development policy | HÉTFA Research Institute

History of human development policy in Hungary presented by the new publication of HÉTFA

hetfa-admin — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 12:08:30 +0000

HÉTFA has published new booklets under the title Human Development Policy in Hungary. It introduces the history of European Social Fund (ESF) and its Hungarian aspects.

The publication, available here, contains two volumes. The first volume includes the history of the first 60 years and major milestones of the European Social Fund. The second volume describes the institutional system’s transformation of Hungarian development policy from 2004, in the view of European Social Fund.

The publication was commissioned by the Ministry of Human Resources and edited by the experts of development policy of HÉTFA: Gábor Balás, founder and executive director of HÉTFA, and Koltai Luca, senior advisor of the Division for Public Policy and Impact Assessment of HÉTFA. Co-editor of the book is András Csite, founder and executive director of HÉTFA, and János Tamás Schanda, Ministry for Innovation and Technology’s Minister of State for European Union Development Policy. Other fellows of HÉTFA also participated in the preparation of publication.

Handbook about the Functioning of the system of EU funds

hetfa-admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 16:21:15 +0000

HÉTFA Research Institute, the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church and the Office of the Prime Minister jointly published a handbook in development policy titled as “The System of the European Union Funds 2014-2020”.

The Handbook presents comprehensively and in a clear structure the functioning of the system of EU funds. It serves as practical guide both for applicants and tendering institutions. The main motivation behind its creation is the enforcement of the dialogue between developers and supporters.

The Handbook details the features of the application system after 2014. Using a comparative analysis of the 2007-2013 and the 2014-2020 period highlighting the differences, it helps to connect the already existing development experience with the new institutional system’s logic. The authors pay special attention to present the functioning of the Regional Development Program relevant to the applicants from the rural areas.

HETFA together with the Károli Gáspár University launched a joint postgraduate degree program

hetfa-admin — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 13:28:12 +0000

The Office for Education registered the European Union program-planning and evaluation specialist postgraduate degree program on the 30th of January 2014 launched at the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church. The development of the program was initiated by the experts of HETFA, the formation of the educational and outcome requirements – in cooperation with the experts of Károli Gáspár University – was completed in the HETFA workshop.

Application form: doc

Detailed description of the program: pdf

Plan of the program: pdf

Educational and outcome requirements: pdf

Launching the program, we wish to serve the common aim that Hungary can use the development funds with greater success and efficiency than before. The target group of the educational program is composed of primarily civil servants, public institutions, non-profit organisations and colleagues of enterprises responsible for development programs and projects, as well as stakeholders and policy makers.

Those graduating from the program starting in the fall of 2014 will learn – in a practice-oriented way – the methods relevant to international standards, of public policy analysis, ex post and ex ante program evaluation, as well as impact assessment. The participants will acquire comprehensive and thorough knowledge about the public policy and regulatory processes of the EU and Hungary, as well as the institutional framework of the development policy and its legal environment.

The program on the website of the Károli Gáspár University

Role of Community Funds in the Dynamization of Underdeveloped Regions

hetfa-admin — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 15:55:11 +0000

The consortium of Pannon Institute for Analyses Ltd., HETFA Center for Analyses Ltd., Budapest Institute and Revita Foundation was commissioned by the National Development Agency (NFÜ) to carry out the „The Role of Community Funds in the Dynamization of Underdeveloped Regions”. The evaluation was conducted between July 2012 and March 2013. The evaluation has made suggestions at the levels of development policy, 2007-2013 legislative measures, and 2014-2020 programming period.

Summary of the Research Report in English

Evaluation of Developments Serving Roma Integration

hetfa-admin — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 15:50:47 +0000

The key question of the evaluation was to find out which factors and instruments or regulatory frameworks facilitate efficiently and which ones may inhibit the achievement of the related goals formulated in the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies and the EU 2020 Strategy. The evaluation has made suggestions at three levels, namely at development policy, legislative measures, and project level with regard to the current and the future programming period.

The evaluation was carried out by the consortium of Pannon.Analysing Office (Pannon Elemző Iroda), HETFA Center for Analyses (HÉTFA Elemző Központ) and Városkutatás (Metropolitan Research Institute) and commissioned by the National Development Agency. The evaluation was conducted in the second half of 2011.

Summary of the Research Report is available in English

Evaluation of Healthcare related Policy Interventions

hetfa-admin — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 14:54:29 +0000

Hungarian healthcare development interventions have been evaluated in the cooperation of the HETFA Research Institute, the Budapest Institute for Policy Analysis, and the Revita Foundation. Beside a strong focus on

outpatient care,
the modernisation of the central register of medical equipment, and
healthy lifestyle development projects,

the evaluators analysed the overall utilisation of healthcare development resources and their spatial distribution, too. The quantitative (statistical/econometric) part of the study deals with (1) the territorial targeting, (2) the direct results (availability and use), and (3) the short-term economic and health-related impacts of interventions. Within this latter, the impacts on

the restructuring of out and inpatient care,
the number of days spent on sick leave, and
the health care of patients with chronic diseases

were primarily under scrutiny.

