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How do informal institutions affect FDI? An assessment of the literature
71-82Views:159A number of studies have examined the determinants of foreign direct investments (FDI). Institutions can be seen as an immobile location advantage, which can influence FDI flows. The aim of this study is to summarise the empirical literature on the growing importance of institutions in FDI decisions, especially that of informal institutions. The study also suggests using another measure as a proxy for informal institutions when analyzing the impact of informal institutions on FDI.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: E02, F02
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Scarcity and Uncertainty Reduction by Institutions
Views:109Institutions are not equally able to reduce scarcity and uncertainty. If institutions were classified from this point of view we would acquire a new analyticaltool to examine institutions in the past the present or the future. Scarcity and uncertainty appear continuously and institutions can manage them only by a greater increase in individual responsibility. However, this also increases the danger of the disintegration of community. We can see this application in practice by surveying the Hungarian pension system over the past 100 years.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: A11, B52, G18, G23
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Market institutions precede market beliefs: a test with cross-country regressions
3-30Views:301The paper examines the literature on culture, economic growth and institutions to derive hypotheses about the relationships between market beliefs, institutions, and productivity. It then tests these hypotheses with cross-country regressions. First, it points out that each of the four cause-and-effect hypotheses of the possible relationships have an economic literature, in that market beliefs are seen as parts of culture. Second, the paper tests these hypotheses by making use of the fact that they consider different variables as exogenous ones. Measures of market beliefs are the coefficients of the country-dummies in the regressions run with individual data from the World Values Survey. The tests support the two hypotheses which hold that it is institutions, not market beliefs, that are exogenous.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: L26, O43, P16
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Economic Freedom and the Process of Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis Based on a New Measure
5-30Views:356This 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
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The Comparative Analysis of the Cultural Financing Models of France and Hungary
50-67Views:180Both France and Hungary use the so called coordinated cultural financing model, in which the active role of the state is decisive. However, instead of producing a similar model, the level of the cultural sector value added to GDP in the two countries is different. The article’s aim is to answer this puzzle. The focus is on the role of institutions and state subsidy. The analysis tries to understand whether direct state subsidy plays a decisive role in the economic performance of the cultural sector. The analysis also shows whether the harmony of formal and informal institutions have a positive effect on the economic growth of the cultural sector. The assumption is that the size of direct government subsidy cannot increase economic growth. If the formal and informal institutions are in harmony, and if there is a long-run cultural policy strategy in a country, the cultural sector value added to GDP is higher.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classifications: Z10, Z11
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Institutional diversity and economic performance
Views:102Definition and role of institutions. Institutions are diverse: examples from OECD countries. Does institutional diversity matter for comparative economic performance? The problem of measurement. Do institutions tend to converge or diversify further? What are the driving forces? What did we learn from institution building in transition economies? Need for a better understanding of interactions between institutions and policies. The OECD work and
experience. Conclusion: the need for a vision. -
The Complexity of Technological Progress: Empirical evidence in the European Union
23-34Views:161The author examines the role of institutions in technological change on the basis of an understanding of the macroeconomic context of technological progress. The empirical study aims to demonstrate the macroeconomic relationship between economic growth, technological progress and institutions, using data from the member states of the European Union. This paper constructs a statistical model which accommodates the complexity of technological progress and contributes to the analysis of its different aspects. It concludes that the elements of the technological environment and an emphasis on the protection of property rights play an essential role in understanding the effects of technological progress on economic growth.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classifications: O11, O34, O43
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A munkaerő-piaci intézmények hatásai a foglalkoztatásra szektorális megközelítésben
27-41Views:162Recently, there have been serious debates attempting to explain the role of institutions and their interactions as they might influence the impact of economic growth on employment. However, essentially no clear theoretical consensus has yet emerged and several unanswered problems remain. From this point of view, one interesting question is how institutions matter, and also what kind of characteristics they should have in economies. In our estimations ws followed a sectoral approach to identify the main features of institutions. In order to demonstrate short and lon run economic processes we use an error-correction method to analyze how certain intitutions and their interactions determine employment growth in different market-and non-market oriented branches. All in all, we demonstrate that unions, minimum wages and unemployment benefits have influenced employment in different ways.
JEL classification: J21, J45, E02.
