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Business and Economics
Abstract
The paper takes a special perspective to summarise what researchers have revealed on global value chains in Hungary. The ‘space-time’ structure is how the ‘force field’ of the amount of value added is shared and how the process it creates characterises specific global value chain networks. There is a growing literature that reveals the ‘dents’ of the GVC force field: the uneven distribution of value-added content, and mainly the controversial possibilities to upgrade in the network. Hungary is a typical example of a semi-peripheral or integrated periphery country. The paper discusses the lessons of different global value chain relations of the country in different geographical environments in terms of the two dimensions of ‘space’ and ‘time’; that is the potential and structure of value added and its dynamics, as well as compares them through an automotive industry case study.
Abstract
This paper investigates Hungary's inflationary exposures to global price movements using a simple cost-push input-output price model and a database of inflation-to-output price elasticities (Global Inflation-to-Output Price Elasticity Database, GIOPED) developed on the basis of the OECD's Inter-Country Input-Output Tables. Inflation elasticities are decomposed into local, simple, and complex global value chain effects by applying Wang's decomposition scheme (Wang et al. 2017) to price movements and inflation. Our empirical analysis based on GIOPED elasticities shows that Hungary is highly exposed to global value chain price transmissions originating in Germany, Austria, and Russia; and in particular to changes in energy prices. The crude oil and natural gas price boom and the resulting energy crises caused a significant increase in consumer price levels in Hungary; however, this explains only a fraction of current inflation rates.
Abstract
Trade analysis for open economies is strategically important. Even though Hungarian trade relations are oriented towards the EU, the direct and indirect influence of Asia, mainly China, needs special attention. The paper focuses on direct bilateral relations between Hungary and China. The global value chain perspective enables the research to detect inter- and intra-industry dependencies and unfold and compare the industry focuses and dynamics of backward and forward linkages between 2000 and 2018. We used a mixed methodology, combining input-output analysis with company case studies based on a wide range of literature both from Chinese and East-Central European researchers. The findings support the significance of global value chain relations, highlight the restructuring of Hungarian trade relations with China over the past twenty years, and indicate the strong concentration of relations in terms of the number of companies.
Abstract
Multinational companies in the fashion industry operate on a global level. Fashion was one of the first industries that outsourced production to developing countries and allowed exploitation and environmental pollution to remain hidden. But concerns regarding the industry's (un)sustainability are rising, regarding both the environmental and the social aspects. Fashion consumption is on the rise and the industry is among the most polluting ones. With this paper, I join the debate on how to force fashion MNCs to operate sustainably. There are two opposing views on where change should come: from above (regulation) or from below (change in customer habits and the activity of sustainable fashion NGOs). According to one view, fashion is underregulated and only legislation can be a solution: MNCs will only operate sustainably if they are forced by law. The other group claims that customers should drive green initiatives as their demand catalyzes MNC production. I claim that neither side is enough, as sustainability is not necessarily the number one consideration for customers or policymakers. In this conceptual paper, I use document analysis as a qualitative approach, and descriptive statistics to support my position.
Abstract
This research investigates the proactive and reactive measures applied by Czech and Hungarian automotive companies following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We apply a qualitative methodology and analyse interviews with company managers to learn about the applied measures. The results reveal that the resilience gained during the COVID-19 pandemic involved proactive measures, which companies have kept in place. Reactive measures involved production replanning and alternative transportation. Adopting multiple sourcing strategies in the automotive sector is limited and more reactive rather than proactive. The important antecedents of agility are information sharing and cooperation within multinationals.
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency classifies healthcare as one of the leading energy-consuming industries. Extensive energy is needed around the clock in healthcare institutions for lighting, ventilation, and operating medical equipment. However, there is a growing concern over the sustainability of energy utilization by healthcare institutions worldwide. This narrative review thus seeks to examine energy efficiency and utilization in healthcare institutions and energy management and conservation techniques and make recommendations for future optimal usage. The paper notes that healthcare institutions use different quantities of energy from diverse sources, including hydropower, biomass, solar energy, and wind power. However, energy consumption varies from one institution to another, with the number of beds and intensity of healthcare operations, with an average of 0.27 MWh m−2. Moreover, this review also identified various techniques and measures to enhance energy efficiency, such as the variant refrigerant flow technology and the combination of renewable energy sources with diesel generators to reduce the cost of electricity. Overall, healthcare institutions need energy management systems such as automated energy monitoring technologies, to check the systems' efficiency. The same techniques can also help Middle Eastern healthcare institutions with efficient energy utilization. Ultimately, the literature review aims to introduce an approach that focuses on reducing site-level consumption of energy while increasing the quality of the energy used and hence, helping reduce energy costs while conserving the environment.
