Kovács Kármen: Viselkedési közgazdaságtan. (Behavioral Economics) (Akadémiai Kiadó, 2025. ISBN: 9789634549826.)
The significance of the chosen research topic arises from the growing complexity of economic exchanges, stricter requirements for banking supervision, and the increasing necessity to enhance risk management. In the context of global financial uncertainty and the accelerated flow of information, traditional methods of assessing banking risk may no longer be adequate. This study explores innovative frameworks capable of autonomously processing large datasets, predicting potential hazards, and providing effective mitigation strategies. The research is grounded in general scientific methods such as analysis, synthesis, classification, and bibliographic review. The findings suggest that incorporating cognitive models into banking risk management signifies a shift from traditional practices toward more adaptive and predictive approaches. Although these models show considerable potential for improving banking risk practices, they remain underutilized in the financial sector. The cognitive framework proposed in this study may significantly enhance decision-making efficiency and reduce liabilities, offering practical value, particularly in dynamic market conditions.
This study aims to identify the factors that explain the limited implementation of intangible and digital investments among Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The dominant explanation attributes investment restraint primarily to financing constraints; however, recent evidence suggests a more nuanced picture. Scientific and practical relevance: The paper introduces a conceptual framework – the financing alignment problem – contributing to the renewal of SME finance literature and offering direct policy implications. The analysis is based on multi-stakeholder expert discussions, qualitative interviews, and systematic review of secondary sources. The findings indicate that investment restraint is not primarily driven by a lack of access to finance, but by the limited alignment between intangible investments and the prevailing logic of financial intermediation. Stimulating SME investment requires a better fit between financing instruments and firm-level development needs.
In recent decades, the housing crisis has been present in Hungary to varying extent. The paper aims to prove that passive governmental measures (allowing the spread of foreign currency lending) are far from achieving the same results in the field of housing as active and comprehensive packages of governmental measures (CSOK, Otthon Start Program), which have demographic goals in addition to housing policy. Besides classic literature sources, the paper also relies on law, relevant KINCS researches, as well as various banking/real estate market reports and analyses. The experience arising from foreign currency lending and the change in family and housing policy after 2010 shows that the housing crisis can only be managed by active measures, while passive measures can only achieve results for a short period of time, with significant systemic risks, which in turn can very easily be reversed by an economic crisis or other force majeure event, thus catalyzing the housing crisis.
While some papers address optimal taxation in the context of educational investment, the literature falls short in characterizing the optimal joint design of government higher education subsidies and income tax rates that simultaneously promotes redistribution and incentives for human capital accumulation. The model is solved analytically under general conditions and calibrated to assess its quantitative implications for efficiency, inequality, and welfare. Simulations show that incorporating education investment substantially alters the optimal level of income tax progressivity, with the effect depending on the responsiveness of human capital accumulation to after-tax returns. For an inequality-averse social planner, rising marginal tax rates generally emerge as optimal; yet, generous education subsidies—similar to those in several OECD countries—can justify decreasing marginal tax rates for high-income earners.
In interpreting corporate financial statements, the balance sheet total is often treated as a direct measure of a firm’s wealth. However, continental accounting systems, including Hungarian accounting regulation, are grounded primarily in accrual accounting, realization, and capital protection. This study examines which firm-level factors are associated with the use of asset revaluation in the Hungarian corporate sector. The empirical analysis is based on the CrefoPort database for 2020-2024 and comprises 811,998 firm-year observations for 164,712 companies. The relationships are analyzed using a logistic regression model. The results show that revaluation is associated mainly with asset structure and firm size, while a significant relationship is also observed with the firm’s capital protection position. The analysis provides large-sample empirical evidence that, in the Hungarian accounting environment, asset revaluation does not function as a general technique for approximating corporate wealth.
On May 13, 2026, in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the National University of Public Service (NKE) together with the Hungarian Economic Association (MKT) organized the 8th Budapest Public Finance Seminar. In addition to other recent developments in monetary theory, the conference’s main theme was sovereign money. The topic’s relevance stems from the fact that the past decade has redefined the economic policy possibilities offered by central bank money from both technological and monetary theory perspectives, especially with regard to the potential inherent in a central bank digital currency (CBDC). At the same time, we have repeatedly experienced financial crises based on credit money, raising the question of how we might move toward operating a monetary system with lower risk and lower interest costs. The English-language international conference, chaired by Gábor Kutasi (Research Institute of Competitiveness and Economics), explored these issues with the help of invited speakers from the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. The issues were examined from the perspectives of fintech, Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), and banking and economic policy.
