Modifying the yield factor based on more efficient use of fertilizer — The environmental impacts of intensive and extensive agricultural practices

The aim of this article is to draw attention to calculations on the environmental effects of agriculture and to the definition of marginal agricultural yield. When calculating the environmental impacts of agricultural activities, the real environmental load generated by agriculture is not revealed properly through ecological footprint indicators, as the type of agricultural farming (thus the nature of the pollution it creates) is not incorporated in the calculation. It is commonly known that extensive farming uses relatively small amounts of labor and capital. It produces a lower yield per unit of land and thus requires more land than intensive farming practices to produce similar yields, so it has a larger crop and grazing footprint. However, intensive farms, to achieve higher yields, apply fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, etc., and cultivation and harvesting are often mechanized. In this study, the focus is on highlighting the differences in the environmental impacts of extensive and intensive farming practices through a statistical analysis of the factors determining agricultural yield. A marginal function is constructed for the relation between chemical fertilizer use and yield per unit fertilizer input. Furthermore, a proposal is presented for how calculation of the yield factor could possibly be improved. The yield factor used in the calculation of biocapacity is not the marginal yield for a given area, but is calculated from the real and actual yields, and this way biocapacity and the ecological footprint for cropland are equivalent. Calculations for cropland biocapacity do not show the area needed for sustainable production, but rather the actual land area used for agricultural production. The proposal the authors present is a modification of the yield factor and also the changed biocapacity is calculated. The results of statistical analyses reveal the need for a clarification of the methodology for calculating marginal yield, which could clearly contribute to assessing the real environmental impacts of agriculture.

Applying consumer responsibility principle in evaluating environmental load of carbon emissions

There is a need for a proper indicator in order to assess the environmental impact of international trade, therefore using the carbon footprint as an indicator can be relevant and useful. The aim of this study is to show from a methodological perspective how the carbon footprint, combined with input- output models can be used for analysing the impacts of international trade on the sustainable use of national resources in a country. The use of the input-output approach has the essential advantage of being able to track the transformation of goods through the economy. The study examines the environmental impact of consumption related to international trade, using the consumer responsibility principle. In this study the use of the carbon footprint and input-output methodology is shown on the example of the Hungarian consumption and the impact of international trade. Moving from a production- based approach in climate policy to a consumption-perspective principle and allocation, would also help to increase the efficiency of emission reduction targets and the evaluation of the ecological impacts of international trade.

Modifying the yield factor based on more efficient use of fertilizer — The environmental impacts of intensive and extensive agricultural practices

The aim of this article is to draw attention to calculations on the environmental effects of agriculture and to the definition of marginal agricultural yield. When calculating the environmental impacts of agricultural activities, the real environmental load generated by agriculture is not revealed properly through ecological footprint indicators, as the type of agricultural farming (thus the nature of the pollution it creates) is not incorporated in the calculation. It is commonly known that extensive farming uses relatively small amounts of labor and capital. It produces a lower yield per unit of land and thus requires more land than intensive farming practices to produce similar yields, so it has a larger crop and grazing footprint. However, intensive farms, to achieve higher yields, apply fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, etc., and cultivation and harvesting are often mechanized. In this study, the focus is on highlighting the differences in the environmental impacts of extensive and intensive farming practices through a statistical analysis of the factors determining agricultural yield. A marginal function is constructed for the relation between chemical fertilizer use and yield per unit fertilizer input. Furthermore, a proposal is presented for how calculation of the yield factor could possibly be improved. The yield factor used in the calculation of biocapacity is not the marginal yield for a given area, but is calculated from the real and actual yields, and this way biocapacity and the ecological footprint for cropland are equivalent. Calculations for cropland biocapacity do not show the area needed for sustainable production, but rather the actual land area used for agricultural production. The proposal the authors present is a modification of the yield factor and also the changed biocapacity is calculated. The results of statistical analyses reveal the need for a clarification of the methodology for calculating marginal yield, which could clearly contribute to assessing the real environmental impacts of agriculture.

