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Decision‐Making Preferences in Times of Crisis
Get PDFDuring crises, understanding political decision-making processes and evaluating related preferences are key to the legitimacy of political decisions. Our research focuses on preferences in decision-making processes in times of crisis through the analysis of the representational style most preferred by voters: that is, whether they prefer representation of the public good by the representatives, the party lines, the involvement of experts, or the incorporation of voters’ interests. Within the framework of representative democracy, these decisions are mediated by representatives whose representational style determines whose interest and opinion decision-making processes integrate. In our analysis, we examined representative styles in the context of three different types of crises: economic, social, and environmental. Our results indicate that the type of crisis is indifferent when it comes to preferred political decision-making processes, as Hungarian voters tend to favor processes where they are being consulted by the representatives across different scenarios. Representatives’ commitment to party lines is disfavored when making political decisions and we observed there is no clear preference regarding the involvement of experts in political decisions in times of crisis. These observed preferences strongly contradict the prevailing “strong party discipline” in Hungary. This deviation accentuates both weakening representative linkages and the importance of the performative elements of representation feeding into the populist characteristic of Hungarian democracy
Environmental policy and stakeholder engagement : Incident‐based, cross‐country analysis of firm‐level greenwashing practices
Get PDFIn this study, we investigate how internal and external monitoring systems can help combat greenwashing. We propose a novel, incident‐based measure to investigate the greenwashing behavior of 1218 large and mid‐cap companies across different industries between 2008 and 2020. These companies are constituents of the MSCI World Index, covering 23 developed market economies. We consider a company to be engaged in greenwashing if it improves its environmental ESG subscore while simultaneously being responsible for severe environmental damage. According to our greenwashing indicator, about 7% of the companies were involved in greenwashing at least once during the 13‐year sample period. The proportion of greenwashing companies is highest in the energy, utilities, and materials industries. We find evidence that both internal and external monitoring mechanisms can be effective in deterring companies from adopting greenwashing strategies. Firms with more independent board members, attracting more attention from the investors, and headquartered in countries where the population is more environmentally aware are significantly less likely to engage in greenwashing. The awareness of the population is a key factor especially in the energy, utility, and material sectors
The impact of political-demographic considerations on European attitudes towards parenting and adoption by same-sex couples
No full textThis study investigates attitudes towards the adoption rights and parenting skills of same-sex couples in 25 European countries using data from the European Social Survey and the European Values Study. The aim is to explore how political-demographic processes and various types of pronatalism intersect and shape attitudes towards same-sex parenting issues. Our hierarchical regression analysis reveals that similar social groups generally accept both same-sex adoption rights and parenting skills. Additionally, attitudes towards these issues are influenced by views on immigration and voluntary childlessness, along with macro-level factors like legal regulations, gender inequality and religiosity. The study enhances the understanding of European political-demographic processes and the concept of selective patriotic pronatalism – defined as a preference for the reproduction of certain social groups over others, framed as a national or patriotic duty – by highlighting that various forms of pronatalism can actually impede reproductive empowerment
Comparison of health-related quality of life in atopic dermatitis, hidradenitis suppurativa, pemphigus and psoriasis
