Versenyben a felzárkózásért
Hungary in Competition for Social and Economic Increase

Summary/Abstract: The study examines the development of the Hungarian, primarily human resources, in the time since accession, trying to find out how Hungary was able to take advantage of the accession, where it is in the catching-up competition. In addition to indicators of economic development and development, the paper analyzes indicators of the development of human resources in the EU 2020 strategy (employment, education, poverty, social exclusion). It compares the evolution of Hungarian data since 2004 with the 28 member states and inboard post-socialist countries. It then analyzes some other indicators (population development, life expectancy at birth, Human Development Index, Freedom Index, and World Bank indicators on government quality). He states that the performance of the Hungarian governments is one of the worst among the EU member states. Hungary is quite modest in catching up during the period under review, and besides this modest catching up, there are very significant backlogs in the development of Hungarian human resources. According to the article, it can be considered that the low proportion of graduates, the low rate of education, and the HDI that is lagging behind in their growth will soon crumble this small and relative advantage. The study concludes that Hungary seems to have failed to take advantage of the historic opportunities offered by EU accession.

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