The theory of systemic change and/or the fiasco of economics?
The study analyses the possibilities and constraints of the economic interpretability of systemic change. The first part surveys some theoretical developments of recent years, the second one selects some of the novelties of the literature on systemic change, while the third one attempts to arrange the pieces of knowledge in the theoretical framework of the neo-institutionalist school – at the meeting point of inductive and deductive approach. The author stresses the unambigous constraints following from the essence of economic paradigm and methodology as well as the demand for an interdisciplinary approach.
Globalization and the labour market (With particular attention to the highly developed countries)
The article discusses the impact of the three basic trends of globalization – the expansion of international trade, the widening of foreign direct investment, and of the international migration of labour – on employment and wages in the highly developed countries. From the viewpoint of the subject the relationship maintained by the highly developed countries with the underdeveloped (low-wage) countries is of particular importance. The special questions of agriculture have been neglected by the authoress.
The two-hundred-year cycle and the United States, Part II. (Changes in rates of interest)
The author investigates the dual wave of the long cycle, the realization of money capital. The results of computations partly support the estimates published in the former study of the author. But the range of error of the estimation procedure still remains significant. After presenting the data and the computation procedure the author examines the probability that the hypothesis may still be erroneous.
The enterprise as a learning system (Critique of a western concept of enterprise)
The environment of firms is getting modified ever faster and with ever more unexpected turns all over the world. The changes are no longer continous, but show “breaks”. This is why the management experts of the developed industrial countries are urging that their firms should transform into learning systems. The author stresses two particular features: 1. the firms have to adapt to the changes with a new order of values, 2. the new challenges of the environment must be signalized to the higher managers by the “front people” working on the lower levels of the hierarchy. But, according to the author, there is a chance for such signals only in the field of operative functioning – as regards the long term strategy, the management has to perceive the possibilities and dangers of the future.
On creativity – on the basis of confessions by entrepreneurs
Setting out from the assumption which can be theoretically deducted and empirically supported, i.e. that one of the secrets of entrepreneurial success is creativity, the authoress attempted to assess the creative features most characteristic of them on the basis of deep-interviews made with some Hungarian entrepreneurs. According to the results, most of them are characterized in the category of creative talent by independent thinking and solution of tasks, the acceptance of new ideas, learning and a researching spirit, while creative behaviour, among other things, by risk taking, the acceptance of challenges, knowledge of their special field and of the market, as well as their being absorbed in their work. Nevertheless, the ratio of enterprises of creative character is relatively low, the main reason for which can be found, beside the disadvantageous development of external circumstances – among other things – in taxation, financial rules, lack of capital etc. in that the ability of abstract reasoning, heuristic knowledge is rare even among the most successful ones, which is a highly important precondition of creatively solving the tasks.
Európai Unió
The impact of foreign direct capital investment on foreign trade in four small Central- European countries
The article surveys the impact of foreign capital on foreign trade in Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, concentrating on the years between 1993-1996. The firms with foreign ownership participation proved in general to be more export-intensive than the domestic ones and the former are present in large numbers in the export oriented manufacturing branches. The main direction of exports is the European Union and this is why the article examines the impact of foreign capital on the product patters of trade with the EU. It may be established that the comparative advantages manifest in this field are changing, and behind this phenomenon the increased use of skilled labour can be found. In this respect, and also in others, Hungary may be said to differ from the other countries.
Műhely
Changes in the social compsition and motivation of economic undergraduates in Budapest hin the mid-nineties
In recent years, in the period of economic transition and structural changes quite a few occupations have lost their prestige, and lost ground on the labour market. At the same time several such occupations have gained increased respect which had former been characterized by feminization. Thus e.g. the value of the diplomas issued by the Budapest University of Economics has significantly grown in the course of the economic and societal changes in recent years. While earlier a great part of economists in firms had made careers of medium prestige and earned accordingly, in our days the jobs of managers and those in the financial fields go together with significant salaries, political influence and an attractive way of life. The study sums up the results of a survey through questionnaires with the aid of which it was intended to map the changes.
Könyvajánló