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Production Efficiency Analysis of the Hungarian Meat Processing Industry
23-42Views:125This paper analyzes the performance of the Hungarian meat processing industry in the wake of the global financial crisis. Between 2011 and 2013 many high-capacity meat processors went bankrupt in Hungary. Possible reasons for that could be unfavorable market situation and inefficiency in production. In this paper, the latter hypothesis is examined. Two different types of production function estimation techniques are used to calculate firm-specific inefficiency estimates. Based on the estimation results, the lower bound of average firm-level efficiency is 0.50, while the upper bound is 0.88. Estimated firm-level inefficiencies are compared to the characteristics of the given firms. Pre-tax profit, company size and domestic ownership are associated with lesser inefficiency. On the other hand, time trend of inefficiencies indicate that the global financial crisis negatively affected the production efficiency of the meat processors. This can be a reason behind the bankruptcies happened.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: C33, L66
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Market efficiency in relation to the financial crisis of 2008
31-50Views:346After the financial crisis of 2008 many scholars criticised the validity of the market efficiency hypothesis of the modern financial literature. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the adequacy of market efficiency based on Hungarian, and as a reference, on American securities. Besides classical statistical tools (autocorrelation function, Ljung-Box test, Augmented Dickey-Fuller test), we also used new approaches of the literature (Variance Ratio test). In addition to the simple hypothesis tests we tried to separate the different type of time series and explain the reasons for the different behaviours.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: G140
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Implementing Risk Adjusted Capitation Payments with Health Care Reforms in Hung
147-160Views:177Since the late nineties Hungarian governments have been considering the introduction of new health care arrangements by establishing organizations with devolved responsibilities for the management of health care. These organizations are typically financed through a weighted (risk adjusted) capitation system which is regarded as an adequate and optimal tool for resource allocation purposes. Through capitation one needs to handle large inequities in the Hungarian health care system and keep an eye on the incentives for efficiency. For the capitation formula a relatively broad choice of risk adjusters are available in the form of pharmacy- and diagnosis-based patient level utilization data (health-based adjusters) and area level socio-economic data (non health-based adjusters). The instant application of health-based adjusters has limitations because they reflect a distorted provider structure and offer perverse incentives; therefore a gradual shift from using non health-based adjusters to health-based adjusters is preferred. The early phase of the capitation system also implies a strong presence of risk sharing arrangements and other complementary policies. Given that promoting efficiency and equity are to be pursued, the capitation approach outlined in this paper should serve as a guide to future Hungarian health care system reforms.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) code: I28, G28, G32, H51
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Efficiency and resource allocation: the Hungarian managed health care system
Views:94The managed health care system (MHCS) was introduced and applied in Hungary between 1999 and 2009. The gradually expanding system covered only 22% of the population and included exclusively the curative-preventive health care, subsidy on medicaments, subsidy on therapeutic appliances and the spa service. Like anywhere else it was cost-effectiveness that was expected from the MHCS without the adverse effect in the quality of the health service. To decide whether the MHCS was successful in Hungary or not, we compare it with the results of those segments of the health system where the MHCS was not introduced. We use the method of the incremental cost analysis. We are making our comparison exclusively on the basis of health economics aspects, because no difference has evolved in the quality of the medical attendances. We will see that where the MHCS was applied, the medical attendance became cheaper, at those places where the MHCS was not applied the medical attendance became more expensive, causing a chronic financial deficit (137785 million HUF). Although the MHCS managed from less money, it gained 17767 million HUF during the mentioned ten years. We are going to present the general features of the MHCS and support the fact that the outcome of the managed care concept was rationalized and the savings in several segments of health care, by means of empirical evidence.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: I150, I180, G220, G320, H520.
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Sustainability of growth in countries with diverse backgrounds in the light of main international indices
145-168Views:102The 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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Citizens’ Interest Index: What can act as a benchmark for the results of the New Public Management reforms?
