The 8th Conference in cooperation with the European Association for Comparative Economic Studies (EACES), organised jointly by the University of Szeged Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (SZTE GTK) and ELTE Centre for Economic and Regional Studies Institute of World Economics (CERS IWE) (in the series of Visegrad Conferences)

1 – 2 October 2026

A Call For Papers: 6th Visegrad Conference bejegyzés először VGI-én jelent meg.

A Conference report: Proliferation of Weapons at Land and Sea bejegyzés először VGI-én jelent meg.

The Institute of World Economics, the Centre for Economic and Regional Studies HUN-REN organised the 10^th ‘The Role of State in Varieties of Capitalism’ conference on 14-15 November 2024 with the support of EACES. The annual international conference focused this year on ‘The Changing Global Economic and Business Environment: Policy Challenges’, and took place in person in Budapest, in the Research Centre for Humanities, while the plenary sessions were streamed online, to enable wider participation.

The SVOC international conference series has been addressing the different aspects of state interventionism in the economy across the different regions of the world for the past ten years. The rationale behind this year’s topic was that the global economic and business environment has undergone substantial transformations during the past years (maybe decade) paved by multiple crises and unexpected shocks. This resulted in new policy challenges from the global to the national and regional levels, while actors are more vulnerable and face greater pressure to adapt and improve their resilience. This led to the renewed interest in analysing the role of the state in supporting the green transition, structural change, as well as increasing the economic and social resilience of national economies in times of crises.

This shifting environment also challenged core principles and values that have long been universally accepted and guided economic policies in recent decades. Novel ideas to interpret ongoing changes are urgently needed to effectively address newly arising challenges that (re-)entered the agenda of academic and policy debates. In this vein, the conference aimed to contribute to both theoretical debates and bringing together more applied research on contemporary models of capitalism, with a special focus on green transition, structural change and social resilience. This goal was approached by the wide scale of topics covered during the two-day long parallel running conference panels related to industrial policies, welfare states and green capitalism (among others).

The keynote speech was held by Andreas NÖLKE, Professor of Political Science at Goethe University (Frankfurt) and Senior Researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE. He talked about „State Capitalism vs. Neoliberalism in the Global Financial Order: A Second Image IPE Perspective”. In the light of the BRICS summit in Kazan on 24 October 2024, the keynote lecture could not be more timely and relevant. It discussed the existence and prospects of the state-capitalist alternative to neoliberal global financial order in a theoretical framework (called the second image IPE), that combines international and comparative political economy perspectives. The thought-provoking and insightful presentation was followed by fierce discussions on pros and cons of state capitalist realities.

This year the SVOC conference also hosted a roundtable discussion on “The challenges of de-risking in contemporary EU-China relations” co-funded by the European Union, the European Policy Centre. Chaired by Ágnes Szunomár (Institute of World Economics HUN-REN), the panelists were: Varg Folkman (European Policy Centre), Andreas Nölke (Goethe University and Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE), Samuel Rogers (The Open University) and Csaba Wolf (Vice President of SEMCORP Hungary Ltd. & Vice President of ChinaCham Hungary). They discussed the contemporary challenges of the EU-China relationship and the extent to which de-risking is possible, while bringing together and contrasting academic, policy and corporate perspectives. The roundtable discussions focused on three main questions: 1. what has it really meant for Europe to ‘de-risk’ its relationship with China so far; 2. what is the state of play now as a new European Commission takes over (with Trump being elected and Hungary getting more and more open towards China); and 3. how a renewed comprehensive European approach to China could realistically look like? The roundtable discussion was also followed by numerous questions and comments, and a very intense debate on future prospects evolved.

