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The purpose of the thesis is to analyze how the automotive manufacturing companies being active in Hungary operate in global value chains, with a particular focus on suppliers. Although the topic of GVC is widespread and discussed in international literature, there is a gap in relation to the Hungarian automotive manufacturing industry, especially in the current situation when the COVID-19 pandemic affects the operation of the multinational enterprises. The main identified research question is the following: What is the value creation of the automotive manufacturing industry in Hungary within global value chain? The research process started with a comprehensive literature review and theoretical background analysis about the GVC concept (including the introduction of ‘Smile-curve’) and FDI investment in Central and Eastern Europe (including the characterization of near-shoring activities) and continued with conducting a sample survey and semi-structured interviews with the key car parts suppliers. Executive board, managerial level and engineers were the target persons both for the survey and for interviews. Based on the literature review, I formulated two hypotheses: 1. The theory of ‘Smile curve’ is also valid in case of the Hungarian automotive manufacturing industry, typically low value-added production processes take place in the country. 2. In addition to the central location, the cheap and skilled Hungarian labour was the most important factor in the near-shoring activities of multinational companies expanding to Hungary. In order to be able to accept or reject the first hypothesis about the relevance of the so called ‘Smile curve’ in the Hungarian automotive manufacturing industry, to define position of the automotive manufacturer companies being active in Hungary in the global automotive manufacturing value chain and to create an in-depth understanding about investment incentives of the Western European firms in the country, I prepared an online survey. To test my second hypothesis about the reasons of near-shoring activity in Hungary, I conducted 3 interviews with industry experts from TIER 1 companies of different size. The targeted automotive parts manufacturers are all suppliers of the 5 OEMs present in Hungary (Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Opel and Suzuki) among others. The new results of the doctoral dissertation are the following: I can reject the first hypothesis about the relevance of ‘Smile curve’ in the Hungarian automotive manufacturing industry, because beside manufacturing activities with low added value typically, also research and development activities take place at bigger multinational companies with higher added value. I can accept the second hypothesis about near-shoring in Hungary, because beside the ‘proximity to export markets’, the cheap but skilled labour was decisive when multinationals decided to invest in the country. The ‘positive support system’, ‘favourable tax conditions’, ‘government policy’ and ‘proximity to HQ’ were aspects that companies used, but they are rather neutral factors. The ‘good infrastructure’ is not so good in the real life and the ‘cheap raw material’ is not cheap, because firms have to deal with world market prices, thus, these were not attractive to investors. Further results about the business operations of the analyzed supplier companies: The purchasing decisions for the Hungarian production happens locally decisively, either independently or with involving the headquarter. The manufactured products are typically drive chains, body parts and electric sensors and the proportion of products designated by OEMs is rather high. Western Europe is the biggest export market of the companies analysed, followed by China, North-America and the Central Eastern European region. Relocation processes are not characteristic of the firms. If so, only from other country to Hungary and it is also determined by OEMs providing new opportunities for them. In some cases, wage costs and logistics also play a role in the relocation process. Electromobility and autonomous driving are the most affecting trends in the automotive manufacturing industry. The semiconductor shortage as a serious downside risk is also the result of the pandemic. The effects of COVID-19 are becoming less pronounced today, but the semiconductor crisis is continuing. Favourable tax conditions and higher value added are the success criteria that will help the Hungarian automotive manufacturing industry to remain competitive in the future. Professional trainings, more support for SMEs and favourable legal conditions are also important aspects. Today, the CEE region, including Hungary is a net exporter of knowledge-intensive goods. To improve its global competitiveness and to be able to move into higher-value-added goods and services, the region should invest more in R&D, infrastructure, education and collaboration between companies and universities. The key players in the automotive part manufacturing has realized that value added is a very important factor in the success of an industry and it can be increased due to investment in research and development and innovation. As revealed by the research, they have already established R&D centers and joint projects with universities (e.g. departments), so companies are well on their way to producing higher added value.