Abstract
The objective of this paper is to review the academic literature and identify best practices on the integration of artificial intelligence and sustainable technologies in strategic renewable energy and Power-to-X projects globally. We reflect upon the way in which exemplary case studies can be used to foster a common shared view among different policy makers to highlight new ways through which energy efficiency and systemic improvements in the energy sector may be achieved while curbing carbon emissions and addressing climate change. The main risks, challenges and mitigations for integrating artificial intelligence and sustainable technologies in energy systems are also educed from both the academic literature as well as interviews with experts. Our findings indicate that while the integration of artificial intelligence and sustainable technologies can support energy efficiency and systemic improvements in the energy sector, there are several risks that were not previously identified in the literature. Critical areas of future development for academic research as well as opportunities for professional practice are presented.
Abstract
In a research study among university students regarding technological change, equality and environmental sustainability, deep-seated dichotomies were found in the students' mental images of the future. This study aims to present these dichotomies as well as propose explanations for them, adding to our understanding of what kind of behavioural barriers inhibit sustainability transformations. The results show that the interviewees truly struggle to decide if the world really is on fire regarding environmental change, if technology is capable of solving the situation, if inequality is truly a problem, and how they can relate to all this. The dichotomies that we found suggest that on the one hand, they find no comfort in the dominant techno-optimistic, eco-modernisation narratives and, on the other hand, they are not aware of any alternatives. The results underline the existence of psychological phenomena such as optimism bias or psychological distancing. In our paper, we also address whether dichotomous thinking poses a problem or whether we may have to accept that dichotomies can become the norm when contemplating the world in its increasing complexity.
Abstract
This study empirically examines knowledge spillover in Visegrad Four (V4) countries, with an emphasis on global value chains (GVCs). Using patent statistics, the study aims to estimate the knowledge production function, including domestic and foreign knowledge stocks, and found that international knowledge spillover does not contribute much to the innovation of the local economy in the V4 countries because of three factors: i) multinational corporations' (MNCs) strategy to locate a low-cost production base, ii) MNCs' strategy to locate supporting (process, production or non-core product related) research and development (R&D) activities and iii) limited technology spillover effect from MNCs to local firms. Local firms in the V4 countries became dependent on the peripheral products and technologies provided by MNCs, and as a result, local R&D activities in the V4 countries were diverted from patentable innovation.
Abstract
Managing sustainability-oriented organizational changes has received increasing attention in the international literature from the perspectives of corporations and universities. Nevertheless, researching sustainability change management (SCM) from the perspective of the cooperation of corporations and universities, especially the underlying factors of the cooperation, remained overlooked until now. Based on the change management (CM) literature, this research focuses on an international inter-organizational network with universities and corporations, and empirically studies their autonomous SCM characteristics and the collaborative planning dynamics of a sustainability-led innovation (SLI) project. Results show that SLIs cannot only come from SCM strategies, but emerging opportunities within inter-organizational networks could also induce them. Important contextual factors of CM, i.e., regarding strategy, structure, and capabilities, however, could and should be interpreted during SCM and SLI project planning, as these underlying factors force cooperation partners to compromise with each other in project scope. The results suggest that compromises could not undertake autonomous strategy alignment or capability building, only minor changes in the project scope which will still allow leveraging existing capabilities or require a few additional structural coordination mechanisms. The findings contribute to the literature by highlighting empirical examples of inter-organizational SLI challenges, deriving from autonomous balancing needs during SCM.
Abstract
This study measures the effectiveness of monetary transmission channels of the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) Quantitative and Qualitative Monetary Easing (QQE) policy in affecting Japan's inflation rate. The monetary transmission channels are interest rate, portfolio rebalancing and foreign exchange rate channels. Based on data from 1 August 2013 to 31 October 2019, the Granger's Causality Test showed that the interest rate channel was vital in transmitting the effect of monetary easing. Specifically, the interest rate channel transmitted the effect of QQE, QQE with a negative interest rate and QQE with yield curve control policy to the domestic price level. Portfolio rebalancing and foreign exchange rate channels did not influence Japan's inflation rate in all the QQE policy periods. The empirical results are robust against different estimation methods. Based on the findings, the study offers some imperative policy recommendations.
Abstract
Economies, including the European Union, face the risk of losing ability to maintain their competitive positions on the global scale and of related inability to generate value added up to satisfactory degree. We therefore examine factors assumedly having positive impact on the domestic value added in exports, as a recently introduced key indicator of country's export competitiveness, reported in the TiVA database. The main aim of our paper is to test, for the selected countries, the relationships of the domestic value added in exports with the following factors: (1) number of patent applications per million inhabitants, (2) foreign direct investment per capita, (3) business expenditure on research and development as a percentage of GDP and (4) resource productivity as control variable. We prove by panel data analysis that the domestic value added in exports increases with an increase in all deployed independent variables as well as in control variable.
