THE DISPERSION OF AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT EU FUNDS ON A REGIONAL AND DISTRICT LEVEL IN HUNGARY

A national objective was realised when Hungary joined the European Union based on the preliminary result of the referendum. Naturally, there were pros and cons about the accession and there were those who refused the European integration. Still the emotion was stronger that came from the future EU membership and the hope in terms of the agriculture that with the opportunities offered by the EU both the Hungarian agriculture and countryside would follow a development course. Because of the accession a lot of support forms as well as the EU institutions became available but considering the impacts there were no clear positions. Obviously, today we know what kind of objective, positive changes were brought by the accession for example in terms of infrastructural and machine supply, broadened market possibilities and income growth. Still we also experience the objective disadvantages such as the stronger competition and the mass expansion of multinational food-processing and trading companies. The scientific measurement and judgement of the developmental changes which are difficult to measure is still a subject of debate. We have done the concentration analysis for two budget periods 2004-2006 and 2007-2013 respectively. Between 2004-2006 the regional concentration is more balanced year by year than the district. In the district values even in this period we can already experience the fact that very few farmers receive a big amount of support. Between 2007-2013 there are no sharp differences in the case of concentration neither in the region nor in the district. The Lorenz curve shows a classic concentration distribution in the Southern Great Plain Region every year. The course of Lorenz curves is supported by the value of the concentration ratio which is the total share of the support of the three players receiving the biggest funds since the indicator has been hovering around the 10% average value in the region since 2006 while in the district we can experience values within a 36% and 17% average intervals. By evaluating the funds data of the Southern Great Plain Region and Sarkad district we can state that by 2013 the concentration has balanced out in both areas still we can experience a significant funds-concentration on the district level

REGIONAL EXAMINATION OF CERTAIN FACTORS INFLUENCING THE QUALITY OF LIFE

The rate of unemployment in Hajdú-Bihar County is several percent higher than the national average and the actual number of unemployed people is the highest, resulting in considerable social problems. The majority of families living under the minimum subsistence level cannot cover their housing maintenance costs. These costs include the rents of tenement flats, public charges, water, electricity, gas and district heating charges. Cutting the number of unemployed people and stimulating economic activity is a high priority. Important tools towards achieving these goals include the promotion of non-agricultural activities by households engaged in agriculture, incentives for rural microenterprises, the development of rural and agro-tourism and support for traditional arts and crafts. As for general subjective well-being, although its average value is positive, merely 50% of the population is contented. Naturally it does not mean that we are unhappy. 4 respondents out of 5 claim that they are rather happy. This may suggest that the picture is not so pessimistic as it is revealed by questions about living conditions

The analysis of costumer satisfaction in recreational tourism

Due to increased health awareness and the growing amount of assistance to boost it, health tourism research has gained significance in our days. The present study focuses on the analysis of customer needs for recreational tourism and their habits; moreover, it interviews the guests of 15 Hungarian wellness hotels through a questionnaire survey. Next we attempt to explore the rate of guest satisfaction with healthpreservation services. The study presents the findings of this research activity until now, whereas the results of further data processing will be published in the future

REGIONAL EXAMINATION OF CERTAIN FACTORS INFLUENCING THE QUALITY OF LIFE

The rate of unemployment in Hajdú-Bihar County is several percent higher than the national average and the actual number of unemployed people is the highest, resulting in considerable social problems. The majority of families living under the minimum subsistence level cannot cover their housing maintenance costs. These costs include the rents of tenement flats, public charges, water, electricity, gas and district heating charges. Cutting the number of unemployed people and stimulating economic activity is a high priority. Important tools towards achieving these goals include the promotion of non-agricultural activities by households engaged in agriculture, incentives for rural microenterprises, the development of rural and agro-tourism and support for traditional arts and crafts. As for general subjective well-being, although its average value is positive, merely 50% of the population is contented. Naturally it does not mean that we are unhappy. 4 respondents out of 5 claim that they are rather happy. This may suggest that the picture is not so pessimistic as it is revealed by questions about living conditions.Unemployment, Quality of life, Rural development, Agribusiness, Public Economics,