In recent years, migration studies focused very much on forced displacement, especially after the influx of migrants to Europe in 2015. Some European countries accept immigrants from non-EU regions. Others blame migrants for taking advantage of Europe’s social systems and follow restrictive policy measures. The EU is as divided as never before in its history, and the process of migration to Europe has become more critical. In this context, the characteristics, fleeing reasons, and refugees’ and asylum seekers’ journeys are relevant. This dissertation looks at these factors in the framework of refugee camps. Even though refugee camps are frequently an essential part of the journey of asylum seekers and refugees on their way to Europe, there is only limited literature in this field. Thus, the research aims to analyze migration and refugee movements as a consequence of the miserable and inhumane conditions in refugee camps and identifies indicators for (mass) migration to Europe. For this purpose, and since everyone speaks about migrants, but not with migrants, I conducted quantitative and qualitative research in 192 fully-structured and 17 semi-structured interviews. The research provides a comprehensive comparison of the living conditions in non-EU and EU refugee camps, analyses their role in the process of migration to Europe, and emphasizes the differences between different camps. Furthermore, the characteristics of asylum seekers and refugees and their motives for coming to Europe were examined. The findings of the study show who these people are and from where they originate. There is evidence for the hypothesis that the majority of people flee because of severe danger (e.g., armed conflicts) and are not ‘economic migrants’ despite the claims of nationalistic governments in the EU. However, there is evidence for the hypothesis that improved living conditions in camps could reduce mass migration movements to Europe. The dissertation enhances the discussion of refugee camps in migration studies, provides new perspectives and insights about the journey of asylum seekers and refugees to Europe, and people’s characteristics leaving their country of origin.

Jelen disszertációnak a célja nem volt más, mint a középkori női misztikának, azon belül is Folignói Angéla misztikájának, mint Max Weberi értelemben vett karizmatikus uralomként történő bemutatása. Ezáltal pedig egy új társadalomtudományi megközelítés bevezetése az értelmezési lehetőségek egyre szélesedő spektrumába. (1) Ami a dolgozat jelentőségét illeti, bebizonyosodott, hogy a középkori női misztika téma a kortárs társadalomtudományban, és így Folignói Angéla alakja is. Továbbá téma a weberi karizma-tan is, amely a disszertáció módszertani területét fedte le. Ennek bizonyítására különböző forrásokat alkalmaztam a kutatás során, nevezetesen történelmi, feminista és Weber értelmezéseket, amelyek eddig hangsúlyárnyékban álltak. Az így eredményül kapott egyéni megközelítésem ötvözi a történelmi elemzést Weber karizmaelméletével, és amely ezáltal túlnyomórészt szociológiai perspektívát hoz létre. Természetesen a témában további kutatások indokoltak.

- The goal of the present research was to explore the work-life balance (WLB) of young female engineers during their PhD studies. Obstacles to WLB in high-status occupations can be magnified in the male-dominated STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, where women are significantly underrepresented. While women and different societal actors invest significant capitals into women’s education – and also an insufficient supply of high-skilled labour force –, women often are dissuaded from a career in science, particularly after obtaining PhD; not only in the USA and the EU member states but even in the more gender-equal Nordic countries. I propose in this dissertation that young women researchers in STEM fields face severe work-life balance-related obstacles even as early as their PhD education due to the intersection of their gender, age, parental status, nationality, and also the characteristics of their strongly male-dominated, knowledge-intensive occupation, particularly if it involves laboratory work with hazardous substances. - The research is embedded into a dual theoretical framework. While WLB theories help to understand the relationship of school, work and family life, the life course approach highlights how the critical intersection of individual and academic life courses affects WLB, especially the timing of childbearing. The research is based on a qualitative research design; 27 semi-structured interviews were conducted with female PhD students in engineering in Hungary. Two main research questions and three sub-questions were raised: 1) What dilemmas do female PhD engineering students face when trying to create a WLB? 2) Which strategies do female PhD engineering students (want to) apply to achieve WLB? --What main factors do female PhD engineering students identify that constrain and /or facilitate their WLB? -- How do studying and working in engineering influence the WLB of female PhD students? -- How do institutional and normative contexts shape the family plans of female PhD students in engineering, especially their timing of motherhood? - Results show that -- The vast majority of female PhD students in this sample were engaged in multiple roles: education, work, private and family life, which severely challenged their WLB. Their main concerns and dilemmas were when to integrate motherhood into an academic career and how to balance their life. -- PhD students were socialising in the greedy organisations of both the productivity-based neoliberal academia and the private sector. They carried heavy workloads and were further pressured by the knowledge intensity of engineering profession. Women, particularly mothers, were also solely responsible for caring and household tasks at home; therefore, they failed to follow the dominant male engineer career model – long working days without days off, even at the weekends –, which was associated with the image of the “ideal, good researcher” and a successful career. -- Interviewees frequently encountered time- and strain-based work-to-family conflicts: time-squeeze, tiredness, exhaustion, stress, strain, bad mood, insomnia and negative spillovers. They sought support from their families but lacked well-developed coping strategies. They rather used different practices to facilitate their WLB with greater or lesser success: adequate scheduling, segmentation of life domains, and communication of the boundaries between work and private life. Flexible working arrangements seemed to be a double-edged sword: it enhanced and hindered their WLB at the same time. -- The vast majority of the PhD students perceived different labour market-based uncertainties – extremely short fixed-term contracts, low income and gender-based discrimination, particularly that of mothers –, which resulted in an imbalance of work and family life. -- The inflexibility and health hazards of laboratory work particularly hindered the timing of childbearing during their academic career. -- Engineer women reported a bunch of negative experiences from their male-dominated learning and working environments that hindered their WLB and family plans: the masculine view of science, devaluation of their knowledge, unfair and humiliating treatment, isolation. Assimilation strategy was more often applied than those of humour and sensitisation. -- These women more than once delayed motherhood. Their most significant dilemma was based on the tension between the defining social norms, their biological clock and the perceived feasibility of their family plans. Women could not call any ideal period for childbearing in their profession; therefore, they named the period of dissertation writing the “least bad option”. - Research findings highlight the Hungarian case, nuance international research findings and offer intervention points to stakeholders. Results can enhance the WLB of young researchers and may contribute to the elimination of barriers to women’s professional advancement and to the increase of the proportion of women in STEM fields.