The second day of the conference hosted a plenary roundtable discussion and book launch, besides the already mentioned parallel panels. The book entitled “The Economics of Regional Integration” is forthcoming in 2025 by Routledge. The volume was first presented by Sándor Gyula Nagy (Corvinus University Budapest), who is the editor and author of several chapters. Inspired by the work of Prof. Tibor Palánkai, the book aimed at exploring how the participation in regional integration affects the socio-economic development of its member states (individually and in comparison to each other). Oleg Tankovsky (Ludovika University of Public Service) presented the new methodological framework, developed by the Authors, for measuring the efficiency of regional integration and the integration profile of member states. The volume includes ten case studies, which offer a comparative analysis of these integrations spanning four continents: The Americas, The European Union, Africa and Asia. Out of this rich collection, Anikó Magasházi (Institute of Advanced Studies Kőszeg) presented the case of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), while Sándor Gyula Nagy provided some insights from the chapter focusing on the European Union. The book launch was followed by intense discussion related to both the applied methodology and the case study experiences.

The two-day conference gave place to almost 40 presentations and two roundtable discussions, delivered by 50 scholars, from ten different countries from all over the world.

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Proliferation of Weapons at Land and Sea

DATE: 4 December 2024, 14:00 – 16:00 CET

VENUE: Ludovika University of Public Service

1083 Budapest, Ludovika tér 2

Educational/O building, Room 212-213

The Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP) and the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), on behalf of the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium (EUNPDC) and in cooperation with the HUN-REN CERS Institute of World Economics in Budapest, will hold an event discussing risks associated with the proliferation of weapons, from to threat posed by landmines to the naval domain.

The event will also include an overview of the work of the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium (EUNPDC), and information on opportunities to become engaged in the arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament field by highlighting various fellowships, internships, initiatives, and job opportunities.

The Agenda of the event can be found HERE

For any questions, please contact speck.gyula@uni-nke.hu

The event is funded by the European Union in the framework of the EUNPDC and the Young Women and Next  Generation Initiative (YWNGI). Driven by the widely perceived age and gender imbalances among experts and practitioners in the non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament field, the YWNGI aims to help address such imbalances by exposing college and university level students, especially women, to arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation issues.

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THE CHALLENGES OF DE-RISKING IN CONTEMPORARY EU-CHINA RELATIONS

A International Conference Panel – The challenges of de-risking in contemporary EU-China relations bejegyzés először VGI-én jelent meg.

Article by Andrea Éltető on the Institute of World Economics’ blog

It was recently reported that the Hungarian government is also trying to pave the way for battery recycling plants by amending the law, and the Minister of Economy has been persuading several battery recycling companies in South Korea and China to invest in Hungary. According to a statement from the Ministry of Economy, since the EU’s 2023 regulation makes battery producers responsible for collecting and recycling all battery waste, but the country still has hardly any recycling plants, so this sector needs to be developed “to provide safe and environmentally friendly solutions for the large-scale recycling of used batteries.”

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Article by Magdolna Sass on the Institute of World Economics’ blog

Over the past two decades, China’s share of the world economy’s total FDI stock has grown rapidly. While in 2000 the country’s share was negligible, by 2023 it accounted for nearly 7% of the total stock, according to UNCTAD data. This rapid growth contrasts with the stagnating share of the other BRICs and the slightly or significantly declining share of the leading developed economies (especially the US). Since 2009, China has been the “podium” country in terms of annual outward FDI inflows every year, mostly behind the US and ahead of Japan in the ranking. Nevertheless, there have been years when China has been the largest source of outward FDI in the world economy: for example, in 2014 or 2020. In 2022, China accounted for more than 10% of total annual outward FDI in the world economy, and in 2023 for more than 9.5%. Including Hong Kong, these shares are more than 17% and more than 16% respectively (UNCTAD). (Further growth is likely to continue, as outward FDI in China accounted for 16% of GDP in 2023, compared to an OECD average of 52% and even around 20% for Central and Eastern European countries.)

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10TH THE ROLE OF THE STATE IN VARIETIES OF CAPITALISM (SVOC) INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

‘The Changing Global Economic and Business Environment: Policy Challenges’

Date:

14–15 November 2024

Venue:

HTK, 1097 Budapest, Tóth Kálmán utca 4.

