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Informal waste collection and municipal waste management in Hungary : A pilot project featuring smartphones to estimate the extent of informally retrieved bulky waste
Get PDFInvolvement of the Roma population in informal waste collection in the CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) region has barely been researched with collectors as research subjects themselves. This article focuses on collection of bulky municipal waste by predominantly Roma informal waste collectors. A pilot project was implemented in Budapest in 2023 with the aim of assessing the extent of informally retrieved bulky municipal waste otherwise destined for disposal by municipal authorities. This involved the use of smartphones to estimate informal waste accumulation and to monitor selection of waste categories and quantities transported for further use. A survey was thus applied to a sample area subject to annual bulky waste collection. Smartphones were deployed for this purpose to avoid direct intrusion into activities of informal waste collectors. While methodology is subject to major refinement, the key result lies in indication of a moderate extent of informally collected waste inferring an overall reduction of bulky waste destined for landfill disposal or incineration. A major extent of informally collected metallic waste for further likely resale through a transactional supply chain to international destinations was also identified. Policy implications also exist in relation to transformation of the domestic waste management sector in line with circular economy principles and in terms of integrating operative roles of informal and official waste collectors. Principally amongst these is reduced onus on penalisation of informal waste collection. Recognition of circular economy focused public services serendipitously performed by informal collectors may thus be merited despite consequential negative environmental effects
Is it Greener on the Right Side? : The Relationship between Political Preferences and Environmental Behavior in Hungary
Get PDFenvironmentalism and pro-environmental behavior are widely thought to correlate with political attitudes. In particular, both empirical and anecdotal evidence suggests that left-leaning individuals have more favorable dispositions toward environmentalism and practices that are regarded as environmentally friendly. We test this hypothesis using election data from Hungary. The main novelty of our result is that we study revealed, not stated, preferences. We concentrate on one particular environmental practice: waste separation. Surprisingly, we find that districts with a higher left-wing vote share engage less in waste separation on average. This result, although surprising, is consistent with previous survey-based evidence. We provide suggestions on how to interpret and explain our findings
Price transmission in the Hungarian pork market
Get PDFThis study examines price transmission dynamics in the Hungarian pork market from 2017 to 2023, focusing on the effects of price controls implemented to combat inflation. Inflation and price control policies have been central topics in economic research due to their significant impacts on market behavior and consumer welfare. Utilizing linear and nonlinear cointegration approaches, we explore how these regulatory interventions influence producer and consumer price relationships. Our findings reveal persistent asymmetry in long-term price transmission, with producer price increases having a greater impact on consumer prices than decreases, highlighting delayed and partial adjustments to price fluctuations. Short-term dynamics, however, show no such asymmetry. Additionally, our analysis indicates that price pressures originate primarily from the consumer side, as consumer prices have a causal effect on producer prices. These results provide novel insights into the role of regulatory measures, like price controls, in shaping market dynamics under inflationary pressures
Partitioned matching games for international kidney exchange
No full textWe introduce partitioned matching games as a suitable model for international kidney exchange programmes, where in each round the total number of available kidney transplants needs to be distributed amongst the participating countries in a “fair” way. A partitioned matching game ( N , v ) is defined on a graph G=(V,E) G = ( V , E ) with an edge weighting w and a partition V=V_1 \cup \dots \cup V_n V = V 1 ∪ ⋯ ∪ V n . The player set is N = \{ 1, \dots , n\} N = { 1 , ⋯ , n } , and player p \in N p ∈ N owns the vertices in V_p V p . The value v ( S ) of a coalition S \subseteq N S ⊆ N is the maximum weight of a matching in the subgraph of G induced by the vertices owned by the players in S . If |V_p|=1 | V p | = 1 for all p\in N p ∈ N , then we obtain the classical matching game. Let c=\max \{|V_p| \; |\; 1\le p\le n\} c = max { | V p | | 1 ≤ p ≤ n } be the width of ( N , v ). We prove that checking core non-emptiness is polynomial-time solvable if c\le 2 c ≤ 2 but co--hard if c\le 3 c ≤ 3 . We do this via pinpointing a relationship with the known class of b -matching games and completing the complexity classification on testing core non-emptiness for b -matching games. With respect to our application, we prove a number of complexity results on choosing, out of possibly many optimal solutions, one that leads to a kidney transplant distribution that is as close as possible to some prescribed fair distribution
Sharing Rules in Bertrand Oligopolies with Increasing Returns
No full textDespite their empirical relevance, increasing returns to scale are understudied in experimental markets. We use Bertrand duopolies with increasing returns to examine the effects of two sharing rules on collusive behavior and prices in a pre-registered experiment: the symmetric rule (where each of the two firms that set the same price serves half of the market demand) and the winner-takes-all rule (where a fair randomization device decides which of the two firms serves the entire market). We hypothesized that market prices would be higher under the winner-takes-all rule because it provides a collusion mechanism that the symmetric rule does not. While we find that subjects under the winner-takes-all rule coordinate more often on one price than the symmetric sharing rule, this does not increase market prices. Coordination on high prices is rare. Additionally, the winner-takes-all rule facilitates the subjects’ ability to coordinate on equal prices after sharing a market in the previous period
Gender-based differences in eco-efficient farming
Get PDFThis study investigates gender-based differences in eco-efficiency among Hungarian field crop farms, using data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network between 2015 and 2020. Applying Data Envelopment Analysis and Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions, we reveal a consistent eco-efficiency advantage for women-headed farms, particularly at mid-quantiles of eco-efficiency distribution. This advantage is largely attributed to women’s ability to optimize resource use effectively, though unexplained factors also contribute, suggesting potential differences in management practices. Results highlight that women-led farms often adopt eco-efficient practices that may contribute to sustainability goals. These findings highlight the need for policies that support women farmers’ access to resources, knowledge, and innovation in eco-friendly farming practices, helping to enhance sustainability in agricultural production. Encouraging women participation in sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship could play a critical role in driving eco-efficiency across the crop sector, ultimately contributing to environmental resilience and rural socio-economic development
The European Union, ‘Expulsion of aliens’ and the Return Directive : a repressive or protective framework?
