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RUNNING PROJECTSEdEN (Education Economics Network)Horizon 2020 Twinning project 2016-2018The Horizon 2020 Twinning project EdEN marks the start of an enhanced cooperation in the field of education economics between three top ranked economics of education research groups in EU-15 countries - KU Leuven, U Maastricht and Politecnico di Milano - and the CERSHAS. Education economics is one of the most important applied economics fields that provide direct evidence to policy makers on educational issues. The proposed project focuses on three clusters of methodologies – program evaluation, structural modeling and efficiency analysis – and fosters cooperation between the institutions along more specific research lines within these clusters. The project also increases the awareness of the education economics among Ph.D. students from the participating countries as well as at building a stronger network of already practicing education economists within the specific research lines. For more information please visit the project website www.edenproject.eu
Creating Economic Space for Social InnovationCrESSI, EU 7th RTD Framework Programme project 2014-2018
The CrESSI project explores the economic underpinnings of social innovation with a particular focus on how policy and practice can enhance the lives of the most marginalised and disempowered citizens in society. Overall, the project takes an institutionalist view of the key issues exploring the drivers and structures that lead to marginalisation and disempowerment. This research also aims to set out how interventions drawing on social innovation can address major economic, social and power imbalances and inequalities. Key themes to be addressed by this project include:
COMPLETED PROJECTSMapping European CompetitivenessMapCompete EU 7th framework project 2013-2015Competitiveness is at the heart of policy making at the Union level and specifically within the Eurogroup. The aim of this project is to provide a thorough assessment of data opportunities and requirements for the analysis of comparative competitiveness in European countries. Work will provide a comprehensive overview of the datasets which are either used to construct already existent competitiveness indicators or could represent the source to build new indicators. Also, the matchability of datasets on different topical, technical and regional levels will be analyzed, both within as well as across countries. Based on the findings of the first work packages, steps to enhance the quality and availability of existing data as well as suggest methods and sources for new data collections are aimed to identify. The objective is to contribute to designing new research directions leading towards better competitiveness indicators in order to establish a bridge between its micro and micro dimensions.
International comparisons of product supply chains in the agro-food sectors: determinants of their competitiveness and performance on EU and international marketsCompete EU 7th framework project 2012-2015
The project will deliver a coherent and innovative evaluation of competitiveness of European food chains by integrating various new approaches. Based on this, the research results allows to deduce a congruent, coherent and consistent set of policy recommendations aiming at improving competitiveness and promoting the Knowledge Based Bio-Economy in Europe.
Growth-Innovation-Competitiveness: Fostering Cohesion in Central and EasternGRINCOH – EU 7th framework project 2012-2015
GRINCOH addresses two issues affecting Central and Eastern European economies: the disjuncture between fast productivity growth and poor performance in developing innovative capacities for longer-term sustainable growth; and the pronounced economic, social and environmental territorial disparities resulting from accelerated growth. The project objectives are to: (a) establish development scenarios for CEECs up to 2020 under different assumptions of political frameworks, institutional conditions and development strategies; (b) identify the implications for sustainable growth – based on innovation and the development of technological capabilities – and greater economic, social and territorial cohesion; and (c) advise on future policy options, especially for EU Cohesion policy.
Support of Learning And Innovation Networks for Sustainable AgricultureSOLINSA – EU 7th framework project 2011-2014
A key aim of SOLINSA is to understand how such networks (LINSA) develop and operate in practice. Specifically it aims to identify barriers to their development and explore how policy instruments, financial arrangements, research, education and advisory services might support them in cost-efficient and effective ways.
European Firms in a Global Economy: Internal policies for external competitivenessEFIGE - EU 7th FP projectThe chances of European countries to grow, prosper and provide well being to their citizens rest on the ability of their firms to become successful traders and producers in foreign markets within and outside the EU. This project examines the pattern of internationalisation of European firms. With a clear focus on defining adequate and effective policy measures, it looks at the broad factors constraining or enhancing companies' foreign operations, like growth in size and productivity; type of ownership and corporate governance; access to financial markets; innovation; the macroeconomic environment. It will do so by combining theoretical and empirical research at the frontier of the academic and policy debate with the gathering of new data through a cross country survey. The main questions addressed by the project are: What are the features of European firms that successfully compete in international markets? To what extent do they contribute to productivity and employment? Does access to foreign market enhance firm performance through a learning process? Why are some countries more successful in international trade and FDI? What are the policies that can improve a nation’s foreign trade performance? Does integration within the Single Market foster productivity improvements? Has the euro led to a wider participation of firms in cross-border business? What policies can promote the participation of other European firms that are currently excluded from international markets? What are the gains and the adjustments involved in reducing barriers to trade and foreign direct investment (FDI)? What policies can best maximise gains and smooth adjustments?
