A Consumption-Based Approach to Carbon Emission Accounting – Sectoral Differences and Environmental Benefits

In recent years there has been growing concern about the emission trade balances of countries. This is due to the fact that countries with an open economy are active players in international trade. Trade is not only a major factor in forging a country’s economic structure, but contributes to the movement of embodied emissions beyond country borders. This issue is especially relevant from the carbon accounting policy and domestic production perspective, as it is known that the production-based principle is employed in the Kyoto agreement. The research described herein was designed to reveal the interdependence of countries on international trade and the corresponding embodied emissions both on national and on sectoral level and to illustrate the significance of the consumption-based emission accounting. It is presented here to what extent a consumption-based accounting would change the present system based on production-based accounting and allocation. The relationship of CO2 emission embodied in exports and embodied in imports is analysed here. International trade can blur the responsibility for the ecological effects of production and consumption and it can lengthen the link between consumption and its consequences. Input-output models are used in the methodology as they provide an appropriate framework for climate change accounting. The analysis comprises an international comparative study of four European countries (Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Hungary) with extended trading activities and carbon emissions. Moving from a production-based approach in climate policy to a consumption-based principle and allocation approach would help to increase the efficiency of emission reductions and would force countries to rethink their trading activities in order to decrease the environmental load of production activities. The results of this study show that it is important to distinguish between the two emission accounting approaches, both on the global and the local level.

Az élelmiszer-fogyasztás szerkezete és környezeti hatása Magyarországon (Analysing the structure and environmental impact of food consumption in hungary)

Egyre többen ismerik fel, hogy az élelmiszer-fogyasztás egészségügyi és környezeti hatása is jelentős. A különböző életstílusú társadalmi csoportok fogyasztási szerkezete eltérő lehet. Jelen tanulmány ezerfős, országos reprezentatív minta alapján vizsgálja az élelmiszer-fogyasztási szerkezet eltéréseit a nemek és különböző iskolázottságú fogyasztók körében. Jellemző fogyasztási klasztereket tár fel a fogyasztás szerkezete alapján. A fogyasztás szerkezeti és mennyiségi értékein túlmenően az ökológiai lábnyom indikátorával a fogyasztás környezetterhelését is számszerűsíti. _____ Concern about both health and environmental impacts of food consumption is increasing. Social groups with various lifestyles can have different food consumption structure. The present study analyses the differences in the food consumption structure among genders and educational groups based on a national, representative survey of 1000 adults. Food consumption clusters are identified based on food consumption structure. Beyond the analysis of food consumption and its structure, its environmental impact is quantified by the ecological footprint indicator.

Az árak észlelése és értékelése(Perception and Evaluation of Prices)

A 2008-ban kezdődött gazdasági válság a korábbiaknál is fontosabbá tette az árakat a vásárlók számára. Azt eddig is mindenki tudta, hogy az árak alapvetően befolyásolják a fogyasztók vásárlási döntését. Arra a kérdésre azonban, hogy miképpen, már nem mindig tudunk pontos választ adni. A közgazdaságtan szerint az árak csökkenése növeli a fogyasztók vásárlási hajlandóságát és fordítva, az árak emelkedése kisebbíti azt. A valóság azonban nem mindig írható le közgazdaságtani fogalmakkal vagy matematikai képletekkel. _______ Since the beginning of the global economic recession prices have become more and more important for sellers and buyers. To study the role of prices in consumer behaviour is a rather new field of marketing research. The paper starts out from the fact that prices can be regarded as a multidimensional stimulus, which influences the purchasing decision of consumers. The study describes the process how, in this multidimensional pricing environment, consumers get from the perception through the evaluation of prices to the purchasing decision. According to the model constructed by the author the perception of prices depends on the presentation of prices and on the willingness and ability of people to numerically perceive and evaluate the different presentations of prices. In the process how consumers get from the perceived prices through the excepted prices to the purchasing decision the perceived value plays the most important role. The perceived value is motivated by the internal and external reference prices and the perceived reference value. The paper comes to the conclusion that in recession and post recession times, companies are compelled to understand these processes better to be able to set their price points according to the changing buyers behaviour.

Long-term dynamic patterns and diversity of phytoplankton communities in a large eutrophic river (the case of River Danube, Hungary)

In this paper we present the composition, seasonal dynamics and fluctuations in diversity of the phytoplankton in the Danube River over 24 years. Weekly samplings were conducted at one section of the river at Göd, in the 1669 river kilometer segment. The change in the phytoplankton community structure was analyzed in relation of water temperature and discharge means. Our findings support the opinion that the Danube is very rich in species, although many of the species are rare and could be described only as coloring species. Results indicate trends in the phytoplankton abundance, which are only detectable in long-term studies. By the help of diversity indices we have observed an increase in the phytoplankton community diversity. With the relevant information, an explanation of the significant changes in diversity and richness was formed. Our goals were a construction of a solid database of the phytoplankton, examining the seasonal dynamics of the phytoplankton through a 24 year long study and to see the most important changing factors of the community. The results of this study are to assist and help future model developments to predict the phytoplankton seasonal dynamic patterns.