Short-lived shocks with long-lived impacts? - household income dynamics in a transition economy

In theory, it is possible that the persistent poverty that has emerged in many transition economies, is attributable to underlying, non-convexities in the dynamics of household incomes - such that a vulnerable household will never recover from a sufficiently large, but short-lived shock to its income. This happens when there are multiple equilibria in household incomes, such that two households with the same characteristics, can have different incomes in the long run. To test the theory, the authors estimate a dynamic, panel data model of household incomes, with non-linear dynamics, and endogenous attrition. Their estimates, using data for Hungary in the 1990s, exhibit non-linearity in the income dynamics. The authors find no evidence of multiple equilibria. In general, households bounce back from transient shocks, although the process is not rapid.Health Economics&Finance,Economic Theory&Research,Labor Policies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Services&Transfers to Poor,Inequality,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Health Economics&Finance,Services&Transfers to Poor

Demographic Diversity and Convergence in Europe, 1918-1990

The study investigates how Hungarian demographic development from the end of World War I to 1990 related to the changes that took place in Western Europe, and in which areas and in what periods can divergence or convergence be observed. The issues examined included fertility, mortality and nuptiality movements. Based on the analyses three main periods in 20th century Hungarian demographic development can be distinguished: from the beginning to the middle of the century, Hungary converged to the societies of Western Europe; approximately from the middle of the century to the mid-60s, the diminution of differences between Hungary and Western Europe halted on the whole, but the gap still did not begin to widen; in the third period, which lasted from the mid-60s to 1990, Hungary took a course diverging from Western Europe.comparison, convergence, demography, family history, Hungary, twentieth century, Western Europe

Hungary: Secular fertility decline with distinct period fluctuations

In this study, we demonstrate from different angles that Hungarian fertility basically decreased between 1965 and 2005, but also clearly fluctuated, and showed different patterns in the different periods within this epoch. As a result, the clear communist-era family pattern of “early marriage and childbearing with two children†was replaced, but new family model(s) have not yet fully emerged. We could show that profound changes in partnership behaviour –divorce and cohabitation– started before the change of the political regime, but also that changes in partnership relations accelerated after 1990, and that partnerships have become more fragile. In addition, Western-style values of “empty individualism†and consumerism were clearly present under socialism, but their motivating force was tamed by the communist system, in which population policy played a significant role. Of these institutional changes, we ascribe the greatest importance to the expansion in the educational system and the changes in the labour market. We show that, following the changes in the economic system, the conflict between family and work intensified. The synchronic consideration of values, labour market relations, economic development, and population policy; and the relationship of these factors to fertility and nuptiality trends, enabled us to formulate a developmental scheme of four phases concerning the evolution of fertility since 1965.childbearing, fertility, Hungary

Being Attractive is All That Matters: Objectification Theory and Gay Men

Body image among gay men is overlooked by scholars, and male body change strategies are not presented in a theoretical framework with this population. Using Fredrickson and Roberts’ (1997) Objectification Theory, we conceptualized factors, like internalization of the mesomorphic ideal and perceived socio-cultural pressures to be thin/muscular, within this framework to explain body image and body change strategies for gay men. Relationships between gay community affiliation, internalized homophobia, and self esteem were also explored with the constructs of the model. We collected data online from geographically diverse regions across the United States. Although path analysis with 266 gay men suggested that the model did not fit the data, an exploratory model demonstrated a good fit and suggested that body image among gay males is multifaceted. Further research should investigate gay male body image within a theoretical framework. These findings have significant implications for counseling gay men and their body image issues. Counselors can now be aware of how some variables, like pressures to be thin and muscular, internalized homophobia, internalization of the mesomorphic ideal, and community affiliation affect body image and body change strategies among gay men.College of The Arts and Sciences: Undergraduate Research Scholarshi

Social change in Central and Eastern Europe: General trends and national patterns

The paper addresses five issue areas. First it describes the plurality of trajectories in central and eastern European transformations, offering a broad typology. Then it addresses the drift between acceptance of democracy and the market, owing to growing inequalities. Third, problems of poverty and exclusion are addressed. Fourth, it is addressed if any known model of redistribution emerged in the post-transition economies. Fifth, consequences of the populist turn in European policies are being analyzed. Influences of the EU practices will be dealt with and some preliminary conclusions drawn. These suggest a strong intertwining between social and economic performance that limit theoretically conceivable – neoliberal, social democratic, postmodern or conservative - policy choices

Tasting Freedom: Happiness, religion and economic transition

Economic transition lowered happiness on average, but did not affect all equally. This paper uses Hungarian survey data to study the impact of religion and economic transition on happiness. Religious involvement contributes positively to individuals' self-reported well-being. Controlling for personal characteristics of the respondents, money is a less important source of happiness for the religious. The impact of economic transition has varied greatly across different groups. The main winners from increasing economic freedom were the entrepreneurs. The religious were little affected by the changes. This implies that greater ideological freedom, measured by a greater social role of churches, may not influence happiness per se.Happiness, economic transition, religion, entrepreneurs

Rudiments of recent fertility decline in Hungary

Our study describes fundamental changes in childbearing behavior in Hungary. It documents current postponement of entry into motherhood (first birth) and uncovers signs of delay in second birth. We place the behavioral modifications into historical time and reveal the basic role of the political, economic, and societal transformation of Hungary that started in 1989-1990 in these modifications. We document postponement as well as differentiation, and mothers’ highest level of education will represent the structural position of individuals. We shed light on the different speed of postponement and support the assumption of behavioral differences according to the highest level of education. Particular attention will be paid to changing partnership relations: Fertility outcomes remain to be strongly associated with the type of partnership and its development; profound changes in partnership formation, namely the proliferation of cohabitation and the increasing separation rate of first partnerships, may therefore facilitate fertility decline in Hungary. The analysis is based on the first wave of the Hungarian panel survey "Turning points of the life course" carried out in 2001/2002.demographic transition, educational differences, fertility, Hungary, partnership forms, postponement, societal transformation