Get PDFThis study aims to explore the measurement agreement between direct and indirect health utility measures in four chronic dermatological conditions (atopic dermatitis, hidradenitis suppurativa, pemphigus, psoriasis). Outpatients survey data collected between 2015 and 2021 were analysed. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcome measures included time trade-off (TTO), EQ-5D-5L and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). Descriptive statistics were computed for the pooled sample and four diseases. Mean, standard deviation (SD), median, interquartile range (IQR), ceiling and floor effects were calculated for TTO, EQ-5D-5L and DLQI utilities. Bland‒Altman plots and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were applied to investigate the agreement between health utility measures. Sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, educational level, employment status) and health-related information (disease duration, outpatient care visits in the past 3 months and disease severity) impact on utilities was investigated by Tobit regressions. The sample includes N = 765 patient responses with a mean age of 41.5 (SD = 16.2), majority being males (52.7%). Total sample mean utilities were the highest according to TTO (0.83), followed by EQ-5D-5L and vDLQI (0.81 and 0.81) and lowest in mDLQI (0.77). Measurement agreement was found only between TTO and EQ-5D-5L. Skin-disease severity impacted all health state utilities, though only TTO differentiated utility values according to disease type. The discrepancies between the TTO and DLQI warn to compare DLQI-based utilities in different dermatological conditions with extreme caution
Coalition analysis for low-carbon hydrogen supply chains using cooperative game theory
Get PDFLow-carbon hydrogen is a promising option for energy security and decarbonization. Cooperation is needed to ensure the widespread use of low-carbon energy. Cooperation among hydrogen supply chain (HSC) agents is essential to overcome the high costs, the lack of infrastructure that needs heavy financial support, and the environmental failure risk. But how can cooperation be operationalized, and its potential benefits be measured to evaluate the impact of different allocation schemes in low-carbon HSCs? This research works around this question and aims to analyze the potential of cooperation in a generalized low-carbon HSC with limited and critical resources using systems and cooperative game theory. This work is original in several aspects. It evaluates cooperation effects under different benefit allocation schemes while considering infrastructure agents’ dependencies (production, transportation, and storage) and specific traits. Additionally, it provides a transparent, replicable methodology adaptable to various case studies. It is highlighted that HSC coalitions form hierarchies with veto power, pursuing common goals like maximizing decarbonization and demand fulfillment. A cooperative game theory toolbox is developed to evaluate, display, and compare the results of six allocation solutions. The toolbox does not aim to determine the best allocation scheme but rather to support smart decision-making in the bargaining process, facilitating debate and agreement on a trade-off solution that ensures the viability and achievement of long-term coalition goals. It is built on three naïve and three game-theoretical allocation rules (Gately, Nucleolus, and Shapley value) applicable to peer group games with transferable utility. Results are presented for an 8-agent low-carbon HSC along with the total environmental benefit, the allocated individual shares, and numerical indicators (stability, satisfaction, propensity to disrupt), reflecting the acceptability of allocations. Numerical results show that the Nucleolus achieves the highest satisfaction among stable allocations, while the Gately allocation minimizes disruption propensity. Naïve rules yield different outcomes: “equal distribution for producers” carries the highest risk, whereas “equal shares for all agents” and “proportional to individual benefits” rules are stable but perform poorly on other criteria. © 2025 The Author
Állam és gazdasági felzárkózás Kelet-Közép-Európában 2004 és 2023 között
Get PDFA tanulmány fő kérdése: hogyan alakult át az állam szerepe az Európai Unió első posztszocialista bővítése óta a kelet-közép-európai régió országaiban, és ez hogyan befolyásolta a felzárkózási teljesítményt. Az elemzés kiindulópontja, hogy a 2004-ben még domináns korlátozott állam ideálját a 2010-es évek során számos kihívás érte, amelyek során a jogállamiság jelentette korlátok megkérdőjeleződtek, miközben az állami szerepvállalás iránti igények megnövekedtek. A tanulmány áttekinti, hogyan reagáltak a régió országai ezekre a folyamatokra, hogyan tükröződnek a különbségek a költségvetés szerkezetének átalakulásában, és ez milyen hatással van a felzárkózási teljesítményre. Megállapítja, hogy a korlátozott állam ideálja továbbra is releváns, és a legmegfelelőbb alapot biztosítja a gazdasági fejlődés számára, míg a korlátok hiánya a voluntarista állami beavatkozások számára nyújt teret, amelyek a közjó szempontjából ritkán értékelhetők sikeresnek
A normák nélküli világrend