The paper examines how the introduction of a moderate, interest-neutral (policy-rate-remunerated) central bank digital currency (CBDC) modifies the short-run transmission of monetary policy in Hungary’s 2025 macroeconomic environment. It extends a baseline New Keynesian DSGE model with a CBDC, in which household savings are split between deposits and CBDC while bank lending is tied to deposits, so deposit substitution can weaken intermediation. Following calibration, simulations and impulse responses suggest that rule-based stabilisation largely remains intact, but the responses of real variables are more muted and adjustment may be slower.
The study seeks an explanation for the years of stagnation of the Hungarian economy, and the question of what mechanisms, consistency disorders, and behavioral patterns led to the “engine of the economy” choking. On the one hand, our economy differs from the economic policy principles and practices of the countries of the region. Government intervention is common in making many economic decisions, a high degree of centralization of resources and decision-making powers, special taxation of certain sectors without rational explanation, government favoritism of certain corporate groups, their withdrawal from the scope of market control, a high degree of lack of responsibility in the decision-making and management system, and the unaccountability of the most obvious economic crimes. On the other hand, the stagnation is due to economic governance errors, persistent laxity and lack of discipline in budget management, frequent changes to the budget within a year, chronic deficits exceeding the planned ones, and the continuous indebtedness of the state.
Demographic trends are characteristics of paramount importance to any economy and society. The age structure of the population in developed and moderately developed countries is changing dramatically. Older people are increasingly making up a growing proportion of the population. This trend, which has extremely wide-ranging implications, is known as aging.
The hectic and increasingly unpredictable changes of our time are forcing both nations and companies to rethink their development paths. This is compounded by resource depletion and the need to increase the efficiency of their use. Quantitative growth targets are also being superseded by the need to shift toward a systems-based approach to development, as well as by the new opportunities this shift offers. The importance of intellectual content, organizational, and leadership capabilities-already recognized and referred to by various names-comes to the fore in improving competitiveness, successfully adapting to change, and generally ensuring preparedness for the future. The article outlines the main professional arguments regarding the role of intellectual assets in competitiveness. Then, based on the data, it demonstrates that investments in intellectual assets contribute to improved socio-economic performance and competitiveness at both the national and corporate levels. The article clarifies concepts related to intellectual content and also addresses measurement issues.
This study analyses the impact of tax expenditure policies on investment and employment in Algeria using the ARDL model. The following variables were used in the analysis: Tax expenditures, gross Domestic Product (GDP), corporate tax rate, and deposit interest rate (independent variables), and investment and employment (dependent variables). The results show that tax expenditures negatively affect both investment and employment in the short term but positively enhance them in the long term. Additionally, GDP has a positive impact on both investment and employment, while the corporate tax rate also plays a positive role. On the other hand, the deposit interest rate shows a negative effect on employment in the long run. Based on these findings, the study recommends improving the structure of tax expenditures to target sectors that contribute to job creation and economic and social development, reducing deposit interest rates to encourage private investment, and developing tax policies that better support investments. The study also recommends diversifying the economy to reduce dependence on oil and to promote investment in non-oil sectors, thereby contributing to sustainable and inclusive development.
This study investigates short-term financial market reactions to specific Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) announcements by energy sector companies. The central research question is whether positive and negative ESG events have a significant impact on companies' cumulative abnormal stock returns (CARs) and market sensitivity (beta). The scientific relevance of the topic stems from the fact that most prior research has analysed the long-term effects of aggregate ESG scores, leaving the immediate market processing of discrete public announcements less explored. Its practical importance is driven by the energy industry's sustainability transition and the growing prominence of ESG-focused investing. The research employs an event study methodology on 20 ESG events from ten traditional and renewable energy companies between 2020 and 2025, using OLS regression. The key findings indicate that the selected ESG announcements generally did not elicit statistically significant market reactions in terms of either returns or risk metrics. Initial significant results were not robust to changes in the market benchmark, suggesting nuanced, methodology-sensitive information processing by the market.
