Faculty of Economics and Business

A hatékonyság, jövedelmezőség, eredményesség, versenyképesség, termelékenység, nyereség fogalma, sok más szinonim fogalommal együtt eléggé elmosódott és vegyes tartalmat jelent sokak számára. A következőkben e fogalmak között próbálunk "rendet" tenni, hogy mindenki számára ugyanazt jelentse, és a későbbiekben ne legyen fogalmi zavar, ha találkozunk ezen szakkifejezésekkel. Alapvető gondot jelent az, hogy az egyes fogalmak között nincs hierarchikus sorrend. Tanulmányunk egyik célja e sorrendiség megállapítása, továbbá az említett szakkifejezések pontos értelmezése. Több szakirodalomból gyűjtött anyagokat használtunk fel, próbáltunk elfogadható rendszert kialakítani, még akkor is, ha ezek bizonyos esetekben egymást átfedik. Vizsgálatunkat az általunk legtágabb értelmű fogalommal kezdjük, az eredményességgel. Huszti (1996) szerint az eredmény könyvelési fogalom, amely az árbevétel és a ráfordítás különbségeként áll elő. Ha a különbségük pozitív, akkor nyereségről, ha negatív, akkor veszteségről van szó. Értelmezése szerint: Eredmény = Árbevétel-Ráfordítás "Eredményességnek nevezzük az elért eredményeknek a kitűzött célokhoz való viszonyát" (Kökényesi és Andriska, 2002). Képletben:

A growing world population coupled with changing diet is projected to increase demand for food production by 70% by 2050. Helping farmers lose less of their crops will be a key factor in promoting food security. In addition to pesticides GM crops will continue to be a vital tool in the diverse range of technologies that can maintain and improve living standards for the people of the world. The EU is dependent for 65% on imports of protein-rich feedstuffs for which there are no substitutes in the short term. The EU livestock sector uses imported soybean, soybean meal and maize by-products as animal feed. Without an adequate supply of these feed ingredients, the EU's livestock production will loose competitiveness. However, demands from the EU differ to those from third countries with respect to the GM varieties grown, and what are authorised for import into the EU. The risk that supplies of soya products and maize by-products could be affected by the low-level presence of non-EU approved GM material has not been fully resolved as the EU has allowed just a 0.1% tolerance for this plus 0.05% tolerance for measuring uncertainty. This could cause supply problems for the animal feed industry, and ultimately supply of food to consumers. The importance of the EU market and EU requirements for the major soybean and maize exporter countries is declining over time and it is becoming increasingly difficult and costly to maintain a non-GM supply chain in the EU. Food companies and supermarkets will struggle to stay GM-free. EU member states dependent on imports will be forced to deal with more GM presence in their chain. Market forces are forcing governments to authorize products more efficiently, develop tolerance policies or tolerate unapproved varieties in their imports.

These days the various forms of health tourism are gaining an enhanced role in world tourism and this is also true of the economic performance of some countries. In the last decade, health tourism featuring an ongoing development saw a dynamic development primarily in the area of wellness tourism at both national and international levels. The countries with the most significant wellness supplies and tourist movement are located in the first place in Europe (mostly in German-speaking and Mediterranean countries), North America and Southeast Asia (Kiss K.-Török I. 2001, Rátz T. 2004). The general trends such as the enhancement of individualization, demographic transformations, changes in women's social roles, spiritualization, the appreciation of healthy lifestyles have created the social background of the demand for wellness services and products (Friedl H. 2007, Zsigmond E. 2007).As for experts in various areas of science, the wellness market, due to social transformations and the favourable economic performance of the sector, is likely to become one of the fastest developing touristic and economic sectors (

There are growing opportunities and demands for the use of biomass to provide additional renewables, energy for heat, power and fuel, pharmaceuticals and green chemical feedstocks. However, the worldwide potential of bioenergy is limited, because all land is multifunctional, and land is also needed for food, feed, timber and fiber production, and for nature conservation and climate protection. The recent expansion of the bioenergy industries together with a strong increase in many commodity prices has raised concerns over the land use choices between energy needs and food and feed. New systems of energy production must be developed based on cost of environmental damage due to production and use of fossil energy and certain chemicals and materials. This article presents risks to food and energy security, estimates of bioenergy potential and the challenges of the environmental and social impact associated with expansions in bioenergy production.

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.

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.

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.

Methods of cooling monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar modules with water vaporizing are analysed in the paper regarding the effects of temperature on performance and its economic relations. Since water usage may present a significant cost the aim of the research was to create a cooling system that operates without loss of flowing water. Results are evaluated from technical and economic points of view in relation to several countries based on systems with 5 kW capacity. Ideal setting of spray heads at 2 bar pressure was achieved with a distance of 0.26 m between the spray heads. In our experiment, a temperature following procedure was tested manually. Due to this procedure, the surface of the module can be cooled with an average temperature value that is calculated after cooling, depending on the temperature of the control solar module. Analysing the daily data of monthly production the number of ''ideal days" in a given month were estimated. Comparing the temperature decrease as a result of vaporization measured in summer and in autumn showed no significant difference. The results achieved confirm the connection between temperature change and efficiency change of monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar modules (0.5%/1 °C), discussed in previous scientific literature. Effective application of solar module cooling systems is around 10-15% more expensive than the cost of systems without cooling. In general, under current economic conditions the operation of cooled solar modules is viable mainly in South European countries.

