Double dependent market economy and corporate social responsibility in Hungary

In the different varieties of capitalism (VoC) different types of corporate social responsibility (CSR) exist (Matten and Moon 2008). In order to identify what CSR is like in Hungary all the five institutions that are relevant for the variety of capitalism in this country are analyzed and a new concept is introduced named double-dependent market economy (DDME) by the author. This concept allows the further exploration of the general type of CSR in Hungary and answers the question whether it is similar to that of the European coordinated economies or of the liberal Anglo-Saxon market economies, or it is something completely different. The results of the quantitative and qualitative research show that CSR in Hungary has some patterns of the CSR types of both the liberal and coordinated economies but on the whole it is fundamentally different from those due to the dissimilar institutional setting of capitalism in this country

Implicit és explicit, valamint belső és külső CSR egy kettős függésben lévő piacgazdaságban. Különös tekintettel a munkavállalókról való gondoskodásra = Implicit and explicit, internal and external CSR in a double dependent market economy. Especially regarding labor provisions

A vállalatok gazdasági területeken túlmutató társadalmi szerepe közismert jelenség mind a vállalatok, mind a társadalom körében. Korábban elsősorban a vállalatok környezetvédelemmel és az emberi jogokkal kapcsolatos társadalmi felelőssége volt a közfigyelem előterében, azonban az utóbbi időben – jelentős részben a gazdasági és társadalmi válságok hatására – a vállalatok társadalmi szerepének számos egyéb területe is egyre nagyobb hangsúlyt kap. Részben ezzel összefüggésben a vállalatok társadalmi felelősségvállalása (corporate social responsibility – CSR) a politikai intézmények szintjén is egyre inkább tematizálódik, valamint a szabályozások szintjén is megjelenik. A téma társadalmi relevanciájának és aktualitásának ellenére a CSR témájában végzett tudományos jellegű kutatások Magyarországon csak az utóbbi néhány évben kezdtek a figyelem középpontjába kerülni. Az eddig készített hazai CSR kutatások elsősorban a felelősségvállalás egy-egy aspektusára, illetve annak magyarországi elterjedtségére fókuszáltak, eddig azonban nem készült olyan kutatás Magyarországon, ami a hazai CSR-t az arra ható intézményrendszerrel együtt összevontan vizsgálná és elhelyezné azt egy egységes elméleti keretben. A disszertáció egyik célja, hogy feltárja a magyarországi CSR intézményi beágyazottságát, jellemzőit és sajátosságait, és ezeket egy nemzetközi összehasonlító keretben értelmezze

Cities may save some threatened species but not their ecological functions

Background: Urbanization is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss worldwide. Wildlife responses to urbanization, however, are greatly variable and, paradoxically, some threatened species may achieve much larger populations in urban than in natural habitats. Urban conservation hotspots may therefore help some species avoid regional or even global extinctions, but not conserve their often overlooked ecological functions in the wild. We aim to draw attention to this issue using two species of globally threatened parrots occurring in the Dominican Republic: the Hispaniolan amazon (Amazona ventralis) and the Hispaniolan parakeet (Psittacara chloropterus). Methods: We conducted a large-scale roadside survey in June 2017 across the country to estimate the relative abundance of parrots in natural habitats, rural habitats, and cities. We combined this with informal interviews with local people to collect information on past and current human impacts on parrot populations. We also looked for foraging parrots to assess their potential role as seed dispersers, an ecological function that has been overlooked until very recently. Results: Relative abundances of both parrot species were negligible in rural areas and very low in natural habitats. They were generally between one and two orders of magnitude lower than that of congeneric species inhabiting other Neotropical ecosystems. Relative abundances were six times higher in cities than in natural habitats in the case of the Hispaniolan parakeet and three times higher in the case of the Hispaniolan amazon. People indicated hunting for a source food and to mitigate crop damage as causes of parrot population declines, and a vigorous illegal trade for parrots (131 individuals recorded, 75% of them poached very recently), mostly obtained from protected areas where the last small wild populations remain. We observed parrots foraging on 19 plant species from 11 families, dispersing the fruits of 14 species by carrying them in their beaks and consuming them in distant perching trees. They discarded undamaged mature seeds, with the potential to germinate, in 99.5% of cases (n = 306), and minimum dispersal distances ranged from 8 to 155 m (median = 37 m). Discussion: The loss of ecological functions provided by some species when they disappear from natural habitats and only persist in cities may have long-term, unexpected effects on ecosystems. Our example demonstrates how two cities may soon be the last refuges for two endemic parrots if overharvesting continues, in which case their overlooked role as seed dispersers would be completely lost in nature. The functional extinction of these species could strongly affect vegetation communities in an island environment where seed-dispersal species are naturally scarce. While conservation plans must include urban populations of threatened species, greater efforts are needed to restore their populations in natural habitats to conserve ecological functionsPeer reviewe