This analysis by IEER concerns the experience of Hungarian businesses with late payment and circular debt. The results are based on IEER's July 2019 Quarterly Business Climate Survey, which involved 404 domestic respondents. Based on the answers, 68,6% of businesses had at least one partner that paid late in the first half of 2019, and 34% of respondents made late payments themselves to their suppliers in the examined period. The issue of late payment most often hits large companies (with more than 250 employees) and industrywise construction and providers of other business services are the most affected. All-in-all it can be inferred that the after the favourable period last year, the trends in having more business partner who pay late is starting to creep back to its prior 2018 level. By the same token, proportion of their income arriving late has become threefold, compared to the last period measured. However, the number of companies that failed to pay in time to their suppliers at least once due to the late payment of their customers basically remained unchanged since July 2018.

Our brief analysis examines the nine potential measures that can be reactions to the affects of the January 2019 raise of the minimum wage/guaranteed minimum salary for qualified staff. CEOs were asked to fill in the form below.

In this analysis we shall examine the rate at which domestic companies faced problems caused by labour shortage in autumn 2018 and in January 2019, with special highlight on the types of companies that were primarily affected by this issue. The measures companies take to keep existing employees in place and to keep labour shortage in hand will also be presented in detail, including the employment of foreign citizens.

Data of the Quarterly Business Climate Survey from October 2018 and January 2019 recorded by IEER (Institute of Economic and Enterprise Research) were used to make this analysis. On both occasions, 400 CEOs were asked about their companies’ business situation and economic expectations. In the course of the same two waves, labour shortage rates, prevention measures and remedies were also surveyed. The full sample consisted of 300 SMEs (20-249 employees) and 100 large companies (250+ employees) in both cases.

It has been noted that the Chinese business expansion abroad is a recent phenomenon, which became meaningful only in the last one and a half decade when China has appeared as a net exporter of capital. A remarkable feature of the Chinese cross-border business expansion is the essential role of the state in the internationalization of Chinese MNCs which was supported by official policy instruments, including the famous “go global” strategy that encouraged thousands of Chinese firms to invest abroad especially in Europe. The driving motive of Chinese firms to go abroad aimed at acquiring new skills, advanced technology, brands and supply chains that would enhance their competitive advantage in international markets. Merger and acquisitions has been the leading market entry mode resulting in huge takeovers characterizing Chinese investments in Europe. To this end, the Chinese OFDI in Europe has generally targeted few but major economies, namely Germany, UK and France despite the investment growth in the Southern and Central European region in recent years, especially after the financial crisis.

The latest Business Climate Survey of IEER is based on the answers of 2817 CEO respondents. According to the results, the Business Climate Index was at 58 points in April 2019. It’s the highest value since records began in 1998.

Businesses still seem to think that business climate remains favourable, so the upward trend, which began in October 2017, is continuing. This is mainly down to the fact that future business situation expectations have become more optimistic in the last half.

The Uncertainty Index dropped back by one point since October, now standing at 36. This shows that Hungarian businesses now assess their situation more homogenously compared to the previous research.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China is an approach adopted by the Chinese government, launched in 2013, to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime networks. It is also known as One Belt One Road (OBOR) and Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st century Maritime Silk Road. This project aims to revive the old trading routes connecting China with Europe and Africa and extend these routes via networks of upgraded or new railways, ports, pipelines, power grids and highways which will promote regional integration and will stimulate trade and economic growth. This belt and Road include 71 countries from south-east Asia to Eastern Europe and Africa which account for the half of the world’s population and quarter of global GDP.

The working paper of IEER is based on a survey of 6781 company managers. The analysis examines the extent at which businesses active in Hungary may be affected by automation and also their attitute towards the implementation of new technologies. The proportion of employees on technically automatable jobs was also surveyed.

This analysis is based on data taken from the October 2018 Business Climate Survey conducted by the Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce's Institute for Economic and Enterprise Research (HCCI IEER), involving 2830 CEO respondents. The survey respondents were enquired about the presence of fringe benefits. The sample of responding companies can be considered representative regarding economic sector, region, and the number of employees.

According to our findings, 80% of surveyed companies offered their employees at least one type of fringe benefit in 2018, out of which, the two most popular were season tickets for local public transport and Erzsébet vouchers. The use of fringe benefits correlated with company size, foreign ownership rate, economic sector, and the economic situation of the companies involved. The use of fringe benefits was the most common at large companies employing 250+ people, businesses of predominantly foreign ownership, industrial companies, and those in a fair business situation.

The Quarterly Business Climate Survey of IEER is based on the survey of 400 CEO respondents about their business situation and expectations. The Quarterly Business Climate Index and the Quarterly Uncertainty Index were calculated from the full sample of 300 small and medium-sized enterprises (20-249 employees) and 100 large companies (250+ employees). For small and medium-sized enterprises, an SME Outlook Business Climate Index and an SME Outlook Uncertainty Index were calculated.

This analysis by IEER concerns the experience of Hungarian businesses with late payment and circular debt. The results are based on IEER's July 2018 Quarterly Business Climate Survey, which involved 400 domestic respondents. Based on the answers, 55% of businesses had at least one partner that paid late in the first half of 2018, and 8% of respondents made late payments themselves to their suppliers in the examined period. The issue of late payment most often hits medium-sized companies (with 100-249 employees) and the construction industry. The results show that businesses now have fewer late-paying partners on average than in the previous few years, and a smaller proportion of their income arrives late. However, the number of companies that failed to pay in time to their suppliers at least once due to the late payment of their customers slightly rose since January 2018.