This thesis research explores how ideals about contemporary parenting shape parental time perceptions and the parental mediation of technology use. Previous literature demonstrates the changes of parenting that primarily concern the intensification, especially the extension and social inflation of the parental role. This parenting cultural script – namely, intensive parenting – provides the theoretical framework for this research. This study proposes that the patterns of parental time – especially the diverse approaches to quality time – and parental mediation of technology usage reflect contemporary parenting ideals. The inquiry intends to uncover the gender and social class differences in these parenting practices. Moreover, it aims to integrate the teenager’s voice into the debate about parental time and compare the parents‘ and children’s perspectives on their time together. The research utilizes a mixed-methods research approach. The quantitative part is based on data from a representative Hungarian quantitative survey – conducted in 2017 – including parent-child dyads. Additionally, the qualitative sample consists of 24 semi-structured interviews with parents of 12–16-year-old teenagers in Hungary in 2019. The study employs an explanatory sequential research design, where quantitative data dominate the analysis and the qualitative part provides more nuanced explanations. First, multivariate analyses were conducted using binary logistic regression models to analyse how diverse aspects of quality time and parental mediation relate to the subjective quality of parenting. The qualitative part of this study draws on thematic analysis following the definition of Braun and Clark (2006). The main findings of the thesis research can be summarized as follows: • The intensive parenting ideal shapes parental time in the way that spontaneous, focused time is highly appreciated among Hungarian parents and teenage children as well, while cultivating children’s talent does not comprise part of spending quality time with children. Enrichment activities might be counterproductive in terms of the subjective quality of parenting since they might result in conflict with teenagers who are striving for autonomy. • With regard to parental mediation and following the norms of intensive parenting, parents typically use a high level of control and a conscious mediation – with active mediation the desired form – and provide alternative and enriching programs to screen time to protect their children from harm and cultivate their development while fostering their autonomy and independence. However, restriction digital media use contradicts contemporary parenting values, since it does not enable self-regulation and discussions and threatens the child’s agency. Some patterns of active mediation that also reflected the features of intensive parenting were identified – such as the provision of expert guidance or constant negotiations. • Parents’ educational and income level and (typically in connection with these) their digital literacy and beliefs about technology significantly determine how they navigate their children’s technology use and the amount and quality of time they spend together. This study highlights the relevance of intensive parenting ideals among more educated and wealthier parents. The diverse results of spending parental time on weekend time according to social status point to the greater time deficit of lower status parents and the high expectations of parenting among higher status parents. The results of this thesis indicate that these practices are resource-demanding fields of parenting, and competencies and resources are unequally divided according to the social status of parents. • The findings show evidence that these practices are primarily maternal responsibilities – in other words, the high standard of intensive parenting involves mothers to a greater extent. Consequently, mothers are more concerned with the responsibility of parenting –for instance, with spending enough and sufficient (focused) time with their children and mediating – especially controlling – their media use. • The findings highlight the important features of quality time with adolescents – the latter value the attention they get from parents and no rushing of parental time. The teenagers’ different perception of time also underlines how much social expectations influence parenting behaviours.

