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• Corrupt German companies? A political economy approach to German corporate scandals of recent years

  97-114

  Zoltan Adam

  Views:

  102

  The paper seeks to explain German corporate scandals of recent years from a political economy point of view, adopting a 'varieties of capitalism' approach. Scandals have taken place in two realms of corporate activities: (i) in industrial relations defined by the system of Mitbestimmung that my well constrain corporate restructuring, and (ii) in export markets where corrupting foreign officials has always been a widespread practice among large exporting companies, including export-intensive German manufacturing corporations. In recent years institutional changes in domestic and international markets, including regulatory regimes, have significantly altered the set of viable options for corporate strategies. In consequence, large German companies have to adjust to new circumstances. Although the institutional underpinnings of coordinated market economies have been changing, German corporatism is not set to vanish yet.

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: P16, F55 

• The institutional background of factoring

  71-96

  Zoltan Nagy

  Views:

  131

  The 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.

• Strategic directions of international degree mobility – examining the motivation of foreign students studying in Hungary and the factors influencing foreign studies

  3-38

  Elvira Bocskei

  Zoltan Bacs

  Barnabas Kovacs

  Tibor Tarnoczi

  Veronika Fenyves

  Views:

  346

  In the scope of our research, we examined the motivation of foreign students studying in Hungary. The objective of the applied questionnaire survey was to explore the possibilities both on the supply and demand side based on which young people who wish to study outside their home country identify Hungary as a potential destination country. In the first phase of the research, the statistical study of inward student mobility was performed. The image of Hungarian higher education is interesting also because, although the countries sending the most students are still in the neighboring countries (Slovakia, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine), there is a dynamic growth in terms of the number of students from Norway and Asian (China, Iran) and African (Nigeria) (Statistical database of the Office of Education). In the second phase of the research, the questionnaire survey was conducted seeking the answer to the following: what factors played a role in the decision of foreign students to study abroad (when did they decide to study abroad, where did they obtain information, what were the factors that influenced their choice of country and institution, etc.). How satisfied are they with the chosen training, with the organization education and what are their plans following the completion of the training? What prior information was available about training and subsistence expenses, what were the sources of funding, how did the costs of subsistence develop and what were the returns on these expenses, what was the proportion of leisure time and studying, and what were the options of spending leisure time? - How satisfied are they with institutional services (technical equipment, classroom facilities, library service, and institutional programs)? In the present article, we cover the factors influencing foreign studies considering the limitations of the scope.

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: I2, J1

• Corporate tax - a new paradigm is needed - I.: Income tax versus value-added tax

  26-47

  Laszlo Torok

  Views:

  428

  Since the existence of the corporate tax institution, it has been a difficult task to determine the exact corporate tax base. As long as states are as large as possible, taxpayers, on the other hand, are interested in the smallest possible tax base. National and supranational rules for determining the tax base are changing with unrealistic frequency. It is almost impossible to enforce them, so conflicts between countries and between companies and tax administrations over corporate tax payable seem to be perpetuating. With the rise of trans- and multinational corporations, aggressive corporate tax planning and covert tax avoidance have also emerged. National governments are trying to prevent this with bilateral and multilateral treaties. Still, the verdicts of the recently revealed multi-billion euro/dollar corporate tax cases prove that they do not have a deterrent effect, meaning that the measures taken so far are far from sufficient to prevent them. In my research hypothesis, I argue that the corporate tax system's current form is unsustainable at both national and global levels due to its intricate design and manipulability and its high macro- and micro-level implicit costs. I will then propose a new value-added tax and tax rate to compensate for the loss of government revenue due to the abolition of corporate tax in an equivalent and essentially clear way. After that, I tested the proposed new type of tax based on the European Union countries' value-added data. Finally, I present the new global tax's territorial principle to replace corporate tax and its contribution to national public burden-bearing.

  Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: C53, E62, H24, K34

• Institutional diversity and economic performance

  Silvana Malle

  Views:

  85

  Definition 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.