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Empirical analysis in the context of economic, technological and institutional development: the distinction between innovator and imitator countries
3-21Views:204The 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
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Sustainability of growth in countries with diverse backgrounds in the light of main international indices
145-168Views:120The paper tries to answer why fossil fuel abundant countries with diverse backgrounds perform differently depending on the dominance of the advantages or disadvantages accruing from natural resource wealth. With the contribution of the most popular competitiveness and institutional indices the determining factors are indentified. The distinctive factors are market efficiency, the quality of the business environment, innovative capability, the quality and efficiency of governmental, market and judicial institutions, the low level of corruption and the existence of political and civil freedom.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: O13, O17, Q32
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Political budget cycles: fiscal cycle effects in state expenditures in Poland
47-62Views:143In this paper we aim to investigate what kind of role fiscal cycles played in the development of the state budget balances in Poland between 1989 and 2011. Overall, the results of the latest research have found that political budget cycles (PBC) are more typical in less developed countries with a shorter period of experience with democratic institutions, such as the post-socialist transition economies. Nevertheless, empirical studies point out that this phenomenon has been disappearing over time as voters learn how democratic institutions and political manipulation operate. However, this theory could not be proved by testing the pattern of Poland, neither in the case of budget balances nor for state expenditures. Despite the fact that some fiscal cycle effects were found in public sector wages and pensions in the election period of 1997 and 2001, these proved to be temporary, and simultaneously some other measures were identified that counterbalanced the effects of pork barrel spending. Overall, the cyclical evolution of the budget balances in Poland, particularly in the nineties, was not a result of political budget cycles.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classifications: D72, E62, H3
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Human Resources Management in the Changes in Hungary In the Light of Two Consecutive Cranet Researches: Két egymást követő Cranet felmérés eredményei alapján
92-110Views:400Management, including Human Resources Management, has undergone major changes in Hungary since the economic and political changes of 1989. This area is even regarded as a field of continuous transformation. This study makes an effort to compare differences and similarities of specific features of Human Resources Management in Hungary in the light of two consecutive surveys, Cranet 2005 and 2008 (Cranet is an established group of top business schools and academic institutions, all collaborating to provide unique and rigorous data on human resource management practices across the world). According to these analyses, the study compares typical characteristics and practices of Human Resources Management in Hungary with major trends and tendencies of this field in 32 countries, including 6 countries from the Central and Eastern European region as well.
JEL classification: J24, M1, M54
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The role of the voluntary unemployment insurance system in the trade union movement
43-70Views:240The purpose of this study is to analyse the institutional environment of the state-subsidised, trade union-managed national voluntary unemployment insurance system (the so-called Ghent-system) that influences the selective incentive feature of this system based on the literature. Another goal is to run cluster analysis in order to show whether Ghent-countries – Denmark, Finland and Sweden – differ from other countries based on this environment. The analysis is based on Olson’s (1965) concept of by-product theory. The essence of this theory is that large groups are able to increase, maintain and thus realize their lobbying activities by applying incentives to individuals. In the case of trade unions, the availability of voluntary unemployment insurance is a significant incentive. Its impact on trade union movement is usually analysed as a dummy variable, but this article focuses on institutions that are important to the Ghent-system.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) code: J51
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International Higher Education League Tables – why are the best so good?
127-142Views:134The study provides a comparative analysis of international higher education rankings. The article aims to analyze the role and performance of universities in today’s knowledge economy in transforming employment conditions. This paper aims to add an overview of the methodology of the global academic rankings, showing the benefits and difficulties of the creation of league tables and makes a proposal to improve the distortions. It gives a detailed empirical analysis of the countries’ results based on a comparison of three rankings. Hypothesis: the performance of countries with an English native language is better because of the particularities arising from the methodology, since the results obtained from research databases involved in measurements are primarily English-language publications and their citations, and furthermore the majority of the most prestigious journals appear in English.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) code: I21, P52
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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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Freedom of the Markets versus Good Governance: Experiences in Central Europe
35-61Views:141The market and the state, operation and characteristics of two institutions of key importance in the modern mixed economies, are investigated for the former socialist countries in this study. After two decades it can be seen more clearly what system has been established in the region, how it operates, and what its characteristics are. In the first part of the with the help of international comparisons we examine how free the market is, how good the rules are, and how much they help, or hinder, the fulfilment of its function. From an other aspect we compare the scope of the good governance and the size, the freedom and efficiency of the state. According to the evidence of the international studies examined, the former socialist countries established the forms of the market institutional system relatively quickly, but the operation and quality of these lagged significantly behind those of the developed countries. Also important conclusion of the study is that by the first decade of the millennium the characteristics of the former socialist countries are increasingly diverging from one another. Both the characteristics of the earlier socialism, and the more distant historical past which can be caught in the act within it, had and have an effect on the economic and social systems now established in Eastern and Central Europe.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: H1, P17, P27, P35
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Regulatory Coherence and Economic Growth