The evaluation has found that EU resources spent on health care contributed to the policy aim of shifting healthcare provision towards lower levels of progressivity, and that the territorial targeting of interventions was also appropriate: inhabitants of micro regions with worse healthcare indicators (higher mortality rate) received a higher ratio of funding compared both to the average, and to the distribution of regular funding. The main recommendations are related to the regulatory and financing system, the handling of human-resource problems in health care, and to the monitoring of health-care institutional operation.

Summary of the Research Report in English

Measures Targeting the Improvement of Employment

hetfa-admin — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 14:40:50 +0000

The evaluation comprised of two main modules:

It provided a comprehensive assessment of the measures of the Social Renewal Operative Programme’s (SROP) Priorities 1 and 2 which directly targeted the improvement of employment, based on programme documents, EMIR (Unified Monitoring Information System) data, expert interviews and previous evaluations of individual measures.
It explored employment-related non-profit organisations in details and the characteristics and efficiency of projects implemented by them.

The evaluation focused on identifying to what extent current funding techniques, data collection and IT systems allow for the reliable creation of ESF indicators.

The National Development Agency (NDA) commissioned HÉTFA Research Institute Ltd. to evaluate employment programmes implemented between 2007 and 2012. The evaluation was carried out between December 2012 and March 2013. Experts of the Revita Foundation (Evaluation Framework LOT 2) also participated in the evaluation upon the commission of NDA.

Summary of the Research Report in English

Effects of EU Funding on Territorial Cohesion

hetfa-admin — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 11:27:20 +0000

The consortium of Pannon Institute for Analyses Ltd., HETFA Center for Analyses Ltd. and Revita Foundation were commissioned by the National Development Agency (NFÜ) to carry out the “Evaluation of the Effects of EU Funding on Territorial Cohesion” between July 2012 and March 2013. The evaluation puts forward recommendations regarding development policy, including the measures of the 2007-2013 period and upcoming programming period 2014-2020 as well.

The aim of the evaluation was to identify how territorial processes had been formed in Hungary, what role the development funds played in these processes, what reasons and factors explain the utilisation of development funds, and how it would be possible to develop a fund allocating structure serving more effectively the cohesion objective of development policy.

9 key evaluation questions and 26 sub-questions have been defined altogether. The large number of questions is due to the fact that there is no agreement on the definition of territorial cohesion among theoretical and practical experts either in Hungary or in the EU. One of the objectives of the evaluation, therefore, has been to define and present a conceptual framework, wherein the aims of territorial cohesion are applicable and plausible in development policies.

A mixed methodological framework including document analysis, data analysis, and impact assessment using spatial econometrics, case studies, interviews, and focus groups was applied. The interpretations of quantitative results were based on qualitative methods.

Summary of Research Report in English

Impact Assessment of the Hungarian Urban Network

hetfa-admin — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 11:18:00 +0000

The consortium of Pannon.Analysing Office, HÉTFA Center for Analyses, Revita Foundation were commissioned by the National Development Agency to carry out the “Impact Assessment of the Hungarian Urban Network”. The evaluation was conducted between July 2012 and March 2013.

The impact assessment formulated recommendations for development policy as regards the interventions related to funds dedicated to cities and urban development. Recommendations are based on detailed analytic work and are formulated on the basis of content-wise, administrative and institutional aspects.

Summary of the Research Report in English

Assessment of Territorial Coordination Capacities

hetfa-admin — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 22:29:53 +0000

The Assessment of Territorial Coordination Capacities was conducted between July 2012 and March 2013. The aim of the evaluation was to formulate recommendations for the improvement of regional coordination of developments. The assessment examines (1) the recent practice concerning coordination of developments and (2) summarizes the experiences of stakeholders of development policy and regional administration. Additionally, (3) it was also important to assess the challenges posed by the change of the national and EU regulations, as well, as the introduction of new EU instruments, such as the Integrated Territorial Investments (ITI), the Community-led Local Development (CLLD), and possible answers for these challenges. The recommendations are formulated in the three above mentioned fields with the aim of helping decision-makers reinforce the institutional background of regional coordination.

The consortium of Pannon.Analysing Office and HÉTFA Center for Analyses were commissioned by the National Development Agency to carry out the “Assessment of Territorial Coordination Capacities”.

Research report is available in English