Emerging economies in Central and Eatern Europe can benefit significantly from conducting foresight programmes. Yet, foresight should not be conducted for its own sake – just because it is becoming “fashionable” throughout the world, and currently being promoted by the EU. On the contrary,...

This paper analyses the methods to assess the socio-economic impacts stemming from participation in the EU Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Framework Programmes (FPs) projects. Some of the most significant impacts of Central and Eastern European participation in FPs can only...

TEP, the Hungarian Technology Foresight Programme, was launched in 1997, as the first one in Central and Eastern Europe, to provide inputs to a national innovation strategy by identifying socio-economic challenges and developing broad visions for the future. Specifically, it was aimed at...

Intra-industry trade in agri-food products between Hungary and the EU is shown to be low and dominated by vertically rather than horizontally differentiated products, suggesting higher economic adjustment costs. Following recent empirical studies, we then test econometrically for the...

This paper explores the stability properties of the steady state in the standard two-sector real business cycle model with a sector-specific externality in the capital-producing sector. When the steady state is stable then equilibrium is indeterminate and stable sunspots are possible. We find...

This paper investigates the link between competition and efficiency for the Hungarian corporate sector during various phases of the transition process. We employ frontier production functions to explore differences among groups of firms, and to identify the typical adjustment process of each...

This paper explores the stability properties of the steady state in the standard two-sector real business cycle model with a sector-specific externality in the capital-producing sector. When the steady state is stable then equilibrium is indeterminate and stable sunspots are possible. We find...

This paper investigates the link between competition and efficiency for the Hungarian corporate sector during various phases of the transition process. We employ frontier production functions to explore differences among groups of firms, and to identify the typical adjustment process of each...

In January 1, 1998 a new, three-pillar pension system was introduced in Hungary. It will replace about a 1/4 of the existing unfunded public system by a funded private system from 2013. This transition is obligatory for people entering the labor market after June 30, 1998 and optional for...

Examples of Western developed economies show a strict correlation between the state of services sector and the level of economic development. Services should be considered as a catalysator in a modern economy. Services play a key role in macroeconomic development, in reducing unemployment, in...