A gazdaság és a kommunikáció kapcsolódásainak értelmezése Luhmann rendszerelméletével, a kommunikációelmélet participációs felfogásával, gazdaságtudományi nézőpontokkal, és szaknyelvészeti specifikumokkal összefüggő aspektusok konsziderációjával valósult meg. A rendszerelmélet szempontjából a gazdaság társadalmi beágyazódása hangsúlyos, amely a társadalmi-gazdasági problémák komplex elemzéséhez járul hozzá, a funkcionálisan elkülönült részrendszerek aspektusából. A problémakezelés a participációs elmélet felfogásában az ágensek felkészültségeit előfeltételezi, amelynek legelemibb alkotórésze a nyelvismeret. A nyelv a rendszerelmélet perspektívájából a kommunikációs médiumok nélkülözhetetlen formája, míg a participációs elméletben az intézmények egyik megjelenési formája, ahol a szignifikáció a jel (mint szignifikáns) és a jelölet (mint szignifikátum) összekapcsolódásával realizálódik. A gazdasági szaknyelvi szignifikáció a szaknyelvi specifikumoknak, a szaknyelvi kommunikáció megvalósulási szintjeinek, vagy a szókincs sajátosságoknak a konstrukciója. A gazdasági szaknyelvi terminusok interpretációjához az ekvivalenciaelemzés módszere alkalmazható, a terminushoz tartozó definíciók fogalmi jegyeinek összehasonlításával. A legalapvetőbb gazdasági terminus az ár, amely a participációs elmélet intézményi felfogásában a gazdasági szignifikáció része, azaz a jószág (mint szignifikáns) és az ár (mint szignifikátum) összekapcsolódása. Rendszerelméleti megközelítésben az ár a piaci szereplők másodlagos megfigyelésének eszköze, amelynek változása a bizalom függvényében inflációt vagy deflációt indukálhat. Az árváltozás méréséhez az árindexet alkalmazzák, terminológiai ekvivalenciaelemzése rámutat a nemzeti szinten alkalmazott típusainak eltéréseire. Az ár terminushoz hasonlóan, az adózási terminusok is tanulmányozhatók, annak érdekében, hogy a nemzetközi értelmezési különbségek explicit megmutatkozzanak (például a környezetvédelmi termékdíj esetében). A gazdasági kommunikáció fogalomalapú elemzése alapján megállapítható, hogy gyűjtőfogalomként értelmezhető, amelyen belül makrószinten a globális, míg mikró szinten a vállalati (ezen belül a pénzügyi) gazdasági kommunikáció és a gazdasági tömegkommunikáció domének határolhatók el. A doménekhez a gazdasági növekedéssel vagy az árral összefüggő, részrendszerenként strukturált témák, és szervezetek rendelhetők. A domének a problémakezelés színtereinek tekinthetők, a globális gazdasági kommunikáció színterén a gazdasági növekedéssel összefüggő ökológiai és társadalmi problémák az indikátorokkal mért adatok tükrében konkretizálódnak. A problémák a problémaidentifikáció és -megoldás fázisaiban, a funkcionális részrendszerek kommunikációs médiumát figyelembe véve definiálhatók. Az ökológiai és a társadalmi problémák gazdasági vonatkozásai rámutatnak arra, hogy mely kompetens tudásközösségek közreműködése elengedhetetlen a problémaeliminálás érdekében. Az elemzés a modern társadalomban fenntartható gazdasági növekedés feltételeinek meghatározásához járul hozzá.

Bonus-Malus System (BMS) is a risk managing method mostly used in liability insurances. The most general application of the BMS is in the Motor third-party liability insurance. In a BMS, there are finitely many classes, each having a different premium. At the start of the contract, each policyholder is assigned to the "initial class". Subsequently, suppose the policyholder has a claim in the following period. In that case, he/she moves to a worse class, so the policyholder's payment may increase in the subsequent period. If he/she does not have a claim in a particular period, then he/she moves to a better class; therefore, his/her payment may become less in the following period. The classification rule – how many classes the policyholder will move up or down in the system – is called the transition rule. Hence, a transition rule specifies where the policyholder will be reclassified in the subsequent period for each possible claim. Our contribution to the literature of the optimization of the BMS can be summarized as: • We investigate a model that was introduced by Heras et al. (2004) but with a modified objective function. We proved that an optimal premium-scale always exists with this objective function in which all premiums equal one of the risk groups expected claim. • We considered the same model with a profit constraint. In this case, we proved that an optimal premium-scale always exists in which there is only one type of premium that is unequal to any risk group's expected claim. • We introduced a MILP model for the optimization of transition rules with fixed premiums. We considered unified and non-unified transition rules optimization. In the case of unified transition rules, we gave the rule to exclude those transition rules that would lead to a non-irreducible Markov chain. • We introduced a MILP model for the joint optimization of transition rules and premiums. We can determine the exact solution with the investigated objective function when we do not consider the profit constraint. However, we can only approximate it otherwise. • We introduced an extended version of the model, where instead of the stationary probabilities, we use multi-period optimization. • We introduced modeling approaches to consider the BMS premium with other statistical estimations in the final premium. Finally, we compared the methods with numerical experiments on realistic data. • We introduced an optimization model for a BMS where the classification depends on the claim amount.