Get PDFIdén lesz a második világháború végének 80. évfordulója. Az ünneplés feltehetően elmarad. A világháborút túlélt nemzedékek távozásával a tanulságok is egyre inkább feledésbe merülnek. A háború borzalmaira válaszként létrehozott globális világrend, amelynek alapjait az ENSZ alapokmánya fektette le 1945-ben, minden pillérében inog, szabályait és alapértékeit immár nem csupán néhány latorállam, hanem az Egyesült Államok elnöke kérdőjelezi meg. Az idei év legfontosabb kérdése, hogy bekövetkezik-e az összeomlás, avagy maradnak-e még fékek és ellensúlyok a rendszerben, amelyek az orosz, a kínai és az amerikai elnök birodalomépítő ambícióinak gátat szabhatnak. E kérdések áttekintése után gondolkozhatunk Magyarország jövőjéről
Realistic models for diffusion of innovation
Get PDFIt is widely acknowledged in the socio-economic literature that innovators and early adopters play an essential role in the diffusion of innovation. However, current approaches to influence maximization primarily concentrate on identifying influencers as the main targets of marketing campaigns. This perspective overlooks the fact that influencers and innovators seldom coincide, rendering the focus of influence maximization models misplaced. Practitioners often do not recognize that the influence maximization problem depends not only on the network structure but also on the underlying diffusion model. In this paper, we develop more realistic variants of the well-known linear threshold and independent cascade models. We incorporate the influence of adopter groups, which has a significant impact on the spread of influence. We leverage data from two different social networks and assess the efficiency of various centrality measures in the influence maximization model using both the traditional diffusion mechanisms and our novel approaches. The rankings obtained from the different models exhibit significant discrepancies implying that heuristics that perform well in a classical model may perform poorly in a more realistic setting. Instead of solely focusing on developing new algorithms for influence maximization, greater attention should be given to understanding and calibrating diffusion models to realistic settings
Statistical overview of the Sniffin’ sticks olfactory test from the perspectives of anosmia and hyposmia
Get PDFThe Sniffin’ Sticks test is evaluated by summing the scores of threshold, discrimination, and identification subtests to establish an olfactory diagnosis (anosmia , hyposmia , normosmia). However, variations in thresholds, ranges and inconsistencies have been observed. Statistical analyses (distributions, quantiles), protocol simulation, and implementations of the Sniffin’ Sticks test were conducted. This study contributes a statistical revision: determining a cut-off point for the total TDI score, optimising the number of alternatives in the identification subtest, and equalising correct responses (frequency, balanced in time, subsequent pairs). The upper score threshold used to diagnose anosmia is lower than the typical first-order error thresholds applied in comparable assessments ( anosmia ≤ 16.75 points, hyposmia ≥ 17 points at 90% confidence level). In the culturally adapted 16-pen Sniffin’ Sticks identification tests, the frequency of correct responses was aligned with that of the original test. However, the equalisation of the frequency of adjacent correct response pairs and the temporal occurrence of correct responses was not met in any test. The order of all correct answers that simultaneously satisfied all three matching conditions was determined. The practical significance of the results is that the recommended protocol of the Sniffin’ Sticks test system can be implemented in clinical practice with minimal modification
Mapping global value chains at the product level
Get PDFValue chain data is crucial for navigating economic disruptions. Yet, despite its importance, we lack publicly available product-level value chain datasets, since resources such as the "World Input-Output Database", "Inter-Country Input-Output Tables", "EXIOBASE", and "EORA", lack information about products (e.g. Radio Receivers, Telephones, Electrical Capacitors, LCDs, etc.) and instead rely on aggregate industrial sectors (e.g. Electrical Equipment, Telecommunications). Here, we introduce a method that leverages ideas from machine learning and trade theory to infer product-level value chain relationships from fine-grained international trade data. We apply our method to data summarizing the exports and imports of 1200+ products and 250+ world regions (e.g. states in the U.S., prefectures in Japan, etc.) to infer value chain information implicit in their trade patterns. In short, we leverage the idea that due to global value chains, regions specialized in the export of a product will tend to specialize in the import of its inputs. We use this idea to develop a novel proportional allocation model to estimate product-level trade flows between regions and countries. This contributes a method to approximate value chain data at the product level that should be of interest to people working in logistics, trade, and sustainable development