This research quantitatively examines the relationship between globalisation and financial instability, focusing on two variables: trade openness relative to GDP and inflation volatility (proxied by annual CPI changes) across six developed and developing European countries between 2013 and 2023. This research shows the empirical relationship between trade openness and inflation stability, without accounting for other drivers such as monetary policy or capital flows. It examines the questionable relationship between globalisation and financial instability across the selected economies, offering insights into their differing vulnerabilities. Based on secondary data collected from reliable sources, we conducted Pearson correlation, regression, and trend analyses to establish these dynamics. Primary results reveal a stronger positive relationship between trade openness and inflation fluctuations in developed countries, particularly France and Germany, than in developing countries, including Hungary and Romania, which experienced more synchronised trends. These findings provide descriptive evidence of country-level differences in the relationship between trade openness and inflation volatility. They serve as a basis for further research rather than for drawing strong policy conclusions.
Objective: Identify the factors that shape perceptions of corruption in European Union countries, with particular attention to financial inclusion and press freedom. Design/Methodology/Approach: Quantitative analysis was conducted using data from 27 EU member states, splitting the data into those that joined before and after 2004. In the regression models, financial inclusion indicators-digital transactions and online banking-along with press freedom indices, were checked against perception regarding corruption. Results: These findings imply that while financial inclusion, for example, through digital banking services, decreases perceived corruption, its impact is rather moderate compared to other structural factors, such as press freedom. The higher the level of press freedom, the greater the levels of societal transparency and accountability, leading to lower perceptions of corruption. Research Implications: The study underscores the need for structural reforms that promote institutional transparency and the media's independence. Financial technologies can only supplement robust governance frameworks and boost efforts to fight against corruption. Originality/Value: This paper compares the factors that determine corruption within the European Union, integrating financial innovation and institutional transparency. The outcomes provide the policy-making sphere with realistic recommendations for implementing concrete anti-corruption measures.
This review examines a groundbreaking educational guide, the Sustainable Economics Teacher’s Manual designed to integrate sustainability into higher education curricula across diverse disciplines. The book presents an interdisciplinary framework spanning economics, law, engineering, medicine, arts, and social sciences, emphasizing sustainability as a unifying lens rather than a standalone subject. Structured into 14 thematic units, the content combines theoretical knowledge with practical, student-centered activities. It promotes interactive learning through case studies, debates, and simulations while integrating multimedia resources. The book aligns with emerging educational trends like blended learning, flipped classrooms, and gamification. This book offers a forward-thinking blueprint for sustainability education, preparing students to become proactive agents of change in a rapidly evolving global landscape.
The scandal that broke out in Brazil in 2014 came to be known in the media as “Lava Jato” – or “Car Wash”. What began as a money laundering case centred around a small car wash quickly escalated into one of the largest corruption scandals on the continent. The investigation uncovered a multi-billion-dollar bribery network that had been operating for decades around Petrobras, a state-owned oil company. Politicians, state officials, as well as multinational companies and criminal networks were all involved. The mechanism was deceptively simple – yet devastating: large corporations were awarded overpriced contracts by the state-owned oil company, with part of the surplus ending up in the pockets of political parties and decision-makers. The machinery of corruption served not only to enrich certain individuals, but also to finance the maintenance of the entire political system. The consequences were staggering: Petrobras’s share price collapsed, tens of thousands of jobs were lost, and Brazil’s economy plunged into a deep recession. Ministers, members of government, party leaders and executives from the largest construction company were all imprisoned, and even Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the country’s iconic former president, stood trial. The social fabric of the country was shaken, as millions of people took to the streets, having lost their trust in the political and economic elite. Yet the true tragedy of the Lava Jato scandal went far beyond financial loss or the exposure of the political elite, as the people of Brazil came to realise that corruption is not the sin of a few “black sheep”, but a systemic driving force that permeates everything. The erosion of trust has left a lasting wound on society that will affect generations to come. One of the most shocking revelations of this scandal was the sheer scale of the bribes involved. Investigators found that construction companies had inflated project costs by up to 20%, not only funnelling billions of dollars into secret political funds, but also showering politicians and corporate executives with luxury beachfront apartments in Rio, yachts, Rolex watches, and suitcases full of cash. The blend of multi-billion-dollar contracts and extravagant personal gifts turned the scandal into a symbol of how systemic corruption can simultaneously rot institutions and corrode personal integrity – all while affording a life of luxury to a select few.