Cap 2013 Reform: Consistency between Agricultural Challenges and Measures

The latest reform of the Common Agricultural Policy has just been accepted, identifying important challenges for EU agriculture but proposing only limited changes to the previous CAP. Now it is time for the implementation of the new measures. However, from a theoretical point of view, it seems that the CAP can hardly meet the challenges it faces due to the inconsistencies between the predefined challenges and the measures proposed to meet them. The aim of the paper is to analyse the consistency between the challenges of European agriculture and the policy measures aimed at meeting them. It seems that not all measures are consistent with the challenges

Minimum economic scale of an efficient farms in dairy industry

The aim of our research is to determine - on the grounds of the facts of an average dairy family farm – the necessary economic size to provide subsistence for a four member family, which solely has income from this activity. Our study used three different calculation models. The models featured considerable differences. In the first one the primary aim of the producer is to survive, therefore the achieved gross income in farming includes neither amortization costs, nor the arising costs of repair and maintenance. On the contrary, the primary aim of the second model is to keep up the technology and the stock, which could fulfil the requirements of simple reproduction. The third model assumes a technological development corresponding with 10% of the invested asset value besides consolidation, thus ensuring the potential of reproduction on an increasing scale. The above mentioned calculations cover the period of several years. The studied years show differences in terms of the buying up price of milk, aid for milk production and the price of used inputs. Our study compared farm sizes with the viable plant size defined according to the Standard Gross Margin. As for the SGM a farm is already viable with 10 dairy cows and their progenies. However, our calculations show that a 10 cowed farm is not able to provide sufficient income for a four member family, if their aim is not only survival, but also simple or enlarged reproduction. The calculations reveal that among the fast changing market conditions of the dairy sector minimal farm size cannot be determined solely on the basis of profit figures in a given year, as in many cases it might lead to the exhaustion of reserves

Innovative training methods in business higher education

A unique business-oriented educational method was launched in 2010 at the University Of Debrecen, Hungary, in the Faculty Of Applied Economics and Rural Development; the method has existed in the JAMK University of Applied Science in Jyväskylä (Finland) since 1993, and is called Team Academy. The gist of this training is that the students learn entrepreneurship through their ‘living’ organisations with the application of the principle ‘learning-by-doing’. Besides developing the students’ entrepreneurial competencies and skills, this educational model also offers team coaching tools to develop teams of 12-13 students that can cooperate in an efficient way. The key point of Team Academy, which has been launched in several European higher education institutes over the past years (e.g. Spain, France, the Netherlands, etc.), is that the most efficient way of learning how to operate a successful company is to learn it in practice. During the professional and project trainings, the cooperation of the team and their company’s efficiency is continuously developing with the help of team coaches. A quite wide variety of team coaching tools is used in this system, e.g. 360◦ evaluation, which is a very important tool of human resource management. Feedback from students also plays an important role in developing team cooperation; the professional frame for this is also given by the above-mentioned methodology. This method is used successfully at the Debrecen Team Academy which / and (do you mean that the a) Team Academy or b) the above-mentioned methodology will be presented? If B), then write ‘and’ instead of ‘which’) will be presented in this study. A database of 150 questionnaires is analysed through qualitative research methods

Efficiency indicators in different dimension

There are several variations of efficiency definitions and of course ratios concerned with efficiency. A better understanding of the notion of efficiency is critical to dissolve ambiguity about it. Many confuse efficiency with other supposedly synonymous notions such as profitability, successfulness, competitiveness, liquidity or productivity. This ambiguity originates not only in subjective reasons, but the lack of hierarchical order among certain ideas. The primary driver in our research is, to systematize efficiency in general, and formulate a new categorical approach of the efficiency in corporate level

Efficiency indicators in different dimension

There are several variations of efficiency definitions and of course ratios concerned with efficiency. A better understanding of the notion of efficiency is critical to dissolve ambiguity about it. Many confuse efficiency with other supposedly synonymous notions such as profitability, successfulness, competitiveness, liquidity or productivity. This ambiguity originates not only in subjective reasons, but the lack of hierarchical order among certain ideas. The primary driver in our research is, to systematize efficiency in general, and formulate a new categorical approach of the efficiency in corporate level.efficiency, corporate level, new categories, Productivity Analysis,