Views:

  180

  One of the methods with which foreign corporations practice direct investment is CrossBorder Mergers and Acquisitions (CBM&A). This can be proved by statistics: globally until the mid 1990s CBM&A accounted for about 50% of total Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and reached 100% in 2000. This trend was not typical in Hungary. However, it reached 100% in 2009. I have two goals in this study: the first is to analyse how this phenomenon occurred in Hungary. In my study I analyse not only the correlation of CBM&A and FDI, but also foreign portfolio investments. My other goal is to analyse the characteristics of CBM&As from the perspective of FDI. I analysed the 343 decisions made by the Competition Authority. Finally, I compared these results with the features of FDI, which support and complement the results gained through statistical calculations.

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: F21