Corruption as a Deviant Social Attitude

Corruption is a specific field of cooperation between social sectors. Corruption is a deviant behaviour, which can be traced back to several causes: the nature of economic and social regime as well as cultural aspects. The aim of corruption is to obtain advantages. The private advantages, however, are usually accompanied by significant social disadvantages. Corrupt behaviour often becomes a social norm. This paper analyses corruption as a deviant social attitude. Examining the countries of the Central Eastern European region, it states that they are moderately infected with corruption, which requires a national strategy against corruption and the establishment of institutional conditions for the implementation of the strategy. The paper underlines that corruption should be addressed not only within a national framework, it is also necessary to build up close co-operation among countries belonging to the same socio-economic system.integrity, norm, bribery, State Audit Office, public funds

Changes in cereal land use and production level in the European Union during the period 1999-2009, focusing on New Member States

The decrease in the area of arable land has further continued in the European Union (EU) since the Millennium. Sustainable development is partially based on the sustainable use of natural resources, which is based on the limitation of land use and on the introduction of different incentives. Previous direct subsidies resulted in increased production. The reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has aimed to stop the increase in production, possibly even to decrease production. The objective of this research is to show whether such an effect on land use and on the change of production structure in the EU can be observed. Analyses have shown that agricultural and arable areas have further decreased within land use since the Millennium, continuing the previously characteristic trend in the EU. The proportion and the yield of cereals in the production structure have increased. We conclude that in this respect the effects of the CAP on agriculture are the opposite to its original aims

Economic benefits of precision weed control and why its uptake is so slow

Innovation in agriculture ensures the widespread use of the most up-to-date technology. One such technology is precision crop protection, which meets the requirement of environmental and economic sustainability. The applicability of precision crop protection has been verified by several studies and in practice, but its uptake is very slow. Examining the economic relationships between potential savings and pests at the European Union level, this paper shows that the savings in pesticide use following the adoption of precision plant protection can be 30,000 tonnes (calculated using the current dose levels) per annum. If approximately 30 per cent of the crop producing and mixed farms larger than 16 ESU apply this new technology, the environmental burden will be reduced by 10-35 per cent. From a survey of 72 Hungarian farmers we found a positive correlation between the size of the farm and the adoption of precision farming technology, and those farmers in the survey that had implemented precision crop production estimated that the consequent change in income had been positive. Thus, at a certain farm size and farming intensity, precision crop production is a real, environmental friendly farming strategy option, through which each farm can generate an income that covers at least the economic conditions of simple production. By encouraging environmentally friendly farming practice, precision crop production can meet the requirements of the proposed green component of Pillar 1 of the Common Agricultural Policy for the period 2014-2020

Role of agricultural innovation in matching the „greening component” of CAP (Case of site-specific crop production)

It is frequently mentioned, that one of the key elements of strengthening the SMEs is the permanent renewal, the capability for innovation. It is also true in the case of agriculture. From one point of view, i nnovation in agriculture ensures the widespread use of the most up - to - date technology. Lots of new solutions have been implemented rapidly that are connected to animal health questions, precision technologies, chemical usage, irrigation, etc. in the last decades. These new solutions sometimes are really new inputs of the production, machines, technologies but some of them are new managerial technics as well . Here the role of agricultural extension services, knowledge centres, experimental farms are important. Our opinion is that observing the good practice, adoption and/or adaption – the imitation – should get higher function in everyday life. Site - specific farming is a holistic system, a technology that allows target oriented treatments, thus managing the spatial and temporal variability within an ecosystem, by applying spot treatment applications. It has been shown t hat the implementation of site - specific crop production can result in savings in the use of pesticides, while savings can also be expected regarding fertiliser use, depending on the objective of production. This technology is the result of a longer innovat ion process that can be characterised as a technology - push one. Although it is compatible with ecological, economic and social sustainability its real diffusion is not so fast that it can be. The question is whether has any role of precision crop productio n in meeting the requirements of the “green component” of Pillar 1 of the European Union’s (EU ’s ) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period 2014 - 2020? Is this technology intended to encourage environmentally friendly farming practice? Precision farmi ng is an abiotic factor, which is the ultimate tool for the reform of agricultural production