Abstract
Measurement of the performances of inflation targeting (IT) frameworks has been of interest to researchers ever since IT began to be implemented as a monetary policy strategy. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of domestic and international determinants on success in achieving inflation targets of the selected European economies. Our methodological framework is based on the application of a non-stationary discrete choice model. For this research, four European economies are considered: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Serbia. Their results regarding IT policy can provide a useful benchmark for similar economies that are either planning to adopt the same monetary policy framework or have begun to apply it recently. Our findings indicate that IT success is primarily under the control of monetary policymakers by key policy rate mechanism, but that the impact of additional domestic and international factors that are not easily managed by the central bank like budget balance, exchange rate, growth rate, current account balance, labor cost growth, loans, Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices, inflation, and GDP gap of the Eurozone, can be also significant. Consequently, monetary policymakers need to take into account a wide range of inflation factors, including foreign spillover effects, so that tools for their neutralization can be helpful in achieving the targeted goals.
Abstract
Synthesizing multidimensional phenomena such as well-being in the form of composite indicators has been gaining popularity in recent years. The Mazziotta-Pareto Index is one of the methods of constructing non-compensatory composite indices. The paper proposes a modification of this method, which (unlike the original) enables periodical measurements and can be used to compare countries in research on East European transition. The essence of this modification is the use of anti-pattern normalization, during which only current data is used, and yet after normalization, the indicators are in a certain way comparable over time. The Anti-Pattern Normalized Mazziotta-Pareto Index (APMPI), unlike the original, does not change the previously determined values after the inclusion of new data. Both the imperfection of the original approach and the new proposal are illustrated by an empirical example. Indices of well-being for the OECD countries are constructed. The example shows that although AMPI and APMPI values are not comparable, the rankings based on them are not very different.
Abstract
A set of simple and complex indicators is used to measure the economic condition of economies, and the analysis can be conducted in a static or dynamic approach. This article proposes the author's macroeconomic condition index (MCI), which is based on the popular misery index, supplementing the unemployment and inflation rates with two variables: GDP growth rate and budget deficit. The aim of the study is to assess the macroeconomic situation of Poland against the average for the EU, using the above-mentioned measure. The time scope of the study covers the years 2011–2020, with particular emphasis on the effects of the first year of the Covid crisis. The results indicate that throughout the period the economic situation in Poland in terms of the four variables combined was relatively favourable, although less stable. A sharp downturn occurred in 2020, both domestically and on average in the EU. The main determinants of the worse condition were a decline in the GDP growth rate and an increase in the budget deficit, with relatively steady unemployment and inflation.
Abstract
The main goal of this paper is to analyse the impact of pension funds on capital market development in 11 new EU member states from Central and Eastern Europe using annual data for the period between 2000 and 2019. Given the geographical, institutional, political and economic differences across these countries, we split them into three homogenous groups: Balkan, Baltic and Visegrad countries. We use three different variables as a proxy for capital markets growth: stock market capitalization, the value of stock traded, and private bond market capitalization. We apply dynamic and fully-modified ordinary least squares to examine the relationship between the variables. The empirical results indicate that pension funds have a positive effect on the bond markets growth in all sub-groups but they do not impact the stock market growth in the Balkan and Baltic countries.
Abstract
It has been known for decades that in a given year and in a given country, with the rise in lifetime income, life expectancy also rises. The difference between the richest and the poorest stratas' life expectancies is called the longevity gap. Recently, as the gap has generally been growing, it has received more and more attention. The issue is important in itself, but it has also an obvious impact on redistribution in the pension system: the greater the longevity gap, the greater is the redistribution from the low benefit pensioners to the high benefit ones in a given pension system. Econometrically estimating the life expectancy-income function may help the analysis. In our short study, first we give a simple estimation, and then we show the influence of the estimate on the redistribution.
Abstract
The relationship between economic growth and transport sector is an important and popular topic for researchers, but it also has several untapped areas. To ensure continuous economic growth, it is necessary to answer how and to what extent economic sectors contribute to sustainability; what factors or sets of factors can determine freight performance in a country or region; and how it affects the global economy. This study aims to test the presence of spatial dependence. In this research, the authors looked for the spatial relationships between economic activity (GDP) and freight transport performance using spatial econometric models. The results showed that the spatial impact of freight transport performance and GDP significantly influence each other. The intensity calculation shows that the Baltic States have a high intensity in road freight transport, followed by the Central European region. Eastern Europe, including Russia and the Baltics, are prominent players in rail freight. Furthermore, the spatial econometric models have highlighted that a country with high GDP has some sort of "suction" effect on neighbouring countries with lower GDP along with the freight performance. This is especially true for rail freight. In the long run, the outlined results may even support strategic decision-makers in managing the economic impacts of both road and rail freight transport at the regional level.
Abstract
This paper examines the geographical distribution of regional state aid in Slovakia between 2004 and 2021, while focusing on projects realized in the least developed districts. The purpose is to answer the following research question: how much investment support is provided to areas with high rates of long-term unemployment to promote local economic activity? The investigation was conducted using a spatial distribution analysis and descriptive statistical methods. The findings demonstrate that the level of support in less developed districts is below the level of aid directed into more developed regions not only in terms of the number of supported projects, but also regarding the total amount of aid and the number of created jobs. Out of the 20 least developed districts we monitored, only the results for Košice-okolie significantly outperformed the results of the other districts. This article provides possible explanations for these findings and contributes to the literature by providing insights into the practical application of state aid in Slovakia.
