National economies are increasingly facing the challenge of having to finance the prevention and treatment of human diseases, and of having to compensate for the resulting loss of economic production. Physical inactivity is demonstrably closely related to the risk of developing certain disease group. Physical inactivity results in direct and indirect burdens that the present study intends to quantify in Hungary for the period between 2005 and 2017. Based on the data of the Hungarian public finances, this study determines the direct and indirect costs incurred by Hungary due to illnesses, and, through the PAR method, it quantifies the financial burden of physical inactivity incurred by the Hungarian Treasury. The total financial burden of illnesses in Hungary showed a decreasing tendency from 2005 to 2017, even though the year 2017 saw an increase in costs compared to 2014. Similarly, while total public expenditure on illnesses associated with physical inactivity increased by 2017 when compared to 2009, the total amount attributable to medical conditions stemming from physical inactivity still showed a decrease of 2 billion HUF in the overall period. The biggest economic burden is posed by cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and type 2 diabetes. The increase in the economic burden associated with physical inactivity can be attributed to the combined effect of two factors: changes in total expenditure on specific disease groups (which showed an increase in the period under review) and changes in the physical activity levels of the Hungarian population (which showed an improvement over the period under review). Initiatives in Hungary aimed at encouraging an active lifestyle from childhood onwards should be continued since – beyond the initial impact that has already been felt to some extent in recent years - these initiatives will come to their full fruition in the coming decades.
There is a growing debate in the literature about International New Ventures (INV). Survival of INVs – along with their growth and financial performance – seems to be an interesting phenomenon, but it has only been tackled in a small sample of studies. This study examines Hungarian INVs and some of their key characteristics in the years 2009–2014. The Hungarian Corporate Tax Database was used to analyse the entire population of Hungarian companies during that period. The database consists of 385,723 companies in 2009 and 422,500 companies in 2014, and comprises the whole Hungarian private sector. Of these companies, 6,547 can be identified as INVs in the period under analysis. In this paper, the survival, growth, and business performance characteristics of Hungarian INVs are examined. Hungarian INVs recorded an exceptionally high survival rate; after five business years, 70% of the INVs remained in business, but nearly half of them withdrew to the home market, which means that only 35% of the Hungarian INVs became Sustainable International New Ventures (SINVs). Hungarian SINVs employed on average about 25 employees, registered extremely high (around 75%) export intensity, had steadily growing earnings and equity (43.6% and 56.3% mean CAGR), showed a stable return on equity of about 10% after their first year in existence, and created added value of approximately 37,000 EUR per employee.
(1) Background: In this study, sport and subjective psychological well-being is investigated in three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. (2) Methods: We have conducted three different representative sample surveys (n = 3600 altogether) on the Hungarian adult population and investigated the sample’s subjective psychological well-being with the WHO-5 Well-Being Index, as well as changes in their subjective well-being through the different waves of the pandemic. Sporting habits and socio-economic variables were also surveyed, and OLS regression models were created focused on the WHO-5 measures. (3) Results: The subjective psychological well-being of the Hungarian adult population decreased significantly, but in the second and third wave of pandemic restrictions, an increase in subjective psychological well-being has been measured. The relationships between the time spent on doing sports and subjective psychological well-being were significant in each pandemic waves. The highest subjective psychological well-being and its highest increase were reported by those who could increase their time spent on doing sports as well. (4) Conclusions: The relationships between the sports activities, physical health, size of settlement, changes in income and subjective psychological well-being of the Hungarian adult population were significant in all three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.