117-131Views:100The aim of the study is to suggest an adequate indicator to describe comprehensively the efficiency of New Public Management (NPM) at a macro level by using the economic roots of NPM. The scientific community has not yet found a comprehensive indicator to measure the efficiency of the given school; however NPM is at the stage of its lifecycle when these researches really do need to be conducted. Both the political-theoretical and the economic roots of NPM are closely connected to public choice theory; this theory thus provides the bases of the model for creating the new indicator. In the article we do not only introduce the created composite index at an abstract level, but also present its formulation and methodological background.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classifications: H83, D70, D23
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Western Balkans: Opportunities for Agriculture on the Eve of EU Accession
52-73Views:134The 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
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Több hitel, nagyobb kockázat
185-200Views:146The main goal of this paper is to analyse the characteristics of the rapid credit growth in Hungary in recent years. The availability of credit is crucial for households who want to smooth their consumption and for firms, while the amount of credit affects the monetary transmission mechanism and financial stability risks. We analyse the reasons for the credit expansion and demonstrate that the increase in the amount of credit can improve the efficiency of the monetary transmission mechanism, We analyse the micro risks induced by credit growth. Finally we demonstrate Krugman's model (1999) in connection with the Asian crises and then we try to prove that the growth of foregin-currency denominated credit decreases the ability of monetary policy to affect aggregate demand.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: E51.
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The achievement of market orientation in SME’s – results of a cluster analysis
22-45Views:145The aim of this study is to examine to what extent Hungarian SMEs adopt market orientation and what effect it has on their performance. The results of the examination show that the great proportion of SMEs do not adopt a market orientated approach. Among those that do, the effect of market orientation cannot be shown directly through objective indicators of their performance. At the same time it does have an indirect effect on efficiency, which can be observed over the long term. According to our results, the extent to which small and medium-sized firms adopt market orientation plays a significant role in owner-managers’ subjective estimations of performance. Consequently, emerging market consolidation occurring as the result of efficient operation can lead to a satisfactory outcome.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: L20, M31
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The probable impact of policies and policy measures on globalisation
Views:100This paper aims to identify the impact of the recent economic and non-economic shocks on the globalisation of trade in terms of trade policy and structural openness, and to take a side in the discussion about the reversal, the slowdown, and the continuation of trade globalisation. The report argues that geopolitical decisions based on pure political priorities and different macro- and micro-policies may
harm trade globalisation temporarily. Nevertheless, in the long run, underlying
economic factors, such as decreasing trade costs and expanding services trade remain the critical driving forces of globalisation. The speed of the process is likely
to be slower than before, and its characteristics are different. With weakening multilateralism and increasing fragmentation, the emerging global world order will be suboptimal from the point of view of economic efficiency.Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: F01, F02, F13, F60.
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Adatbányászat üzleti szemmel (I. rész)
Views:90Organizations in the 21st century - whether they are profitoriented or not, in private ownership or state-owned - can increase their efficiency with an outstanding tool. This tool is data mining. This article first of all defines and presents data mining, and locates it in the process of 'Knowledge Discovery in Databases'. Following this we review the fields of employment of data mining and the basic methods employed. In particular we discuss the method of classification and the theoretical background of the main techniques, such as decision trees, neural networks and logistic regression models. The second part of this paper presents the real world application of this technology by way of an analysis of a real database.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: C25, C44, C45, C49
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Human Capital and EU-Enlargement
83-92Views:76The enlargement of the European Union is an almost everywhere accepted necessity, but at the same time of course also a compromise. Economies or regions of different economic, social, institutional, etc. development become united in Europe with a territory from the Atlantic to the Eastern borders of Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. This integration process going along with the worldwide globalisation will imply a new distribution, or a redistribution of the factors of production. First of all the human capital will be touched by this development.2 One of the most important results found by social sciences in the 20th century is the realisation of the immense role played by human factors in the process of economic development. The extremely high efficiency of human capital and the high mobility could diminish the regional differences in the economic development and therefore in the social life. But even this is one reason for the mentioned re-allocation of the human capital. In the frame of a very simple static model (See e. g. Bishi – Kopel [2002]) the flow of human capital between different regions – called the European Union and the New Member States – will be analysed. The introduction of search costs extends the field of policy-analysis.
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Methodological challanges of digitalization in business education: Digitalization in business education
62-83Views:374University education has to persevere in the 21st century in a changing environment. The knowledge that is to be obtained seems to increase with the advancement of technology. The development of science and the changing needs of the job market demand continuous development and more efficient university curricula. This article investigates the effect of technology on education efficiency; it describes and evaluates several teaching approaches. The conclusions tend to turn towards the direction that although obtaining information became considerably easier than even ten years ago, knowledge still has to be learned the same way as before. The neurobiological process of learning is the same as a hundred years ago.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: A20, A22, A23
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Data mining through a business window (Part II.)