Abstract
While decarbonization and hydrogen energy are at the top of European policymakers' agenda, research and innovation (R&I) management of energy companies must focus on clean technologies (cleantech) which could decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the sector. The Central European energy sector, however, might face a decarbonization challenge because of the specific geopolitical situation, so aligning R&I directions with regional policy and conditions seem to be crucial to accelerate sectoral and corporate adaptation. This study focuses on the decarbonization progress and strategies of the Visegrád 4 (V4) countries, concerning some of the most promising hydrogen-driven cleantech R&I directions which might induce strategic changes in Central European energy companies. Besides promoting renewable energy sources, results show that V4 strategies usually include the development of nuclear energy capacities to reduce GHG emissions and using the extended natural gas infrastructure for renewable energy storage. The analysed cleantech innovations are included but usually not central in these strategies. Strategic changes in energy companies, however, could be driven by these promising R&I directions, e.g., the hydrogen economy development by power-to-X (P2X) technologies, industrial decarbonization by carbon capture, utilization or storage (CCUS) technologies in the mid-term, and cross-sectoral integration and optimization by smart energy system (SES) development in the long-term.
Abstract
The development of the hydrogen economy (HE) has become the main direction of climate-focused economic progress. Although the gap between the potential impact of energy companies and their actual willingness or ability needs to be bridged by corporate governance and economic policy, these dynamics are underrepresented in the literature. As environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) considerations could foster adaptation and developing hydrogen technologies, the goal of this systematic literature review is to explore the specific environmental and energy aspects of ESG and the adaptation opportunities which could contribute to HE development. Findings suggest that ESG as a new institution in the economy might be in line with national and international policies, but corporate efforts at improving environmental performance could be further oriented directly or indirectly toward hydrogen technologies, for example, through cost reduction initiatives, favourable taxation, or specific requirements for sustainability reporting. On the corporate level, external and internal change drivers could lead to strategic and governance adaptation measures in line with HE development policy. The study contributes to the literature through the intersection analysis of the global ESG trend and the development policy of the HE, which has been overlooked to date, especially from a corporate governance perspective.
Abstract
While international value chains have been present in planned economies for several decades, their integration into global value chains (GVCs) began in the 1990s. In this study, we investigated the evolution of downstream value chains in Eastern Europe (including the Balkan countries, Moldova, and Ukraine) from 1995, by applying Wang's UIBE methodology and the Eora database. The results of this study suggest that European Union (EU) membership indisputably has a positive impact on GVC embeddedness, whereas non-EU economies are still integrated in their own local downstream value chains. We further investigated the automotive sector in the Central and Eastern European countries and demonstrate how deeper integration into GVCs prompted the emergence of assembly activities.
Abstract
Central and Eastern European countries, including Czechia and Hungary, have become parts of the integrated periphery in the automotive industry. Through input-output analysis, company data and interviews, the article reveals the determining role of the industry in both economies and their deep integration in global value chains (GVCs). In addition to these similarities, the analysis reveals that domestic, simple and complex global value chain performances, ownership structures, the scale and types of upgrading tendencies as well as the consequences of the appearance of newcomers in the industry show different patterns of GVC structures over time. Due to these, the development paths of the two countries widely differ.
Abstract
The study examines the income redistribution effects of the Hungarian flat-tax and the recently introduced family allowance scheme. They were done on the basis of people's individual data for 2007, 2011 and 2020, which yields more accurate estimates than the previous studies based on aggregate or survey data. Between 2011 and 2013, progressive taxation was abolished, and a flat income tax was introduced, along with a substantial widening of pre-existing family tax allowances. We find that the tax reform has favoured high-income earners and taxpayers with children, while the main losers were low-income and/or childless workers. While the share of family tax allowances is somewhat lower for the high-income deciles, this effect is in practice negligible, therefore the income tax system can still be considered flat. The family tax allowance scheme favours wealthy families with many children over low-income families with fewer or no children. The biggest winners of the scheme are the taxpayers in the top income decile with three or more children: these 22,000 taxpayers (that is, 2% of all recipients) receive 10% of the total amount of the family tax allowance, and almost a third of the credit allocated to families with three or more children.
Abstract
Processes in the past decades have resulted in the segmentation of European industries into ‘headquarter’ and ‘factory’ economies, though these categories are not fully distinct. ‘Headquarter’ economies typically host the higher value added activities and service units while ‘factory’ economies are popular locations for lower segments of the value chains. This setup has implications for EU level industrial policy strategies. In the current times of accelerating technological development and the ever growing servitisation of industries, ‘headquarter’ economies genuinely have better capabilities and resources to gain more share of the value added, and can actually steer the course of events in the sector. In the EU peripheries, new investment often covers relocation of previous technologies and retired assets of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The ‘factory’ economies are in a disadvantage in several aspects, while the headquarters optimise according to their own set of strategic preferences, which further compromises the opportunities of industrial actors in the peripheries to shape their own future. Industrial policies, however smart and well designed, have limited chances to influence the character and speed of changes. We review reported cases through which we test literature and contrast realities with aspirations regarding smart and sustainable industrial development across the EU.