Környezeti kockázatok felmérése. Paraméterek bizonytalanságának hatása a kockázatkezelési döntéshozatalra = Assessment of environmental risks – effects of parameter uncertainty to the risk management decisions

A környezeti kockázatok megfelelő felmérése és kezelése napjaink egyik legfontosabb kérdése, nemcsak a szakmai, hanem a széles értelemben vett közvélemény számára. A szerző cikkében azt vizsgálja, hogy a környezeti kockázatok felmérésének milyen megközelítései vannak. Kulcskérdésként pedig arra koncentrál, hogy a kockázatkezelési döntéseket hogyan befolyásolja a becslések bizonytalansága. Először a környezeti kockázat definícióját adja meg, majd azt mutatja be, hogy a környezeti kockázatok kezelésére vonatkozó megközelítések milyen párhuzamban állnak a pénzügyi rendszerrel, mint komplex rendszerre vonatkozó megközelítésekkel. Végül a jelenleg legnagyobb kockázatoknak tartott környezeti kockázatokat ismerteti röviden. A cikk második részében kockázatkezelési alternatívákat mutat be, és azt, hogy a kockázatkezelési lépések kiválasztását befolyásolja a bizonytalanság. Ezt illusztrálandó Brouwer-Blois (2008) modelljét használva a soklépéses szimulációt és alternatív döntési kritériumot – a kritikus (extrém) költség-hatás mutatót – alkalmazza. _____________ Adequate assessment and management of environmental risks is a key question nowadays also for professional experts and also for the overall public. In this article the author examines the different approaches concerning environmental risks. He concentrates as a key question the influence on risk management decisions of uncertainties raised by our estimations. First he analyses the definition of environmental risks, and he shows the similarities and differences between approaches concerning environmental risks and risks threatening financial system, and finally he gives short overview on the most current environmental risks. In the second part of the paper he presents risk management alternatives and analyses the influential power of uncertainty on risk management decisions. In order to illustrate this phenomenon the author applies the model of Brouwer-Blois (2008) with multistep simulation and an alternative decisive criterion, the ranking based on critical (extreme) cost to effect measure.

Happiness, environmental protection and market economy

The manufacturing sector is leaving the West for Asia’s low wages and good working culture. Europe would be better off keeping these manufacturing activities, slowing down wage inflation and what is more, letting a young, cheaper workforce from the East settle down within their borders. This would aid in preserving the diverse economic structure which has been characteristic for Europe.Beside the economic growth there are two more concepts which have turned into the “holy cows” of economics during the last fifty years. One is the need to constantly improve labor productivity and the other is increasing competitiveness of nations. The high labor productivity of some countries, induces severe unemployment in the globalized world. In the other hand it is high time we understood that it is not competition, but cooperation that brings more happiness to humanity.Should we still opt for “happiness” and “sanity”, it is quite obvious that we all should, in economists’ terms, define our individual welfare functions corresponding to our own set of values, staying free from the influence of media, advertisements and fashion. The cornerstone to all this is the intelligent citizen who prefers local goods and services.

Consumer behaviour and lifestyle patterns of Hungarian students in view of environmental awareness

The aim of this paper is to describe the consumer behaviour and everyday lifestyle patterns of Hungarian university and college students. The results are gained from an international survey, carried out by the Department of Environmental Economics and Technology at the Corvinus University of Budapest, supported by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. As background literature, characteristics of the consumer society and the development of sustainable consumption as a concept are interpreted in the paper. The empirical analysis aims to describe the most important clusters of students, based on the factors of their consumer behaviour, environmental activism and pro-environmental everyday habits. Our results identify two extreme clusters which most significantly differ from each other: the environmental activists and the indifferent group. However, a third cluster has the most modest consumer behaviour, namely the group which considers product features, energy consumption and the behaviour of producers. They spend the least on consumer goods. The three other clusters show quite mixed lifestyle patterns.

Mitől zöld egy vállalat - avagy mit is jelent a jó környezeti teljesítmény? (What makes a company green – or what does good environmental performance mean?)

A vállalati teljesítmény megítélésénél egyre nagyobb hangsúlyt kap a környezeti teljesítmény vizsgálata. Nem egyértelmű ugyanakkor, mit is jelent a jó környezeti teljesítmény: egyesek például a szennyezőanyagkibocsátás csökkentését, míg mások egy környezetirányítási rendszer bevezetését értik alatta. Az eltérések miatt sokszor nem kapunk hiteles információt arról, vajon a környezetileg jól teljesítő vállalatok versenytársaiknál sikeresebbek-e vagy se m. A szerző a cikkben kísérletet tesz egy a környezeti teljesítmény átfogó értelmezésére szolgáló modell felállítására, amely lehetőséget biztosít a vállalati és a környezeti teljesítmény kapcsolatának pontosabb megismerésére és így jobb vállalati döntések meghozatalára. _________ When evaluating corporate performance, more and more emphasis is put on the assessment of environmental performance as well. It is not obvious however, what good environmental performance means: some researchers interpret it for example as decreasing environmental load while others as introducing an environmental management system. These differences in many cases lead to contradictory conclusions, whether environmentally good companies would outperform their competitors in other fields as well. In the article the author attempts to build a model for interpreting the concept of environmental performance, enabling more exact analysis of the relationship between company and environmental performance, and so making better company decisions.