108-130Views:131This article demonstrates the real world applications of the technology of data mining by way of a data mining project. This project was created by the author and the analyzed database was provided by a real company. The aim of the analysis was to create a classification model for this firm. To achieve this we applied logistic regression models, a decision tree and a neural network. The best model can help the company to consciously establish which customers will probably respond positively to a personal letter in a direct marketing campaign. In this way potentially favourable customers are reached more efficiently than in the case of randomized selection. This increases the efficiency of the company, and the generalization of results can confirm several advantages of data mining as used in business life.
JEL classification: C25, C44, C45, C49, C88
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Consumers' and producers' evaluation of quality
157-168Views:74Quality concepts of consumers and producers are different. This leads to a significant loss in efficiency, because producers plan their marketing activity based on an estimated consumers' quality concept, which is mostly incorrect. This study argues that instead of merely mapping the consumers' quality concept, producers should actively form it, while taking into account the limitations of the consumer's information processing system.
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Role of the organizational factors in the success of Hungarian SMEs
108-125Views:680This paper analyses the success of the Hungarian SME sector from the aspect of competitiveness, innovation, organizational background and the role of the leader/owner. The author summarizes the organizational innovation specialties of the SMEs based on four empirical researches and own case-study. The conclusion is the organizational innovation characteristically fades into the background of SME operation, development purposes and strategy. The role of the firm owner-leader is essential in these topics. Meanwhile the inflexibility of the organization, loyalty of the employees, labor market disadvantages, the knowledge level and competency of the human resources, its effect on the efficiency are often limit the expansion. These factors have significant influence on the success and competitiveness of the company. Therefore, the paper analyses the organizational innovation and background according to the company success, and the leader-based decision-making procedures, and processes, and evaluates the results of secondary research based on these. The novelty of the empirical research method is the search for GAPs between the leader and the organization and their correlation with success and attitude towards innovation.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: M14
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Freedom of the Markets versus Good Governance: Experiences in Central Europe
35-61Views:111The 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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The question of the efficiency of financial transactions: the German example
13-24Views:84Egy többdimenziós célrendszerben a hatékonyság a különböző komplementáris vagy konkuráló célok
függvényében határozható meg. A német újraegyesülés gazdasági következményeinek példája azt mutatja,
hogy a keleti tartományoknak juttatott masszív pénzügyi transzferek politikai szempontból elkerülhetetlenek
voltak ugyan, hosszabb távon azonban jelentősen gyengítették az össznémet gazdaság teljesítőképességét. -
The Development of Growth Accounting Techniques in the Mirror of Economic Growth
85-103Views:136In this article we present the development of certain growth theories that model the main sources of growth. Since the elasticity of substitution – one of the most important parameters of production function – is not unity, as the Cobb-Douglas production function assumes, it can be different from a value of 1; hence we need a more general CES-type (Constant Elasticity of Substitution) production function. Another important question is the classification of factors of production. The elasticity of substitution is an efficiency factor as well, thus it receives special attention in the analysis. Finally we summarize the main papers that are mainly concerned with growth accounting, and try to answer the question of which factors play a significant or less significant role in economic growth. Growth accounting is strongly connected to growth theories so we refer back to growth theory at certain points.
JEL classification: E13, O47
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Study the past as if you would define the future!? - Testing the effectiveness of technical analysis on the Budapest Stock Exchange
201-214Views:130Technical analysis is an attempt to forecast prices of a financial asset by the study of its past prices. This technique has been an element of financial practice for many decades, but it has not recieved general acceptance in academic literature. In this paper I analyze the effectiveness of certain technical trading rules on the Budapest Stoch Exchange between 1999 and 2005. In the first step I test if there are trading rules that can be qualified as effective when the analysis is applited to the full seven-year period. Some worries arise concerning the long-term analysis, so in the next step I test whether the effectiveness of the trading rules change if the analysis is applied to one-year sub-periods. The results indicate that it is worth implementing the short-term analysis because it shows a different picture of the effectiveness of the trading rules. However, the results of the short-term analysis show that if these trading rules are tested on one-year sub-periods, it becomes doubtful that they are effective.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: G14, G15