A string of analyses has been made on the factors and development of Hungarian competitiveness, but far less attention paid to some elements of the business environment that are counterproductive in competitiveness terms. The study surveys these, especially market failures in the availability of essential products and services, excessive costs of administrative procedures, and links between increasing competitiveness and fighting corruption. A
There is increasingly obvious competition in Hungarian higher education for resources and students. Recognizing that no reliable picture had emerged of the competitive positions of individual institutions, a league-table 'industry' appeared in Hungary in the mid-2000s, patterned on the higher-education league tables commonly found abroad. However, the methodology differs markedly from the ones used abroad and the results obtained are not always convincing. A survey of the methods used also raises interesting questions about the scope for analysing competition. The study looks at the main line of development in the transformation of higher education and the integral connection between accreditation and how the league tables are prepared.
The study assesses some cases of the more or less ubiquitous methodological approach in economics whereby priority is given to quantitative tools of analysis. Economists often borrow techniques for reflecting facts from the natural sciences, but the limits of these need scrutinizing more closely. They are presented here in examples from statistics and cliometrics. The author stresses the importance of distinguishing 'quantitative' from 'pseudo-quantitative' products of economic research when such products of knowledge creation are assessed by referees for professional journals or by others.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.