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Some economic aspects of higher education quality
14-30Views:292Based on the world's most renowned university rankings, OECD annual reports and Eurostat data, this paper seeks to demonstrate that a competitive economy requires competitive (higher) education and that there is a significant correlation between the quality of higher education and economic development. Furthermore, in this process, the higher education quality assurance organization system has an outstanding task and responsibility through the formation of quality culture, guidelines, helpful research, summary of good practices and making constructive suggestions. Finally, it points out that close collaboration between universities and agencies with stakeholders is a priority area, which could contribute to a much more capability-based output system in the longer term. It also considers it desirable to make the relationship between universities and scientific research networks and research institutes closer and more vibrant (where it is not).
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes: H52, I22, I23, I25, I26, O15
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Some characteristics of the connection between the economy and higher education - results of empirical research
149-178Views:107In 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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Knowledge Export in Higher Education: A Hierarchic Approach
35-48Views:136The role of higher education in economic growth is increasing parallel with the development of the knowledge industry. The export income from student mobility estimated by some experts exceeds 40 billion US dollars worldwide. In this paper we discuss two aspects of the phenomenon. First, higher education as an industry is more complex than simply student mobility. This is true despite the fact that this mobility is the most visible and most attractive part of the export activity. There are research outputs of universities and other service activities which are classified as exports and which are offered in market based systems. Second, the individual professors - whether employees of universities or freelance knowledge workers - university departments, faculties, universities, countries, regions, etc. could serve as the subjects of the statistical measurement of activities. All of those activities which are carried out by universities can be measured in different hierarchical systems.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification: F14, M31
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Quality in education
149-182Views:242The aim of this paper is to study the basic questions of the quality of education from the perspective of the economics of education. In the introduction we review the fundamental concepts of quality; then we analyze the quality level of hungarian education through the results reported in international comparative studies such as PISA and IALS. We try to find the reasons for the weak performance of domestic education in these studies. After this we review the quality rating and other quality indicators of educational institutes, which are widely available to the public. And finally we try to discover the employers' quality requirements of the higher education system through an empirical study.
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Strategic directions of international degree mobility – examining the motivation of foreign students studying in Hungary and the factors influencing foreign studies
3-38Views:346In 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
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International Higher Education League Tables – why are the best so good?
127-142Views:107The 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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Trends and Tendencies in the Development of HR Departments in Hungarian State Universities
115-146Views:274In 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
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Education and the linear education system from the employers' point of view
169-174Views:110Hungarian higher education gas travelled a long way since the political changes of 1989-90. We are entitled to ask whether the changes have followed the right path. Due to the complexity of the question there is no definite answer. In a short article just one important part can be emphasized. With my ideas I try to calibrate the employers' expectations of the students entering the labour market. The employers are the voracious actors in the market, who always have the right to be critical, and to have impossible expectations. In this situation employers are the customers, and therefore cannot be expected to deal with a multitude of questions themselves. In this essay I try to discuss various typical aspects of employers" excpectations of future employees.
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A gazdasági növekedés gyorsításának esélyei Magyarországon 2030-ig
5-26Views:121The 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
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The Success and Motivation of Academic Entrepreneurs in Hungary
75-87Views:481This paper presents the results of an empirical study of 80 academic entrepreneurs in Hungary. It aims at analysing the relationship between the motivations for starting a firm and entrepreneurial success. The motivations studied are the prospects of higher income, the need for achievement, the need for independence and the benefits related to research. Success is examined from both objective and subjective perspectives. The indicators of objective success are the firm’s revenue, the change in the revenue, the number of employees and firm age. Subjective success refers to the academic entrepreneur’s self-evaluation. According to the findings, the strongest motivation for starting a spin-off firm is financial necessity, i.e. a dissatisfaction with the university salary. Except for financial need, all the motivations included in the study have a significant relationship with subjective success, but a weaker or no relationship with objective success. Research-related benefits, such as moving the research towards development, is a key entrepreneurial motive in the academic sector, as it is positively associated with subjective success, the revenue of the spin-off venture and its growth.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) Classifications: L26, I23, O32