Abstract
Fluctuating prices can cause unintended redistribution of income and wealth, which may be particularly painful to lower income households. Our study examines the indirect effects of this redistribution in an empirical way: it focuses on the capital market distortions of inflation and the disparities in wealth and income. Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures average inflation. However, households feel different inflation rates because their expenditure patterns are different from the ‘average’ patterns. We used the Kruskal – Wallis H test to determine if there are statistically significant differences between low- and high-income households. We calculated alternative inflation rates based on income deciles' different consumption basket. The study finds that households with low income often feel higher inflation than in the actual price indices published by the statistical offices. As our research shows, individuals in different wealth deciles perceive significantly different inflation. Our results also provide important information for economic policymakers, because if social groups perceive different inflation, it modifies the expected behaviour of the population, thereby weakening the economic policy effectiveness of different decisions.
Abstract
We aimed to enrich the empirical picture and to better understand the nature of post-communist capitalism in the new EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE11). Our main research goal is to assess the degree of similarity of the institutional architectures in these countries toward each of the four models of capitalism in Western Europe distinguished by Bruno Amable (2003), represented in our research by one Western European country being the most typical empirical approximation of a particular ‘ideal-typical’ model. The study is based on the application of a new method designed for the purpose of our research, the coefficients of similarity. Our empirical exercise shows that the CEE11 countries exhibited on average the greatest relative similarity to the Mediterranean model of capitalism, represented by Spain and Italy. At the same time, they also displayed a considerable institutional proximity to the Continental model of capitalism, represented by Germany, and – to a lesser extent – to two remaining benchmarks. These findings may be generalized as the prevalence of a polycentric pattern of institutional similarity of the CEE11 economies to the established models of Western European capitalism which makes the emerging post-communist capitalism a distinct research category and adds to its patchwork nature.
Abstract
We analyse the effect of the European Central Bank's (ECB) monetary shock spillover and its impact on the European Union's 9 countries outside the euro area (EA) between 2000 and 2020. We use the sign-restricted Bayesian VAR model and subsequent interpretation by plotting the impulse-response functions. Moreover, we investigate both conventional and unconventional monetary policies and its international transmission. The spillover of monetary policy is growing with the openness of economies and the ongoing deepening of integration. The output responds to the EA's monetary shock flexibly and persistently, but there is considerable heterogeneity across countries. We claim that it is essential for central banks outside the EA to monitor and incorporate the ECB's monetary policy spillover into decision-making processes. In particular, the international transmission of the unconventional monetary policy has a fundamental effect on the development of the price level, thus achieving price stability. In the case of implementing a counter-cyclical policy, it is also necessary to monitor conventional policy. However, there is no need to fight the spillover effect since there is no beggar-thy-neighbour problem, i.e., spillover effect works in the same direction in both domestic and foreign country.
Abstract
The article deals with the estimation of import intensities of exports, final consumption expenditures and gross fixed capital formation. It uses the input-output methodology of computing direct and indirect imports to the final demand components, which compares with regression estimates. Unlike the widely used turnover approach, the results contribute fundamentally to knowledge about the genuine openness of the Czech economy with regard to how much value-added is exported. In 2015, the highest import intensity for exports amounting to 52%, closely followed by 49% for investments. Household consumption worked with 41% import intensity, while general government consumption expenditures showed the lowest import intensity of 16%. Based on our input-output findings, the true openness of the Czech economy can be revealed. While turnover of exports to GDP reached 80% in 2019, the value-added approach showed only a half, i.e., 40% value-added was exported. It implies a contra-intuitive conclusion that even in a relatively small and highly integrated country into the globalized economy, there is a 60% majority of the non-tradeable goods.
Abstract
Far the most acknowledged and influential author in the economics of Eastern Europe has been János Kornai, the theorist of economic systems and a prolific writer on a variety of subjects in the seventy years of his academic career. His output appeared in more than a dozen of languages. He was criticized and appreciated, especially on the occasion of his 90th birthday, commemorated by – yet another – Festschrift, special issues of academic journals, later followed up by countless obituaries paying the due tribute to someone who has never made to the Nobel Prize, but whose influence definitely exceeded that of many recipients. In this essay we avoid the usual chronological description and highlight certain major themes and try to establish his place in the history of global economic thought. We are aware of our constraints, since it would perhaps take a monograph rather than an article to serve justice to this exceptional academic output of his.