Possible Smart City Solutions in the Fight against Black Economy

According to international statistics, Hungary has a high ratio of black economy. On December 31th of 2017, the number of registered corporations reached 1.7 million, of which 395 910 were registered in Budapest [1]. There is a clear need for such measures and developments that are aimed to track corporations at the e-government level, and such infocommunicational equipment and services that essentially promote the arrangement of data. Black employment is one of the most easily identified territories of the hidden economy. Employers must register the working hours, and they are also responsible for the factual, real and entire content of the registry. A number of entry systems are available which – besides ensuring electronic protection – are also suitable for registering the working hours. These systems, however, have both advantages and disadvantages, and different types of abuses have become widespread. The purpose of the study is to provide an overview of these systems based on their ability to reduce black employment and the limitations of their applicability from the point of data protection, with particular attention to the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union from 25 May 2018 in all member states. Employers manage data through their legitimate interest on web and telephone usage, control of emails, or even GPS-based location information. Likewise, legitimate interest is also the basis of the introduction of workplace monitoring systems. To reduce the size of the black economy, the use of an electronic system would be the most suitable tool – which would transfer the information extracted from the system to an immediate tax authority – based on the patterns of online cash registers or online billing programs. This, on the one hand, could provide the basis for the necessary identification and work documentation, but on the other hand, it raises the risk of excessive data handling, which is illegal

Financial Risks of Local Governments Concerning Implementation of Their Social Political Aims

The local governments of settlements fulfi ll not only their basic duties but also a great deal of other tasks as well that infl uence the communities’ living conditions and quality of life, and through the way inhabitants feel also have an impact on the retention capacity of the settlements. The social policy of local governments is fulfi lled by the governments. Financing the tasks and their risks have a great effect on the realization of sustainable local governing. The aim of this study is to review the Hungarian local governmental system assessing some anomalies of the fi nancing of local governments and to draw attention to the risk of local governments, to the possibilities of how to reduce their operational risks highly considering the social political goals of the local governments, the role it has in developing and improving the people’s quality of life

Corruption as a Deviant Social Attitude

Corruption is a specific field of cooperation between social sectors. Corruption is a deviant behaviour, which can be traced back to several causes: the nature of economic and social regime as well as cultural aspects. The aim of corruption is to obtain advantages. The private advantages, however, are usually accompanied by significant social disadvantages. Corrupt behaviour often becomes a social norm. This paper analyses corruption as a deviant social attitude. Examining the countries of the Central Eastern European region, it states that they are moderately infected with corruption, which requires a national strategy against corruption and the establishment of institutional conditions for the implementation of the strategy. The paper underlines that corruption should be addressed not only within a national framework, it is also necessary to build up close co-operation among countries belonging to the same socio-economic system

The examination of non-profit and public institutions from the CSR viewpoint

To reveal the company’s social policy publicly – in the form of certificates, indices or reports – occurs more and more often in the corporate practice and communication. The year 2011 has a special role among the campaign of the European Union since 1983. This year the main focus is on voluntariness, which is one of the principles of the European Union, the aim is to draw the attention of the European people to the significance of voluntariness. The advantage of the companies’ voluntary programme is that through the internal communication a more effective cooperation can be ensured among the employees and nonbusiness. So more and more companies feel the need of the CSR activities, with which they can create competitive advantage for themselves. The research focuses on the nonbusiness group, and examines its relationships and cooperation with other organizations and groups. The aim of the research carried out in Hungary is to discover and unveil the aims and motivations of the above mentioned segments, and whether the opposing parties, in economic sense, are able to cooperate for one goal in the interest of the community and environment. The research raises the following questions: What kind of donations is offered from the businesses and from the civil people? Do they comply with the expectation and necessities of the nonbusiness? Is their cooperation useful? Are they able to solve their problems, to communicate effectively? The results of the research showed similarities with the literature, i.e.: the influencing factors of CSR are the effective communication, the realized cost and benefits for the donor, the empathy, the norm system of the individual and the expectation of the society. The importance of CSR appears at more and more forums (CSR market, corporate PR etc.). However, to be able to speak of appropriate CSR that is already built-in the value system of the individuals – especially from the viewpoint of society, ecological and economic sustainability – Hungary has a long way to go as there is still a great lack of empathy, internal motivation and social sensitivity, which can only be inherited through culture. Communication forms the base of offering assistance, as without it the realization of needs is not possible. The sceptics often accuse the companies that the CSR practice from their part is nothing else only PR activity, however, it was proven by the present research that the donor companies do not require publicity