Public Sector Employment and Wages in Hungary - Evidence from Micro DataThe Hungarian Scientific Research Fund
The purpose of the research proposed here is to develop a comprehensive empirical analysis of the Hungarian public sector labor markets, based on micro datasets. About 20 percent of all employed, and 30 percent of all employees work in the public sector, therefore it represents a large part of total employment (author’s own calculations). These labor markets have not undergone serious reforms so far, but during the last years there have been attempts made to reform segments of the public sector, with effects on public sector employees. Two major changes took place in the last decade: the general wage increase of about 50 percent of all public employees in 2002, and the downsizing of the public sector, in which public administration was hit the most. The political discourse and the events of the last year are evidence that the reform is going to take place, and a prerequisite for a successful reform is understanding the state of this labor market and the effects induced by changes in wage setting or employment regulation.
SCience, Innovation, FIrms and markets in a GLObalized WorldSCIFI-GLOW - EU 7th FP projectKnowledge as a public good with potential spillovers is the rationale behind intellectual property protection and subsidies for investments in innovations that will potentially lead to high spillovers. The project will look for common as well as contrasting trends in the research sector, and the corporate sector in general, as a result of globalization: for example, to what extent does the increased competitive pressure implied by globalization lead to more productivity in both areas? What are the potential drawbacks of this pressure, for example in terms of instability and/or inequality of outcomes? To what extent do we see similar tendencies of globalization in the two sectors in terms of the emergence of Asia, for example? And to what extent does globalization lead to faster transmission of knowledge, from the research sector to manufacturing and service firms? The project will be disaggregated into two main parts. The first one aims at advancing the frontier of knowledge concerning the production of knowledge in a global world. It will provide evidence to be used in part 2, which looks at the effect of globalization on the organization of firms, and in particular on their use of knowledge and the implications it has on productivity, employment and competitiveness. The goal is to assess the interactions between science, innovation and production in a unified way.
The Future Impact of Security and Defence Policies on the European Research AreaSANDERA – EU 7th FP project
SANDERA is one of six projects funded by the European Commission’s DG Research promoting ‘blue sky’ research on emerging issues affecting European science and technology.
Advancing knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship and innovation for growth and social well-being in EuropeAEGIS - EU 7th FP project
AEGIS is aimed at analysing the interactions between knowledge, economic growth and social well-being in the European Union. It focuses on knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship as a necessary mechanism and an agent of change mediating between the creation of knowledge and its transformation into economic activity.
The competitiveness of firms, regions and industries in the knowledge-based economy: What room for job-rich growth in Europe? (MICRO-DYN)MICRO-DYN - EU 6th FP project
MICRO-DYN (stands for 'Micro-Dynamics') is an international economic research project dealing with the competitiveness of firms, regions and industries in the knowledge-based economy and the possibilities for job-rich growth in Europe. The central research objective of the project is to address in a comprehensive and methodologically coherent way some of the core driving forces of innovation, competitiveness, employment and growth in the contemporary European economy. In our approach to this theme we start from the conjecture that understanding the microeconomic foundations of innovation, competitiveness and growth at the firm level, as well as the firms' interactions with the labour market, is key to understanding the nature of these phenomena at a more aggregated (regional, sectoral or macro) level. Hence integrated and comparable cross-country firm-level research shapes the core of the project.
FUTUREFOOD6EU 6th FP projectFUTUREFOOD6 is a Specific Support Action (SSA) project financed by the European Commission under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6). It will help to assist the total food chain in Central and Eastern European countries to reach international quality and safety standards, and in turn, enhance European competitiveness as a whole by developing an industry, which is synonymous with safety, diversity, sophistication and products of high quality. The objectives of the project are: Why FUTUREFOOD6 The FUTUREFOOD6 project is fully financed by the European Commission´s 6th Framework Programme and is been coordinated by UNIDO.