Get PDFThis piece, targeting also international (migration) lawyers who may not be familiar with all the complexities of the European Union (EU)’s return acquis, is centred on the Return Directive (Directive 2008/115/EC) which sets out the common EU standards and procedures for Member States to expel (return) and deport (remove) those non-EU nationals who are in an irregular situation within the territory of the Union – with a view to promoting an effective EU return policy. The article seeks to shed light, critically and with necessary nuances, on the tenability of diametrically opposing views about the Return Directive. These essentially revolve around the question whether the Return Directive can be coined as the ‘directive of shame’ which heavily emphasises the repressive elements and falls short of meeting human rights standards stemming from either universal (United Nations) or regional (primarily Council of Europe) instruments; or it is a ‘directive of protection’ championing the fundamental rights of returnees by instilling several human rights safeguards and standards, making it thus a commendable protection-oriented blueprint to replicate by other regional settings and/or the international community as a whole
Quality of life and overtourism in Budapest : resident experiences and smart solutions
No full textPurpose
The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between smart cities and quality of life, identifying the indicators that can be used to measure these domains. It analyses how residents experience various aspects of urban life, particularly in terms of leisure, culture and tourism. Their attitudes to smart city developments and tools are also measured, considering the implications for managing over tourism and developing special interest tourism.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on questionnaire data collected from a representative sample of 453 residents in Budapest in 2024. It was distributed online via city district resident forums as well as being distributed face-to-face in various locations throughout the city.
Findings
The findings reveal that respondents have a positive image of Budapest and find the city relatively safe. Statements about public transport were ranked highly, including efficiency, reliability and affordability. Respondents had mixed feelings about friendliness and cleanliness. Respondents are very positive about cultural and tourist attractions, sports provision, as well as availability of green spaces. Respondents seem to be mainly positive about the impacts of tourism, but further analysis shows that this depends on the district that people are living in. Respondents want Budapest to become a smarter city and seem curious about using smart tools, particularly for transport, parking and ticketing. Recommendations are subsequently madefor developing smarter systems for managing overtourism, developing special interest tourism and improving resident quality of life.
Originality/value
The data provides new insights into under-researched domains of smart cities and their relevance for quality of life, namely leisure, culture and tourism. It captures the perceptions and opinions of residents, whosevoiceswereoften not heardinprevious top-down studies of smartcities. It focuses on social and quality of life dimensions rather than an economic or technological perspective, filling another gap in smart city research
Companies' Ownership Structure and Humane Leadership
No full textA socially responsible company is expected to treat its employees in a humane way. We tested the hypotheses that a) the managers of familial businesses have a stronger humane orientation than the managers of non-familial businesses and b) a humane orientation has no negative effect on profitability. We conducted a questionnaire survey among managers in Hungarian manufacturing industry. A total of 197 managerial responses were received. We measured the humane orientation of the managers using the Leadership Competence Questionnaire module consisting of 36 items, which we grouped into the following factors beforehand: Self-efficacy, Performance motivation, Relationship orientation, Power motivation, Innovation, Openness. The group with the highest value for the humaneness factor was the group of highest productivity familial businesses. The ownership structure was found to have a greater influence on humane management than the domestic/foreign nature of the companies. At the same time, humane leadership was not typical for small businesses. We interpreted our results within the framework of situational leadership theory. A specific feature of this theoretical approach is that there is no single leadership style that can be said to be excellent, and that different leadership styles can be good if they are appropriate to the situation. We characterised leaders' relationship orientation as an indicator of humaneness, which is an effective leadership competence when used in appropriate situations
A kkv-k felkészítése a kettős átmenethez szükséges készségekre
No full textAz OECD a tagországok multidiszciplináris kormányközi szervezete, amely egyre több nem tagállamot is bevon a munkájába a világ minden régiójából. Fő célja ma az, hogy segítse a kormányok közötti együttműködést egy erősebb, tisztább és igazságosabb világgazdaság kialakítása érdekében. Az OECD régóta támogatja a kis- és középvállalkozásokat (kkv-kat) az üzleti világ folyamatosan változó kihívásaiban való eligazodásban. Az utóbbi évek globális gazdasági változásai még sürgetőbbé tették ezeket a kihívásokat. A kkv-k számára mindig is nehézséget jelentett a tőkéhez való hozzáférés, de a mai bizonytalan gazdasági környezetben – a kockázatkerülő hitelezés, az emelkedő infláció és a járvány utáni helyreállítás közepette – ez minden eddiginél nehezebb. Az OECD 2023-ban jelentetett meg jelentést a kkv-k fenntartható finanszírozásáról, ami összefoglalónk alapjául szolgál. A jelentés teljes egészében itt érhető el: https://www.eurochambres.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Access-to-sustainable-finance-for-SMEs.pd