Abstracts of the Articles
Interpreting the disintegration of the eurozone from the perspective of state-centric approaches
ISTVÁN BENCZES
The crisis of the eurozone, the option of a Grexit, the fact of the Brexit or the steady ascent of Europe-sceptic parties all over the union is a clear indication of how the European integration is becoming a two-way process. Yet scholarly discourse has been mostly neglectful of explaining disintegration, and as a corollary, no clear theoretical, conceptual or methodological advances have been made in order to develop such a framework. The current article therefore, scrutinizes the process of disintegration from the perspective of so-called state-centric approaches of international relations and integration theories. It raises the question whether (neo)realism, classical and liberal intergovernmentalism and neoliberal institutionalism are useful conceptual frameworks in interpreting the disintegration of the eurozone. According to its main findings, state-centric approaches are able to explain divergence in state preferences, placing all those distributional conflicts in the focus of analysis which were either not part of European integration earlier or have had only a marginal impact.
Evaluation of Hungarian venture capital investments, in particular the investments of JEREMIE funds
RICHÁRD ILLÉS – ANITA LOVAS
The JEREMIE venture capital program terminated in the first half of 2016, and more than 350 companies received capital financing. In our research we created a sample of 200 firms with detailed company data and market information, and we examined the companies’ individual characteristics based on them. Regarding the investor side we evaluated the controlling tools and we noted that almost all of the funds gain majority ownership, what is more, they participate in the management board and supervisory board. The JEREMIE tender mainly aimed to help the development of companies located outside the Central Hungary area. The examination of the headquarters support this, however considering the business sites the activities are more concentrated to the central region. The venture capitalist not only finance newly developed products, a quarter of the companies also generates continuous income so it is not just about development and this justifies the investors’ intention to diversify. Companies aim to become international since 70 percent of them targets foreign markets.
A new basis for the development of Africa? The EU-Africa research and development cooperation
BEÁTA UDVARI – JÚLIA MEZŐ, URBÁNNÉ
Investment in science, technology and innovation may significantly contribute to sustainable development of developing countries – investments can be realized from own (financial and human) resources, or from sources coming from abroad (for example, foreign direct investment, loans, aid, technical cooperation, scholarship). Both the Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals – which determine the frames of international development cooperation (aid) – focus on the role of technology in development, so they also draw the attention to the importance of aid for innovation. The European Union as one of the largest donor organizations handles the technological development in African countries as a priority, and their close trade and aid relations have been extended with research and development cooperation, too. The main aim of this exploratory study is to analyze the research and development cooperation between the EU and Africa. Our findings based on the investigation of the aid for innovation (between 2002–2016) and Horizon 2020 projects pointed out: 1. around ¾ of the total aid for innovation provided to Africa is from the European Union, but it is only around 1 per cent of the total African bilateral aid and characterized by volatility; 2. the recipient countries of aid for innovation are concentrated but change in time; 3. the most supported sectors are agricultural research, research/technological institutions, medical and environmental research; 4. there is strong concentration of participating countries in the case of H2020 projects, and the targeted sectors of the implemented projects are similar to those of aid for innovation.
Abstracts of the Articles
Interpreting the disintegration of the eurozone from the perspective of state-centric approaches
ISTVÁN BENCZES
The crisis of the eurozone, the option of a Grexit, the fact of the Brexit or the steady ascent of Europe-sceptic parties all over the union is a clear indication of how the European integration is becoming a two-way process. Yet scholarly discourse has been mostly neglectful of explaining disintegration, and as a corollary, no clear theoretical, conceptual or methodological advances have been made in order to develop such a framework. The current article therefore, scrutinizes the process of disintegration from the perspective of so-called state-centric approaches of international relations and integration theories. It raises the question whether (neo)realism, classical and liberal intergovernmentalism and neoliberal institutionalism are useful conceptual frameworks in interpreting the disintegration of the eurozone. According to its main findings, state-centric approaches are able to explain divergence in state preferences, placing all those distributional conflicts in the focus of analysis which were either not part of European integration earlier or have had only a marginal impact.
Evaluation of Hungarian venture capital investments, in particular the investments of JEREMIE funds
RICHÁRD ILLÉS – ANITA LOVAS
The JEREMIE venture capital program terminated in the first half of 2016, and more than 350 companies received capital financing. In our research we created a sample of 200 firms with detailed company data and market information, and we examined the companies’ individual characteristics based on them. Regarding the investor side we evaluated the controlling tools and we noted that almost all of the funds gain majority ownership, what is more, they participate in the management board and supervisory board. The JEREMIE tender mainly aimed to help the development of companies located outside the Central Hungary area. The examination of the headquarters support this, however considering the business sites the activities are more concentrated to the central region. The venture capitalist not only finance newly developed products, a quarter of the companies also generates continuous income so it is not just about development and this justifies the investors’ intention to diversify. Companies aim to become international since 70 percent of them targets foreign markets.
A new basis for the development of Africa? The EU-Africa research and development cooperation
BEÁTA UDVARI – JÚLIA MEZŐ, URBÁNNÉ
Investment in science, technology and innovation may significantly contribute to sustainable development of developing countries – investments can be realized from own (financial and human) resources, or from sources coming from abroad (for example, foreign direct investment, loans, aid, technical cooperation, scholarship). Both the Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals – which determine the frames of international development cooperation (aid) – focus on the role of technology in development, so they also draw the attention to the importance of aid for innovation. The European Union as one of the largest donor organizations handles the technological development in African countries as a priority, and their close trade and aid relations have been extended with research and development cooperation, too. The main aim of this exploratory study is to analyze the research and development cooperation between the EU and Africa. Our findings based on the investigation of the aid for innovation (between 2002–2016) and Horizon 2020 projects pointed out: 1. around ¾ of the total aid for innovation provided to Africa is from the European Union, but it is only around 1 per cent of the total African bilateral aid and characterized by volatility; 2. the recipient countries of aid for innovation are concentrated but change in time; 3. the most supported sectors are agricultural research, research/technological institutions, medical and environmental research; 4. there is strong concentration of participating countries in the case of H2020 projects, and the targeted sectors of the implemented projects are similar to those of aid for innovation.