Abstract
The COVID-19 crisis has put the European Union's (EU) ability to respond to external challenges to test. It is not a new issue that has arisen due to the current crisis. The global economic crisis of 2008, and, in particular, the sovereign debt crisis of 2010, highlighted the need for institutional, policy and political reform to ensure the stability and long-term sustainability of the EU project. The EU's asymmetric degrees of integration, in terms of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and non-EMU members, resulted in a diverse response to the crisis and, more importantly, mixed-effects from monetary and fiscal policies. This study aims to research the impact of monetary and fiscal policies between 2007 and 2015 on economic growth and employment. The findings show that loose monetary policies at the EU, EMU and non-EMU levels boosted economic growth and development. On the other hand, restrictive fiscal policy had favourably influenced GDP and employment by reducing inflationary pressures produced by expansive monetary policy. However, fiscal policy had a greater impact in the non-EMU countries, demonstrating that this policy can act as a stabilizing force in the face of an overly expansive and common monetary policy. In order to respond effectively to the current and future crises, the EU government should overhaul the way monetary and fiscal policy is conducted and coordinated.
Abstract
This article provides an agnostic, historical review of taxation and economic growth. It critically evaluates how the relationship between the two has evolved throughout modern history. After an introduction that provides a general overview of the relationship between taxation and growth, the article first discusses the positive role of taxes in promoting economic development in the pre-war and post-war periods of the 1940s. It then critically comments on Solow's neoclassical growth theory and explains the experience of stagflation faced by many advanced countries in the 1970s and its implications for tax theory. New growth theories that attribute an important role in economic growth to government policy in general and tax policy in particular are then discussed. This is followed by a rounded five-point assessment of the impact of taxes on growth. The article ends with a general conclusion.
Abstract
This article tests the popular Lee-Carter model's performance for Hungarian mortality rate forecasting. Hungary passed through a mortality crisis which makes the task particularly difficult. Previous forecasts and model choices are validated, and updated forecasts are produced. We find that the behaviour of mortality rates is normalizing, and so the basic Lee-Carter model is becoming applicable.
Abstract
While informal relations between economic and political actors are prevalent in post-communist economies, proper tools for their quantitative measurement are lacking. This paper is a starting point for thinking about this issue. Relying on previous research (Magyar – Madlovics 2020), we elaborate the concept of ‘relational economy,’ and discuss the problem of measuring its peculiar phenomena by existing direct and indirect data. Towards a set of indices for relational economy, we consider the use of proxies in three ways: (1) a radar chart composed of specific company data; (2) ‘moments of truth’ when property movements reveal an actor's de facto ownership status; and (3) ‘moments of truth’ when adoption to or exclusion from the informal patronal network is accompanied by a significant change in financial situation. Illustrations to each of the three methods are provided from the case of Hungary after 2010.
Abstract
Encouraging people to adopt a healthy diet is believed to reduce the prevalence of obesity. However, a deeper understanding of consumers' psychology regarding healthy dieting is required for this intervention to be effective. To date, knowledge remains limited on the motivations preceding healthy dietary adoption among adult consumers in the Czech Republic, which is undoubtedly facing a high prevalence of obesity among other EU member states. Most importantly, few studies have modeled the food choice motives as primary antecedents of healthy dietary adoption intentions. Therefore, the current study proposes and tests a research model that explains the motivational factors for adopting healthy diets. Data were collected through an online survey involving 161 university students and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) procedures. The results reveal that food choice motives explain healthy dietary adoption intentions satisfactorily. Notably, the natural content and weight control motives positively and significantly affect healthy dietary adoption intentions. The study offers relevant contributions to the science of consumer motivation regarding healthy dieting and practical means to health promotion.
Abstract
Considering ecological issues in supplier evaluation and management alongside business considerations is getting more recognition among firms. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is one of those methods, which is frequently suggested by the literature to support management decisions. However, the data requirements of the method should be an important consideration. The literature often addresses the issue of desirable outputs and undesirable input as an important data related problem in case of the ecological use of DEA. This paper will present a new solution to manage these data problems along with connecting the evaluation of management criteria, environmental criteria and total cost aspects. The proposed environmental supplier selection problem is an extension of a former paper. The new model examines the effect of inventory related costs, such as EOQ costs of inventory holding or ordering costs on the selected supplier, extended with newly introduced scaled values of input and output indicators. The usage of scaled values is motivated by the problem of invariance to data alteration. In addition to the uncertainty of the data, the paper looks for a functional relationship between the input and output criterion values and the efficiency that can be assigned to them using DEA.
Abstract
The 21st century is characterized by digital transformation, which affects economic processes and social life, and results in the parallel existence of life in both online and offline spheres. Thus, the concept of citizenship should no longer be restricted to its traditional understanding, but expanded to digital citizenship as well, and it should be adapted to the challenges of the 21st century. Thus, we need to analyze responsible digital citizenship, and our research is aimed at the question of how to assess this. As a pilot, we conducted a survey among university students to understand the focal points in this field. Our results confirm that most students can be considered responsible digital citizens, and can also be classified according to various aspects of responsible digital citizenship.
