Comparative analysis of the CE4 countries’ economic performance
This report compares the economic performance of four Central European countries, namely Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia (henceforth: CE4 countries). Many authors emphasise the similarities between the V4 countries – sometimes even the former planned economies of CEE –, i.e., the former ‘bloc approach’ is still dominant. However, key economic indicators – GDP, productivity, unemployment, […]
Firm Quality and Health Maintenance
We estimate the impact of firm quality — primarily measured by firm productivity — on the health maintenance of employees. Using linked employer-employee administrative panel data from Hungary, we analyze the dynamics of healthcare use before and after moving to a new firm. We show that moving to a more productive firm leads to higher […]
Tax Evasion and the Contribution-Benefit Link: The Case of Maternity Benefits
This paper studies tax evasion and the contribution-benefit link in the context of maternity benefits in Hungary. Earnings and employment patterns suggest pre-pregnancy underreporting, followed by formalization of some earnings and employment during pregnancy to increase benefits. Reported earnings in small, domestic, and less productive firms bunch at the minimum wage before pregnancy and the […]
Social innovations in authoritarian polities: Two contrasting cases in Hungary
Rising inequalities and deprivation have been important drivers for social innovation (SI). We understand SIs as novel initiatives or novel combinations of known solutions, aimed at tackling a societal problem or creating new societal opportunities, applied in practice. SIs success requires enabling institutional framework that facilitate collaborative agency for its design and implementation. However, authoritarian […]
Balázs Lengyel – Gergő Tóth – Nicholas A. Christakis and Anikó Bíró’s article in the Science Advances
Antidepressant use in spatial social networks Balázs Lengyel – Gergő Tóth – Nicholas A. Christakis – Anikó Bíró Science Advances Vol. 10. No. 49. (6 Dec 2024) Abstract Social networks may help individuals maintain their mental health. Most empirical work based on small-scale surveys finds that cohesive social networks are critical for mental well-being, while diverse networks are considered less […]
Tamás Hajdu’s article in the Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics
In Utero Shocks and Health at Birth: The Distorting Effect of Fetal Losses Tamás Hajdu Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics First published: 27 November 2024 Abstract Research on the effect of in utero shocks on health at birth may be influenced by in utero selection. This study outlines a conceptual framework and shows that the […]
Heterogenous impacts of climate change on morbidity
This paper examines how temperature affects emergency department (ED) visits, using administrative data covering 50% of the Hungarian population and comprising 3.52 million outpatient visits from 2009 to 2017. Days with an average temperature above 25°C increase the ED visit rate by 4.65 visits per 100,000 people over an 11-day period (1.60% increase), compared to […]
Start-up Subsidies for the unemployed: Why do they seem so effective?
By using Hungarian administrative data we evaluate the impact of a start-up subsidy programme on the labour market integration of the unemployed. When – following the generally accepted method – the control group included everyone who could have participated in the programme but did not, the effect of the support was positive and consistent with […]
Services exporters and importers in Hungary
This paper uses rich firm-level data from Hungary to present some stylized facts on services trade. We show that (i) services exporters are even more rare than goods exporters; (ii) services exports are highly concentrated; (iii) services exporters are more likely than goods exporters to be located in cities; (iv) services exports tend to be […]
Szilárd Podruzsik and Imre Fertő’s article in the Open Agriculture
Motivations for farmers’ participation in agri-environmental scheme in the EU, literature review Szilárd Podruzsik and Imre Fertő Open Agriculture Vol. 9. No. 1. Abstract Agri-environmental schemes (AESs) play a pivotal role in aligning agricultural practices with environmental objectives, promoting sustainable land management, and conserving biodiversity. This article presents a comprehensive synthesis of recent advancements in AES research within […]
Occupational and job mobility during the pandemic
Using individual-level EU-LFS data from nine European countries, this study analyses how the probability of occupational and job mobility has changed in the first year of the COVID pandemic in nine European countries compared to previous years. We show that the probability of leaving a job increased slightly, and the probability of changing occupations and […]
The Return of Diverse Higher Education Pathways
The expansion of higher education has resulted in a fragmentation of student careers on a global scale. The number of students pursuing atypical pathways has been growing. In the European Union, the Bologna Process has facilitated the mobility of students across higher education institutions, the transition between different courses of study, increasing the diversity of […]
