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An analysis of services for general economic purposes and universal services in the European Union
49-66Views:131A topic in the focus on debates on the European social model has been to define the future role of Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI). The European Commission launched a widespread public discussion on the public utility related objectives of SGEI, their impacts on the quality of life, on the environment and on the competitiveness of European firms, as well as on ways of organising and financing these services. This discussion has received an important input from rulings of the European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance in cases on Services of General Economic Interest. Although these court rulings lacked consistency in some cases, they still helped to obtain more accurate definitions of SGEI. Most member countries of the EU have started to elaborate the concept of universal services, but there are still serious loopholes in the field of monitoring, control, quality management and in terms of financing. To sum up, the EU member country level practice of universal services in the energy sector is still in the first phase of realisation.
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Features of Knowledge Intensive Business Services from Innovation Aspects
147-156Views:158Based on the innovation approach to services this paper defines knowledge intensive business services and gives an overview of their features from innovation perspectives. It finds that different service activities are related to innovation systems to varying extents. Compared to other sectors, services lack stimulative institutional and other formal support systems that may act not only as knowledge centres for companies but could also contribute to both the protection and spread of innovation. In contrast with production, the absence of an efficient protection of intellectual property indicates a significant risk in the service sector, and hinders optimal knowledge transfer and results in waste and duplication in innovation efforts.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) Classification: O31, O32, L84
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Examining the perception of innovative online banking services – a discrete choice experiment among university consumers
64-91Views:358In our study, we examine consumer preferences for innovative online banking services among students in business and management education. To achieve our research goal, we conducted a discrete choice experiment with the target group. The alternatives of our hypothetical decision situations included in our experiment were characterized by the possibility of ATM smartphone integration, the availability of real-time banking, the availability of NFC payment, and the cost per transaction. Based on our model estimates, we found that all three examined services (ATM smartphone integration, real-time banking, NFC payment) have a positive perception among respondents, while the increase in cost has a negative effect on the respondents’ sense of utility. The results of the latent class model estimated in order to address the preference heterogeneity highlighted the existence of a consumer group with very strong preferences and thus a high willingness to pay (average HUF 70) towards the existence of the NFC service. Male students with a non-Debrecen resident in higher-level vocational training are more likely to be included in this class.
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Attention in the world of information goods - an analysis of scarcity
1-20Views:159Attention as a form of service can also act as a source for the crearion of value. In its functional and market interconnections, attention is product of labour (product or service) and, as an exchangeable good, is naturally exchanged for money. The system of sxchange provides a significant amount of accurate information about the division of attention within society - the degree to which it reflects recognition by the individual and the community. The forum of exchange of attention can be viewed as the openness of society, while the internet is its international market place. However attention also played an important role in the 'old economy'; indeed in some cases attention was the central tool in its creation. Direct, personal services aimed at human beings (teaching, legal and health services) always demanded great attention. If nowadays a product itself is the main part of the service provided, attention becomes an important and decisive resource in the use of a product. The growing individualisation in the provision of goods and services, the increasingly direct interaction between people, and last, but not least, the transformation to a virtual level, necessarily increases the demand for attention in economic transactions- Unlike traditional goods, the outstanding feature of services, and more specifically intellectual goods, is the ability of consumers to devote sufficient time and attention to their use and to acquiring the necessary competence to use them. For the providers of these goods the ability to hold the attention of consumers/clients is often the crucial feature of competitive success. Praise, excellence and prestige are all manifestations of acquired attention. In this sense attention acts as a store of value, although it cannot be dircetly and easily compared with acquisition mechanism associated with money and other products. The economy of attention raises questions rather than offering defensible theses or clear statements. Even less does it allow us to claim that a theory could be crystallised in this field to explain how the expanding phenomenon of the non-material sector of the economy function in the economy as a whole. There is no doubt however that attention is a supremely important subject of research in the new economy.
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The impact of digitalization on the financial sector
29-42Views:534Present-day consumer society increasingly satisfies its needs through digital channels, and financial products and services are no exceptions. The 4th industrial revolution is not only about the penetration of technology, but also the paradigm shift of business processes. The traditional members of the financial sector must adapt to the digitalized world to keep their positions in the market. The penetration of BigTech and FinTech companies influenced the expectations of consumers: customer experience became the main criteria of their decisions. In order to simplify and accelerate processes, banks use the methods of digitalization, and automatize the system to increase client satisfaction. In this article, we will introduce the three
bank types based primarily on the usage of innovative technology, the extension and depth of the cooperation with FinTech companies, and the status of a bank’s internal digital transformation. Also, we will introduce the current status of the banking sector evidenced by our SWOT-analysis and mention some of the existing payment solutions.
JEL Classification: G21, G23 -
Parallel Organizational and Technology Innovation: Designing Organizations following SOA Principles
5-19Views:204Technology development in general and trends and developments in infocommunication technologies in particular have a direct effect on corporate organizational processes. In information system design, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) provides a set of principles and methodologies for designing software in the form of interoperable services with defined business functionalities. These loosely coupled components can be reused for different purposes, and can be combined with services bought from outside partners and other service providers. The goal of this study is to describe how SOA principles and
methods can be used for designing business organizations, i.e. socio-technical systems with human and machine components. Part one is a general overview of SOA as it is used in IT, part two explains how IT systems converge with corporate organizations, and part three presents a model for an organization designed and managed following SOA principles. The research project behind this article was initiated by the Hungarian Post.Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classifications: L14, L22, L86, M15
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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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The shift from Office to Customer Oriented Culture: the Case of the Hungarian Post: Liberalizáció és szervezeti változások a postai szektorban
143-158Views:269The case study is conducted within the framework of organizational change and organization innovation, and examines the changes in knowledge requirements and the alterations caused by the liberalization generated by the Magyar Posta Zrt. The study focuses on the transformation of official attitudes, the make up of the required knowledge and how organizational changes have facilitated the development of a customer-oriented organizational structure. Based on the interviews conducted, the conclusion is that the process of “providing service ex-officio” has not yet been completed, but the employees are increasingly becoming involved in a client-centred approach. On the management level the preservation of the hierarchy and the status quo have more importance than the expression of the new organizational values.