This study presents the sequestration and emissions of forests and algae related to CO 2 while providing a comparison to other biomass sources (arable crops, short rotation coppices). The goal of the paper is to analyze the impact of the current CO 2 balance of forests and the future prospects for algae. Our calculations are based on data, not only from the literature but, in the case of algae, from our own previous experimental work. It was concluded that the CO 2 sequestration and natural gas saving of forests is typically 3.78 times higher than the emissions resulting from the production technology and from the burning process. The economic and environmental protection-related efficiency operate in opposite directions. The CO 2 sequestration ability of algae can primarily be utilized when connected to power plants. The optimal solution could be algae production integrated with biogas power plants, since plant sizes are smaller and algae may play a role, not only in the elimination of CO 2 emissions and the utilization of heat but also in wastewater purification.

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 micro-enterprises, 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 the...

The aim of the research was to define the size of the Hungarian LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability) consumer group by analyzing its lifestyle based on sustainable values. To achieve this goal, a representative questionnaire-based survey was carried out involving 1000 individuals in Hungary. During the value-orientated research, 25 lifestyle statements were drawn up. According to the results, five value-based segments could be distinguished. The largest cluster, the young trend followers group, reflects the characteristics of the LOHAS consumers' lifestyle to the greatest extent. However, this segment cannot entirely be regarded as a consumer group devoted to LOHAS values, which is why a further segmentation of this group was necessary. As a result of this further segmentation, the third sub-cluster, which emphasizes the ethical (competence) statements the most, can be identified with the LOHAS consumer group, which makes up 8.7% of the Hungarian population. Further research is necessary to find out whether the situation regarding value orientation in Hungary is similar to that in other Eastern European countries whose social and cultural backgrounds are very similar. Revealing the values of the Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability segment contributes to the extension of the literature.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the applicability of the original 36-item Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) model developed by Steptoe et al. (1995) in Hungary. Design/methodology/approach The national representative questionnaire involved 1,050 individuals in Hungary in 2015. Several multivariable statistical techniques were applied for the analysis of the data: confirmatory factor analysis, principal component analysis, and cluster and Log-linear analysis. Findings The results indicate that the original nine-factor model is only partially applicable to Hungary. This study successfully managed to distinguish the following factors: health and natural content, mood, preparation convenience, price and purchase convenience, sensory appeal, familiarity, and ethical concern. The FCQ scales proved to be suitable for the description of clusters based on specific food choices and demographic characteristics. By using the factors, the following five clusters were identified: mo...

The Visegrad countries – or the V-4 countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – is strong regional cooperation of four EU member states in Eastern-Central-Europe aimed at strengthening the positions of the members on both a European and a global level. The aim of this research is to analyse the capital structure of the agricultural and food companies in the V4 Member States. The results show that more profitable companies were less dependent on debt finance, while the fast-growing companies had limited access to the financial market. Company size had a significant effect only in the Czech Republic. Overall, the capital structure seemed to be strongly affected by the farm structure and the relative company size.

In our study, we examined whether product characteristics indicated by food labels matter in purchasing decisions for sausage made from traditional Hungarian mangalica pork; and how much consumers are willing to pay for them. On the other hand, we also tried to measure whether any changes in consumers’ preferences occurred in recent years. Two product characteristics (label of origin and different mangalica meat content) and two other factors (place of purchase and price) are examined in a discrete choice experiment based on stated preference data. According to our expectations, government-funded consumer campaigns in recent years have had an impact on consumers purchase of this traditional product, and they pay more attention to food labels, which can also be influenced by sociodemographic characteristics. Our results have been compared to a previous choice-model based research, investigating consumers’ attitude towards similar mangalica pork products. Three different types of mode...

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 micro-enterprises, 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 th...

The role of rural areas partly changed in the last decades. The countryside is still functioning as the main food producer of the world and this role became much more important because of the global population growth and because of the change in dietary habits. But other rural functions appeared just like recreation, health preservation, and on the other hand the different ecological functions' importance increased. The population living in the countryside is continuously decreasing as more and more people try to move into urban areas. One of the main aims of this article is to give a brief literature overview on the services needed in the rural areas in order to stop migration from the countryside to the cities. Based on extensive literature review the article summarizes the changing functions of the countryside and tries to list those developments which are needed to preserve rural population.

Agroforestry can be applied to all agricultural systems, in all parts of Europe. Europe has a unique heritage of traditional agroforestry systems with a high environmental and cultural value and high potential for innovative modern agroforestry systems developed by research centres across Europe during the last two decades. In recent years, following scientific research, the development of structures and professional experiments in agroforestry has gained national and European recognition. In some European countries, namely Belgium, France and the UK, professional organisations and training organisations have begun to reintroduce agroforestry with training of agricultural students and adults in further education. The main objective of the AgroFE and Agrof-MM projects is to develop an agroforestry training system based on a common framework and core content, and to promote training at European level. The knowledge databank is a component of the project training system. It aims to gat...