Abstract
The study seeks to explore how blockchain technology enables the creation of new ideas for ventures and to examine the activities of founders and entrepreneurial teams in shaping those ideas. We adopted several theoretical frameworks – external enablers theory, dynamic capabilities (DCs), and dynamic managerial capabilities (DMCs) – to explain the interaction of the actor-independent and actor-dependent factors in the process of new firm formation. We analysed four Hungarian blockchain start-ups that operate across financial services, cryptocurrency trading, crypto asset management, energy, information technology, and identity industries and create high value-added and cross-industrial offerings for Hungarian and foreign markets. Using qualitative study research results, the study develops the model of external enablers, founders' and firm capabilities and new venture creation. We identify three interconnected external enablers – namely, market volatility associated with the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology, the properties of blockchain, and the ideology behind the technology – and discuss the role of entrepreneurs' DMCs and sensing and seizing activities in discovering and shaping these enablers into profitable business ideas.
What managers can learn from knowledge intensive technology startups? •
Exploring the skillset for developing adaptive organizational learning capabilities of a successful start-up enterprise in management education
Abstract
The study shows what management students could learn from technology startups from an organizational learning (learning organization) perspective; and whether or on what level this entrepreneurial mindset is built into management education. First, the organizational learning patterns and adaptive entrepreneurial skillset of startups are identified, based on a review of the recent literature focusing on knowledge-intensive technology startups' organizational learning patterns. Then, qualitative interviews and document analysis are applied to find out whether or on what level the improvement of these skills for developing an adaptive and successful startup are present as ‘learning organizations’ are integrated in top Central-European higher management education curricula. Based on the literature review, the theoretical framework is introduced, consisting of five pillars of ‘start-up learning’: ambidextrous entrepreneurial learning, business model development, failure and experiential learning, benchmarking and learning from others, and agile product development. The empirical research looks for these pillars in management MSc programs of a top Central-European business school. The most important findings reveal that the analyzed management education programs strongly prepare students with benchmarking skills. However, the study also showed that the culture and experience of failure and the capability of learning from failure are missing from these education programs.
Abstract
This paper focuses on questions of entrepreneurial education's (1) perceived usefulness, (2) effect on developing entrepreneurial competence and (3) potential to increase entrepreneurial intention. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of entrepreneurship education on the development of students' entrepreneurial competences and career plans in the Republic of Moldova. In order to explore this subject, a survey was conducted among young citizens, mainly university students and students of vocational secondary schools, who have studied entrepreneurship-related subjects. The questionnaires were completed by 289 students from 20 educational institutions in the Republic of Moldova. The statistical analysis of their answers allowed conclusions to be drawn about the positive relationship between entrepreneurship education, the development of entrepreneurial competences and the students' entrepreneurial intentions. Entrepreneurial studies are perceived to be useful by students not only in the context of starting a new business, but also for a career as an employee, and even in various social and political situations. Some gender-specific differences were also revealed concerning perceptions of competence development and their usefulness which can be important inputs for further development of entrepreneurship education.
Abstract
The degree of digitalization and potential of growth in this sector are the new criteria that split the countries into various groups. The aim of this research is to find an easier and faster method of assessing the level of digitalization for countries, over different periods, having a sample 10 countries from Central and Eastern Europe. The research compares and groups these countries, determining the impact of four additional variables on their digitalization level. There were combined multiple analyses including comparative, cluster and panel analysis. As a result, we defined a new standardized indicator, named Digi-Index, which can be adapted for various time ranges, countries or study groups. Academic researchers or business practitioners can use the Digi-Index, the clusters and their characteristics to build development plans for the digital sector, based on each country's conditions, potential and influence factors.
Abstract
This study examines the role of Magyar Suzuki in the Hungarian automotive industry. It is the oldest foreign vehicle manufacturer and a symbol of modernisation in the post-communist era in Hungary. Due to EU's local content rule, Magyar Suzuki, in comparison with its counterparts in the region, has established a locally embedded supply chain network. Magyar Suzuki has facilitated process and product upgrading of the local suppliers in Hungary. Nevertheless, functional upgrading is relatively limited due to automotive multinational corporations' recognition of Hungary as a low-cost production location, a low level of R&D operation, and a small domestic market.
Abstract
In a context of rapid technological change, digital manufacturing technologies bear the promise of enabling significant improvement in operational efficiency. However, evidence indicates that investing in smart digital solutions, per se, does not guarantee performance improvement. Smart factory projects may be derailed, failing to realise the expected operational benefits. This study addresses the gap between academic propositions regarding the unequivocally positive impact of digitalisation and the actual evidence.
It draws on data obtained from 18 interviews with technology providers, managers and front-line workers at 12 Hungarian manufacturing companies. We use the concepts of resource complementarity, task–technology misfit, and technology acceptance as a theoretical lens to categorise the seemingly idiosyncratic and context-specific operational problems.