A környezeti teljesítményértékelés módszerei (Environmental performance evaluation methods)

A környezeti teljesítmény mérésére számtalan módszer létezik. A cikk a környezeti teljesítményértékelési eszközök útvesztőjében kínál némi eligazítást azáltal, hogy hat, a gyakorlatban is többé-kevésbé használt módszert mutat be és értékel. A szerző kísérletet tesz a bemutatott módszerek összehasonlítására is aszerint, hogy kitérnek-e a környezeti és a vállalati teljesítmény kapcsolatának vizsgálatára, illetve a környezeti teljesítményt kellően átfogóan vizsgálják-e. Nagyító alá kerül az a kérdés is, hogy vajon a teljesítményértékelési módszerek alapján jól teljesítő vállalatok valóban tekinthetők-e fenntarthatónak. ________ There are numerous methods existing for evaluating corporate environmental performance. The article offers some guidance in this labyrinth by introducing and evaluating six, in practice also used methods. The author makes an attempt to compare the different methods, whether they cover the relationship between environmental and company performance, and whether they analyse different components of environmental performance comprehensively enough. The question is also covered, whether companies with excellent performance based on the methods analysed can really be regarded as sustainable companies.

Az 1990-2000 között benyújtott magyar szabadalmi bejelentések környezeti hatásának idősoros elemzése (Time series analysis of environmental effects of submitted Hungarian patents between 1990 and 2000)

A szerző e kutatás keretében az 1990–2000 közötti időszak magyar intézményi és egyéni szabadalmi bejelentők, illetve jogosultak („szabadalmasok”) szabadalmainak környezeti hatását vizsgálja. Konkrétan az ebben az időszakban a Magyar Szabadalmi Hivatalnál benyújtott szabadalmi bejelentésekből elfogadott szabadalmakat tanulmányozza, a PIPACS adatbázisban található szabadalmi leírások alapján. A pozitív környezeti hatású szabadalmak száma, valamint az összes szabadalomhoz viszonyított aránya alapján von le következtetéseket a magyar környezeti innovációs tevékenységről, és ennek potenciális magyar környezeti hatásáról. A pozitív környezeti hatású szabadalmak összes megadott szabadalomhoz viszonyított aránya az időszakban 92%-os szignifikanciaszinten növekszik. _______

Környezeti innovációk a hazai feldolgozóiparban (Environmental innovations in the Hungarian manufacturing industry)

A cikk a hazai feldolgozóipari vállalatok környezeti innovációs tevékenységét, annak mozgatórugóit vizsgálja. Felvázolja a témakörrel foglalkozó jelentősebb elméleteket, kutatásokat, illetve az ezek által azonosított, a környezeti innovációs tevékenységet befolyásoló tényezőket (pl. hatósági szabályozás, vállalatméret, környezeti stratégia stb.). A bemutatott kutatás egy kérdőíves felmérésen alapul, melyben közel 300 vállalat vett részt az elektronika, az élelmiszeripar, a gépipar, a járműipar és a vegyipar területéről. A vizsgálat célja a környezeti innováció különböző típusainak (csővégi, megelőző, termék; új, adaptált) differenciált elemzése, figyelembe véve mind a vállalat, mind a környezet jellemzőit. A vállalatok innovációs tevékenysége jelentősen különbözhet az egyes ágazatokban, illetve a különböző méretű cégek között – a cikk ezen eltérések vizsgálatára is kitér. ______ The article examines the environmental innovation activity of Hungarian manufacturing companies and its determinants. It provides a brief overview of the most important theories and recent empirical studies addressing the topic. The research presented is based on a questionnaire survey with the participation of nearly 300 firms from the chemicals, electronics, food, machines and vehicles sectors. The goal of the study is to identify differences in the determinants of the various types of environmental innovation (end-of-pipe, cleaner production, product; novel, adopted), with regard to both the characteristics of the environment and the companies themselves. Differences between firms of various sizes and industries are also a part of the analysis.

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.

The impact of perceived corporate environmental performance on the behavior of capital market decision makers : analysis of food industry companies

Environmental protectionism and sustainable development has been gaining increased attention among governments, investors and consumers alike. As a result, firms are facing growing pressure from the various stakeholders to improve their environmental performance. This study is focusing on the food industry, which in recent years has been a subject of increased scrutiny due to their role in resource consumption, waste generation and unsustainable production practices. Our research is aiming to examine how the financial community evaluates the environmental stewardship of food industry companies as proxied by market reactions in response to environmental news. Are all company related environmental news items evaluated equally, and which financial and non-financial firm-specific attributes can influence market responses? Have there been changes in reactions on the stock exchange in the past two decades?