33-54Views:165The paper is aimed at examining differences in market regulation across countries. Its starting point is the puzzle that poor countries apply more regulatory measures than rich ones do, although it has been empirically shown that those countries that regulate less grow faster. To explain this contradiction, the paper introduces the concept of regulatory coherence, and tries to explain the differences in this concept, together with the differences in the general level of regulation. The main argument is that regulatory coherence as well as the general level of regulation is dependent on the external, broad institutional system, because this affects the incentives of the regulators. The paper tries to support this theiretical argument empirically by a cluster analysis.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: B53, M13, L51
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Varieties of development paths in post communist countries with special regard to the transition in Hungary
5-25Views:175Transition in Central and Eastern Europe was carried out in various ways. However, the different countries’ current economic structure, institutions and main economic performance measures are rather similar. The question asked is whether these countries follow a specific kind of development model? What seems likely is that they differ substantially from CIS countries in many aspects. But they also seem to differ from existing models of capitalism more than they do from each-other. Based on this information, the varieties of capitalism literature assumes that such a model does indeed exist. However, no comprehensive positive description of the model has so far been provided. This paper tries to define the main elements of the CEE capitalist models. These are small open economies, with close integration into the world economy through foreign investments, a relatively limited and declining role of state redistribution, the problems of dual economic structure and insufficient job creation, a relatively large shadow economy and “business capture”-type cronyism. Further research is required to properly describe the elements and interactions among them.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classifications: D72, E65, P31
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Some characteristics of the connection between the economy and higher education - results of empirical research
149-178Views:128In this study we try to introduce some lessons drawn from an empirical research project which was made within the framework of the Gabor Baross Program's project, "Facilitation of Knowledge Transfer for Enhancement of Competitiveness of the North Great Plain Region by the Founding of the Innovation Knowledge Center". This part of the research tries to examine the demand for higher education among the actors in the economy. First the paper shows those results of the research which measured firms' knowledge of the Bologna process, and the main goals of the new form of education, and the knowledge structure and competencies connected to the creation of the individual education levels. Following this the article examines requirements from higher education, and the opportunity for developing the connections between educational institutions and the economy.
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Trust as a Cost Reducing Factor
74-84Views:205The 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
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Political leadership and economic growth: Do the leaders matter? A vezető személye számít?
101-116Views:171The 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
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Are business relationships institutions?
Views:126The question is simple; the answer could be quite complicated. Inter-organisational marketing researchers define business relationships as interactive exchanges between two organisations. Does this mean anything for institutional economists? A business relationship is created by weaving actor bonds, resource ties and activity links. Business relationships exist and change through time. The establishment, development, maintenance, as well as termination of a business relationship all require investments from the participating parties. A business relationship does not exist in an isolated manner, but other market and non-market actors can equally influence it. In reality, numerous other relationships and actors affect business relationships. As a result, these actors indirectly influence business relationships through the change in behaviour of one of the parties within the business relationship. These directly and indirectly affected relationships create a business network. For an organisation business relationships have different functions. External resources needed
for operation and value creation are fed by them. Value creation for the customer and value sharing with the customer take place in business relationships. They are forms of an organisation’s interdependence. A business relationship is a special form of governance of the partners’ mutual efforts. A business relationship has its own value for each organisation. Each organisation has several business relationships, each with different value. In business markets,
where buyers are always organisations, the business relationship portfolio is the market itself. Inter-organisational marketing researchers use very different theoretical foundations to study business relationships. Modern contract law based research distinguishes about a dozen norms of behaviour in business relationships. Institutional economic-rooted studies argue that we should use the plural-forms approach (price, authority and trust must be employed together) to explain these very complex phenomena. Research using communication theory concluded that multiple periods of business negotiations were required to develop even primitive norms. The paper concludes with some elements of a possible answer to the title question. -
Issues of the Regulation of Residential Credits
44-51Views:198The study focuses on the theoretical and practical issues of lending from the legal regulation point of view. After the 90’s the consumer social model was set up in Hungary, and it was linked to a fairly broad consumer credit activity. However, the regulation of lending was insufficient in many areas; consumer protection has hardly existed in the financial services market. Debtors were unprotected when facing the financial institutions, which concluded contracts not in their favour and restricted their rights. The economic crisis, and the great number of insolvent debtors, has emerged as a social problem for legislators, thus enabling them to amend lending rules and strengthen consumer protection in this area.
JEL classification: K 30
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Trends and Tendencies in the Development of HR Departments in Hungarian State Universities
115-146Views:305In the last couple years it has been fully accepted that human resource management plays an increasing role in the success of organizations, and also in the development and sustainability of national and international competitiveness (Gordon- Whitchurch, 2007). In the developed industrial countries – mostly the Anglo-Saxon pioneers – public institutions (including higher education) abandoned the normative and bureaucratic-controlled Taylor system (Karoliny et al, 2003). Beginning in the 70’s representatives of the New Public Management model, based exclusively on the effectiveness of business solutions, gained more ground. The early 80’s brought the widespread implementation of reform programs. These efforts have created models and experience that were applicable in the converging countries of Europe – including Hungary. After reviewing the latest professional literature and analyzing practices of eleven Hungarian universities we will assess the conversion of Human Resource Management and consider possibilities for modernization.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classifications: I21; H19; M52;M53;M54