Education, Labour Market and Competitiveness in Hungary in the XXI. CenturyNational Office for Research and TechnologyThe project aims at a better understanding of the sources and implications of skill deficiencies - a condition repeatedly indicated by international comparative surveys of the adult population and students. It combines economic and educational research in answering why the Hungarian school system fails to provide a significant proportion of students with functional literacy/numeracy and practicable competencies, and how these deficiencies constrain low-skilled workers in obtaining gainful employment. In particular, the project addresses issues of (i) student attitudes and their relation to students' social background and regional affiliation (ii) sources of variation in school quality (iii) forces that maintain an exceptionally high level of school segregation (iv) selection and incentives in teachers' labour market (v) impact of education and measurable skills on the careers available to graduates in the labour market. All issues are addressed using individual data from large population and student surveys collected in Hungary and other European countries. The project concludes with proposals for educational and employment policies to tackle skill formation and assistance for low-skilled graduates.
Competitive pressure and its social consequences in EU member states and in associated countries (COMPPRESS)COMPPRESS - EU 5th FP projectIt is expected that the project will contribute to a better understanding of the changing nature of competitive pressure on the enterprise level as a result of the deepening of the process of European economic integration. By providing new insights about this important microeconomic change it will contribute to the policy debate on competition policy in general and, in particular, on competition policy in the EU. The competitive pressure in corporate sector affects employees and contribute to the general perception of the market. It may generate or hinder policy steps through which feedback effect can also occur. The project therefore will capture, in an international context, the attitude of the organisations of market players to competitive pressure in the accession countries, as well as the extent to which they facilitate or obstruct structural reforms, the prevalence of market competition and mitigation of the social costs of transformation. Competitive pressure is most often chanelled by foreign players on the domestic market. It is expected that this project will provide robust evidence on the potential for and exploitation of spillovers in transitional economies. The most exciting field of research is the link between competition and labour market. We expect to understand better the specific effect of strong competitive pressure on the labour market in accession countries. A disaggregated analysis of these processes will facilitate a macro-economic analysis of employment and wage responses. The combination of the relevant segments of the labour markets will explain the dynamics of the aggregate market during the catch-up process. It can assist public policy to design educational reform to the likely skill distribution emerging from the restructuring process. Easing the rural employment problems in candidate countries - low overall level of employment, and unnaturally high reliance on agricultural employment - may require special institutions, especially if candidate countries want to achieve a significant progress towards the ambitious Lisbon 2000 employment target. International comparison will help to separate policy-specific consequences from the features of the labour markets stemming from general characteristics of transition. The project will contribute to the EU's and candidate countries' policy debate on the social costs or consequences of further liberalisation of markets within enlarged EU, adding the human capital long term dimension to the usual social protection short term approach. The rising poverty rates and increasing income gaps in candidate countries should be addressed from two perspectives: as a consequence of the system's transition to the market economy and as a heritage-of-the-past revealed. Integration could solve this problem in the long run, but specific actions have to be undertaken in the short run in order to cope with this challenge. Finally, the relationship between competition and its perception may yield two kinds of results. The first general type of result is a better understanding of the link between competition, income differentiation and subjective welfare. The comparative aspect of the study will be useful in assessing the various links between the nature of competition and subjective welfare. The second type of result is the production of information on accession countries' situation in terms of public attitudes towards competition, income dispersion and volatility. This information should be useful at a time when important changes have to be accepted by the population in order to meet the accession criteria and the requirements of the "acquis communautaire".
Knowledge-based economy and selected issues of the labour market in Hungary in the XXI centuryNational Office for Research and TechnologyIt is the goal of the Hungarian economic policy to increase the level of employment and to decrease regional differences on the labour market while maintaining economic stability. How can these goals be achieved in the new era of globalization and IT revolution? What resources we can rely on when faced with these new challenges? Forces that govern present day economies in the developed world elevate productivity and are increasingly demanding inrespect of the quality of the workforce. The less educated, the less productive workers can easily lose their jobs which,in turn, contributes to growing social inequalities and regional disparities. Can these negative concommitants of development be avoided in Hungary? In what direction labour market policies should seek solutions? Answers to these questions are the mainfocus of our research.
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