Cikkalapú disszertációm a hazai társadalmi vállalkozások üzleti sajátosságait egyfelől társadalmi vállalkozás oldalról, azon belül is az egészségügyi és szociális területeken működő társadalmi vállalkozások példáján vizsgálja, továbbá vállalkozás fejlesztői oldalról megközelítve, azon belüli is a hazai társadalmi vállalkozásokat üzleti szempontból fejlesztő szervezetek fejlesztési folyamatainak, azok során alkalmazott üzleti modelleken, eszközökön keresztül tárja fel. Kiindulópontom, hogy a társadalmi vállalkozások olyan szervezetek, amelyek kettős céllal bírnak, elsődleges céljuk valamilyen társadalmi érték megteremtése, másodlagos céljuk pedig ennek pénzügyi megvalósítása. Vizsgálatom tárgyát azok a társadalmi vállalkozások képezik, amelyek alkalmazzák az üzleti szemléletet, továbbá üzleti bevételtermelő képességgel rendelkeznek. Irodalmi áttekintésemben megvizsgáltam a társadalmi vállalkozások elméleti megközelítéseit, majd a társadalmi vállalkozások működési tipológiáját tártam fel. Üzleti működésük vizsgálatához, a társadalmi vállalkozások üzleti modelljeinek, illetve ezek fejlesztésének és fejlesztőinek szakirodalmát dolgoztam fel. A disszertáció cikkei kvalitatív és vegyes kutatási módszertannal készültek el, amelyből kettő cikk esettanulmány. A kutatások során társszerzőimmel feltártuk a hazai társadalmi vállalkozások működését befolyásoló kulcsszereplőket, továbbá finanszírozási modelleket térképeztünk fel. Megvizsgáltam a hazai fejlesztő szervezetek típusait, munkájuk folyamatait, eszközeit. Kutatásom alapján a piaci alapú működés újszerűnek mondható, vannak olyan szervezetek, amelyek fő bevételi forrásuk mellé alakítanak ki saját értékesítésből fakadó bevételi forrásokat és vannak olyanok, amelyek csak és kizárólag saját értékesítési tevékenységeikből kívánnak működni. Egyelőre a működési környezetből fakadó kulcsszereplők által generált korlátok és lehetőségek nagyban befolyásolják a társadalmi vállalkozások működését. Ennek egyik elsődleges szempontja a pénzügyi korlátok jelenléte, az állami szférától való finanszírozási függés. A fejlesztő szervezetek célja az alapvető és a már összetettebb üzleti működés átadása és fenntartása. Módszereiket és eszközeiket a hagyományos üzleti szektorból vették át, amelyeket a társadalmi vállalkozások igényeire specializálnak.

A dolgozat célja, hogy hozzájáruljon a felfelé irányuló mobilitás magyarországi szakirodalmához, nevezetesen a családban elsőként diplomát szerzők mobilitásával kapcsolatos szubjektív tapasztalatokat vizsgálja. A disszertáció elméleti célja, hogy eredményeink alapján javaslatokat tegyünk a Bourdieu-féle habitus fogalom módosítására és bővítésére annak érdekében, hogy a fogalmat az empirikus kutatások számára használhatóbbá tegyük. Két kutatási kérdést fogalmaztam meg. Először azt vizsgálja a kutatásom, hogy milyen feltételek mellett valószínűsíthető, hogy a felfelé irányuló mobilitás hatására destabilizálódik a habitus. Másodszor azt vizsgálja, hogy a felfelé mobil roma diplomások hogyan adnak értelmet a mobilitási pályájuknak. Azaz, hogyan tudják összeegyeztetni a származási csoportjuk és az elért társadalmi csoportjuk közötti feszültségeket. E kérdések megválaszolása érdekében kvalitatív interjúkat készítettünk a családban először diplomát szerzőkkel.