Competitiveness and institutional change in Hungary
The competitiveness of a country, besides the quantity and quality of factors of production, is largely dependent on institutional factors. It is not surprising therefore that the alteration of formal institutions (e.g. laws, measures, policies etc.) is a hot topic nowadays. But it is important to note that the efficiency of formal institutions is based on informal ones. Traditions of a country, culture, the values of the people are all factors that fundamentally affect the functioning of explicitly recorded, and so easily changeable formal rules. Measures taken to enhance the competiveness of a country often fail to have any noticeable effect, because they don’t harmonise with the value system or traditions of the people. The paper provides a short overview on the connection of values and economic performance, then considers the possible efficiency of a few economic policy instruments recently suggested by experts.
This article examines which public programmes and which socio-economic development indicators have had an impact on contraceptive practices and fertility in a selected group of villages in Comilla district of Bangladesh. It finds that equitable even-handed development may be a good contraceptive but is not a realistic alternative to family planning effort....This research undertaken in 1985 replicates a similar knowledge attitudes and practice (KAP) type study undertaken in these same villages some 20 years earlier in 1967/68....Thus the two studies provide a unique look at demographic behavioural characteristics when these agricultural development programmes were in an early stage and then 20 years later. (EXCERPT)