We find that digital technology implementation produces inferior-to-expectations outcomes unless companies invest in and upgrade their complementary intangible resources. Four distinct, albeit strongly interrelated types of complementarities are identified: managerial, organisational, skill-related and technical complementarities. Managerial capabilities to adjust the organisational structure, improve workflows and develop a strategy to address technical problems are found to be paramount to eliminate task-technology misfit and enhance technology acceptance.
Abstract
The transitory shock of the financial crisis of 2008 pushed most economies to permanently lower-level growth paths than those prevalent before the crisis, which can be considered as a manifestation of hysteresis. It is well known that some fixed adjustment costs lead to hysteresis in aggregate output. This paper investigates within an agent-based model, whether the fixed costs of price adjustment (menu costs) lead to the same result. Hysteresis emerges in some simple variants of the model independently of firms being assumed boundedly or perfectly rational, but these model variants fit to the empirical data poorly. The model's empirical performance can be improved by assuming that firms are hit by idiosyncratic productivity shocks, but these shocks eliminate hysteresis generated by menu costs. However, hysteresis survives even in their presence, if it is generated by demand-supply interactions, i.e., positive feedbacks from the output gap to potential output. Our conclusion is that if one would like menu costs to serve as an at least as relevant explanation for the hysteretic dynamics of aggregate output as demand-supply interactions, one has to find an alternative assumption to replace idiosyncratic productivity shocks as a mechanism to assure good empirical fit for the model.
Abstract
The present study aims to investigate the impact of tourism on the economic growth of the South Asian region. By employing panel data of six South Asian economies spanning from 1998 to 2017, our empirical investigation relies upon the panel cointegration and Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) techniques. Consistent with the “Tourism Led Growth Hypothesis”, the results prove a significant positive and long-run association between tourism and economic growth. The novelty of our study is the presentation of two models which confirm that tourism is an independent accelerator of economic growth, and it performs the same role even in the presence of standard income determinants. These findings are robust when we apply alternate statistical techniques, such as, dynamic ordinary least square method and Granger Causality Test. It implies that the South Asian economies should focus on the development of the tourism sector with permanent development in public infrastructures, like public transport, airports, road system and telecommunication to surge their economic growth.
Abstract
This paper looks at the adoption of e-government technologies from a citizen-centric, value-based point-of-view. We analyse e-government technology adoption and value creation on a large, representative Hungarian sample, using the data of the Good State Public Administration Opinion Survey. The paper examines the near total spectrum of the Hungarian government-to-citizen administration service areas: 11 e-government services, with a special focus on personal income tax administration and the use of government issued documents. The technology acceptance model and an e-government-specific adaptation of the DeLone – McLean information system (IS) success model are used as the theoretic base. Factor analysis, traditional association metrics and statistical tests are used for the analysis. Results confirm the relevance of the technology adoption factors suggested by the mainstream IS literature, while citizen-level value creation – in the form of cost or time saved, satisfaction level raised – was less demonstrable. Increasing citizens' internet trust or improving facilitating infrastructural conditions, as well as a significant value proposition in terms of time savings and ease of use would help increasing e-government service adoption levels and value creation potential.
Abstract
The Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) literature has recently manifested a dynamic development. Among others, the member states of the European Union (EU) have been studied extensively from this viewpoint, and main capitalism models have been identified. Yet, the global financial and economic crisis and its aftermath in Europe have impacted the member states' economies, typically in asymmetric ways and, in 2020, a highly diverse EU faced the COVID-19 induced economic crisis.
Our study investigates the EU member states from a perspective different from the existing research on VoC in Europe: our starting point is the macroeconomic decomposition of GDP. Our findings draw up a categorisation somewhat different from the previous results: while the core of the EU is rather consistent and homogenous, clusters of the periphery do not fully coincide with geography and earlier typisations; there are also single outliers and ‘New tigers of Europe’ emerging. Nevertheless, the core-periphery divide still stands overall.
Abstract
This paper presents a nearly ten-year-long process of covering the history of social enterprise development in a small village in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, Hungary. The paper covers the hermeneutical interpretation of the process, the role and relationship between the community and the social enterprise developer, the process of development work, and how university education complements this process. The case study provides insights into the theory of community planning, the methodology of social-enterprise development and the issue of empowerment.
Abstract
We aim to explore whether ongoing digital innovations in Premier League clubs may substantiate a prospective change in their business model and potentially lead to a solution to the financial sustainability issue in professional football. Our exploratory study is to identify ongoing digital innovations and what changes can be foreseen in future years. The empirical analysis is based on information collected from club webpages, their selected social media pages, and top sports business journals. Our results indicate that despite the numerous digital innovations already implemented in the clubs, their utilisation has not reached a level to justify a more complex business model innovation. However, several changes indicate that such a fundamental transformation will likely happen in the foreseeable future. Our work's scholarly contribution is exploring a novel field of study concentrating on the digitally focused business model innovations of professional clubs, unlike most football business model analyses that focus on leagues. We have concluded that clubs can and should apply business innovations to look for more financially sustainable operations, even without necessarily waiting for changes to be made in the generic competitive structure they perform in.
