Pro Publico Bono – Public Administration

The Correlation Between Digital Competence and E-Government Capability in Today’s Hungary

2024-01-23T11:19:37+01:00

Digital literacy is the focus of our research. Based on the results of a large-scale, nationwide, representative omnibus survey conducted in spring 2023, this study examines the relationship between public administration and digital competencies in Hungary today.

Our survey was also compared with the DESI/Digital Decade 2030 2023 indicator and the relevant results of the 2022 national census of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), thus providing a more nuanced picture. All dimensions of digital inequality, the correlations between digital competencies, and the reasons for the low scores for digital public administration skills remain clear. Once again, it is confirmed that competency in practice breeds competence, lack of competence, and lack of practice breeds competence deficits.

A Critique of European Attempts to Regulate Online Disinformation

2024-07-08T14:26:18+02:00

To put it simply, information is useful, disinformation is harmful, however, just as it is completely impossible to force people to get informed, so it is almost futile to resist to disinformation solely by legal means. The goals and economic interests of the other two actors involved in (dis)information, the ‘channels’ (for example, large online platforms, social media and popular search engines) and the (dis)informers – even if unintentionally – may boost that of each others’. What can legislators do, without disproportionate restrictions on freedom of expression, what can the audience do, breaking through various filter bubbles or echo chambers, and what can media companies do, without decreasing user experience and their own share price, to ensure that the veracity of communications be easily and quickly recognised, the acceptance and spreading of disinformation be reduced, and the information be factual? But, sometimes the remedy is worse than the disease. This paper highlights some issues and problems that illustrate the threats to freedom of expression posed by attempts to address the problem, and tries to make some cautious suggestions for regulations on disinformation that do not unjustifiably or disproportionately restrict individual freedom of expression.

The Hungarian Path Towards a Competitive Tax System 1988–2024

2024-09-19T09:24:29+02:00

The paper presents a journey trough the Hungarian tax system from the years of the transition to the present days. It focuses on taxes with special importance from the point of view of the competitiveness of national firms, primarily the SME sector. The paper describes and evaluates the major milestones during the 36 years presented. It covers the reasons and effects of various smaller and larger tax reforms, and also evaluates the direction and trend of the changes supplemented by a brief international outlook. The author emphasizes the special importance of the tax system serving the competitiveness of SMEs in 2024 and the lessons of a retrospective analysis. It primarily focuses on the content elements of the most important taxes – profit taxes, payroll burdens, social security fees, local taxes – and presents the evolution of tax rates and tax incentives in more details. Since competitiveness is an important element of a country’s ability to attract foreign capital via direct investments, the article covers the development of foreign companies’ opportunities and the specific tax rules applicable to them from the years of the transition from socialism to the present day.

Supporting the Employees’ Mental Well-Being

2024-09-11T11:37:38+02:00

Our research focuses on an area we have identified as being under-researched. There is room for improvement in understanding the extent to which local governments are investing in the mental well-being of their employees. Our country’s constitution places great importance on the right of Hungarians to enjoy physical and psychological health. Therefore, we have decided to concentrate on promoting this fundamental value within the context of public administration and civil service workers. Our findings show that a significant proportion of managers and employees in public administration consider the role and support of mental well-being in the workplace to be of great importance. However, we have also observed that many administrations lack the tools and programs to counteract adverse effects on mental health.

Additionally, only a small percentage of organizations plan to implement mental well-being programs in the coming year. The main obstacles are a lack of resources, reduced staffing, and a lack of accessible services. Our research indicates a need to develop low-resource and feasible tools for use in small offices to address psychosocial risks to staff effectively.

A Dialogue Between Innovation and Regulation: The Interaction Between Experimental Regulatory Instruments and Corporate Compliance

2024-07-17T11:17:09+02:00

Over the past decade, in digital markets there has been a notable increase in the use of experimental regulatory instruments which facilitate innovation by offering a provisional exemption from the prevailing regulations, within a structured environment of monitored risks and supervision while at the same time they provide avenues for regulatory learning through discourse and enhance the understanding of emerging technologies for both external and internal regulators. Commencing with an examination of the compliance aspects of digital companies, the paper proceeds to distinguish between the external and internal dimensions of corporate compliance. Within this interpretative framework, it outlines the conceptual and theoretical background of experimental regulatory instruments, taking into account developments within the EU’s Better Regulation agenda as well. Subsequently, the paper illustrates the learning process based on regulatory dialogue and demonstrates the possibilities for interaction between change and uncertainty management mechanisms in external and internal regulatory dimensions. Furthermore, it highlights the potential of internal corporate sandboxes through the example of addressing the issue of shadow AI generated by large language models.

Hungarian Cultural Sphere in the Shadow of the Pandemic

2024-09-19T13:55:53+02:00

The study shows the connection between cultural and economic policy in the Hungarian government’s pandemic crisis management. During the coronavirus pandemic, the Hungarian government applied the tools of international, especially EU crisis management strategies in the cultural sphere as well. Among these, a wide spectrum of protection measures was a marked intervention, but it can be stated that the government’s priority of job protection prevailed in the cultural sector as well, which was supposed to be guaranteed by tax incentives and the wage support program. Also, the Government supplemented these measures with direct subsidies.

The Eligibility of Wildlife Damage for Insurance Cover and the Wildlife Damage Fund

2023-10-10T16:44:56+02:00

The study examines the possible ways of ensuring financial cover for wildlife damage in the light of current legislation. After clarifying the concept of wildlife damage, the study first seeks to answer the question of whether, from a legal and insurance economics point of view, the risk of wildlife damage can be covered by an insurance contract. Thereafter it goes on to analyse the function of the wildlife damage fund, and then considers the issues of legal interpretation in relation to the public law rules governing the wildlife damage fund.

Reflexions at Magyary’s Statue

2024-10-04T11:03:41+02:00

Zoltán Magyary (1888-1945) is a true ideal, especially for those working in public administration and science: his life is a model of loyalty to his country, its citizens (the „people”) and science. His work has been characterised by professional humility and mastery, which have made him internationally reputation. His method of fact-finding required the collaboration of several disciplines, resulting truly multidisciplinary works.