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classifications: D23, M14
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Exploring the awareness of platform-based, demand-driven businesses in Hungary and Romania
73-100Views:80Platform-based, demand-driven business models, known as the sharing economy, emerged in the United States in 2008. Their emergence has been made possible by digital development, and their impact can be seen in both economic and social life, in the globalised nature of cooperation models. Since 2016, the European Commission has conducted three surveys on using the sharing economy in the EU Member States. Based on the 2018 survey, this study analyses Hungary's and Romania's relationship with the sharing economy. The survey results show that awareness of the SE is increasing, especially on the consumer side. However, a decreasing trend is observed on the service side. Demographic factors (age, gender, employment status) significantly influence the willingness to provide and use services. Respondents in the two countries are not homogeneous and have different perceptions of the opportunities and threats of the sharing economy.
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The probable impact of policies and policy measures on globalisation
49-72Views:162This 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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Monetary Impacts and Overshooting of Agricultural Prices in Hungary
39-49Views:149This paper employs the theoretical model developed by Shagaian et al. 2002, to analyse the response of various sectors of the Hungarian national economy to changes in the money supply. Johansen co-integration and vector error correction methodology is used to test whether agricultural prices overshoot their long-run equilibrium path if a monetary shock hits the system. Our results emphasise that agricultural prices do adjust faster to changes in macroeconomic conditions, in particular money supply, than industrial prices, thus affecting relative prices in the short-run; however, strict long-run money neutrality does
not hold. The result is that flexible sectors of the national economy, such as agriculture or services, bear the burden of adjustment, with significant consequences for farms’ viability.Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classifications: C32, E51, P22, Q11.
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Knowledge Export in Higher Education: A Hierarchic Approach
35-48Views:153The 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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The future of Russian outward foreign direct investment and the eclectic paradigm: What changes after the crisis of 2008–2009?
31-54Views:201This article explores the future of Russian outward foreign direct investment in the aftermath of the crisis of 2008–2009. As it is too early to analyse the full impact of the crisis, it develops hypotheses about the degree of slowdown in the foreign expansion of Russian transnational corporations. It uses an extension of the eclectic paradigm to home country advantages (competitive environment, business environment, development strategy, State involvement) applied to a comparison of the Russian Federation with other economies in transition as an analytical tool. Systematic differences between transnationals from the Russian Federation (global firms, based on natural resources, aiming for vertical integration of assets) and from new European Union member countries (regional firms, based on downstream activities or services, aiming for horizontal integration) allow us to formulate more solid conclusions about the future of the Russian firms facing lower export prices, lower market capitalizations and higher debts. In turn, this article argue that a comparison with the large emerging economies of Brazil, China and India, under the acronym of BRIC can be less useful in the current context, as these economies are significantly less affected by the crisis of 2008–2009 than the Russian Federation; hence they can not expect a slowdown in their outward foreign direct investment similar to that of Russian transnationals.
JEL: F23; F21; O52; P29
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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:383In 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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The role of sovereign wealth funds in the international financial system
111-125Views:176While sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) were formerly considered to be passive financial investors, today we can see their active presence in international capital markets. As their assets are continuously growing under their management, they are likely to have important impacts both on the financial services sector and international capital movements as well. The aim of this study is to give an overall view of the role of sovereign wealth funds assumed during the credit crisis, as well as of their possible impacts on the economic and financial system. The problem of transparency will also be discussed, namely the lack of it, which derives from the fact that most sovereign wealth funds do not disclose any information about their activities, operations, and investments. Moreover, this study provides an insight into policy responses made on the international level concerning SWFs.
JEL classification: E58, F21, F30, G15
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The emergence of digital transformation in the automotive industry - Industry 4.0 in Hungary
3-28Views:525It is no exaggeration to say that the digital transformation can be seen as both a paradigm shifts and a real technological revolution (Perez, 2010, Mergel, et al., 2019). In order to get to know the preparedness of the Hungarian automotive industry players in the topic, we conducted an empirical research in October - December 2020. The main goal was to determine the level of automotive actors in the digital transformation process. Company leaders were primarily asked about their progress in the digital transition process, its opportunities and challenges, organizational culture, and potential human resource management responses. This study focuses on the digital transition concentrating on the following dimensions: strategy and leadership, human resources, business processes, supply chain, manufacturing, products and services. Based on the results, we classified the examined Hungarian automotive industry actors into clusters.
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Challenges ahead for the European Union
7-12Views:124It is a mild understatement that nowadays the EU is navigating in rough waters. Close to half of the member countries of the Euro area are in breach of their fiscal stability commitment – and some of them very substantially. Quite a few heads of government publicly criticise the ECB’s monetary policy. Germany and France are determined to water down the Bolkenstein directive on the implementation of a genuine single market for services (which amount to about two-thirds of the EU’s GDP), to which, incidentally, no major objections had been raised by the governments of the member states during the drafting stage. There is no agreement on the longer term EU budget. Only Ireland, the UK and Sweden accept the free movement of the residents of the ten countries which became members of the EU in May last year.