Organiser:

Institute of World Economics, HUN-REN Centre for Economic and Regional Studies with the support of the European Association for Comparative Economic Studies

Form:

in-person

The 2024 Conference Theme

Paved by multiple crises and unexpected shocks, the global economic and business environment has undergone substantial transformations during the past decades, resulting in new policy challenges from the global to the national and regional levels. Actors are more vulnerable and face greater pressure to adapt and improve their resilience. A shifting environment also challenges core principles and values that have long been universally accepted and guided economic policies in recent decades. Novel ideas to interpret ongoing changes is urgently needed to effectively address newly arising challenges that (re-)entered the agenda of academic and policy debates. This led to the renewed interest in analysing the role of the state in supporting the green transition, structural change, as well as increasing the economic and social resilience of national economies in times of crises.

The conference will contribute to theoretical debates and enrich empirical analysis in comparative and international political economy research, with a special focus on the structural, human, and environmental dimensions of development.

The aim of the 10^th SVOC International Conference is to invite scholars presenting novel theoretical and empirical analyses on the structural transformations of economies and their broader implications. We particularly encourage that scholars submit research papers that are geared to different levels of analysis, namely, the global, national, regional, or sectoral.

We welcome inquiries that provide a more nuanced understanding of structural change, green transitions, as well as other dimensions of inclusive and sustainable development. In addition to welcoming papers on these topics, we encourage interested researchers to submit papers especially (but not exclusively) on the following topics:

A. Cutting edge debates in research on comparative capitalism

B. Contemporary varieties of state capitalism (case studies and comparative analyses)

C. New industrial policies in the twenty-first century (green and techno-nationalist industrial policies)

D. Structural transformation in more and less developed economies: the role of knowledge- and innovation-intensive sectors

E. Post-crisis models of sustainable development

F. Various aspects of the green transition

G. Empirical evidence on tendencies affected global value chains: disruptions, re-, near-, friend-shoring (?)

H. De-globalization, slowbalization, degrowth perspectives

I. The circular economy

Abstracts (max. 300 words) are welcome until 10 September 2024 through using the provided template. Please, send the abstract to svoc@krtk.hun-ren.hu. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by the 20th of September..

Keynote Speakers

Andreas NÖLKE, Professor of Political Science at Goethe University (Frankfurt) and Senior Researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE

Title of keynote speech: TBA

and

Andrei YAKOVLEV, Researcher, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University

Title of keynote speech: TBA

Registration fees

Early bird fee (discount available until 10 October 2024): 95 EUR (for PhD students 60 EUR)

Regular fee (payment deadline 31 October 2024): 120 EUR (for PhD students 80 EUR)

Important dates

Abstract submission: 10 September 2024

Notification of acceptance: 20 September 2024

Conference fee payment (early bird): 10 October 2024

Conference fee payment (regular): 31 October 2024

Conference: 14–15 November 2024

SVOC Scientific Board Members

István BENCZES (Corvinus University Budapest)

Beáta FARKAS (University of Szeged)

Dániel MUTH (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Judit RICZ (Institute of World Economics)

Dorottya SALLAI (London School of Economics)

Magdolna SASS (Institute of World Economics)

John SZABÓ (Institute of World Economics)

Miklós SZANYI (Institute of World Economics)

Organisation

The following e-mail address svoc@krtk.hun-ren.hu is the primary communication channel for SVOC 2024. Participants are kindly asked to use it to submit abstracts and papers. All information issued by the organisers will also be sent from this e-mail.

The primary organizers of the conference are as follows:

Tamás CSONTOS (email: csontos.tamas@krtk.hun-ren.hu)

Veronika CZINA (email: czina.veronika@krtk.hun-ren.hu)

Emese DOBOS (email: dobos.emese@krtk.hun-ren.hu)

Tamás PERAGOVICS (email: peragovics.tamas@krtk.hun-ren.hu)

While communication through the above mentioned central conference e-mail is to be prioritised, participants are welcome to contact the organizers directly, if they need:

• An official invitation letter for visa applications;
• An invoice for the conference fee or help with transferring the conference fee;
• Assistance, suggestions in making travel and accommodation arrangements, etc

DOWNLOAD CALL FOR PAPERS:

SVOC_cfp_2024_extended

A SVOC Call for Papers – EXTENDED bejegyzés először VGI-én jelent meg.

On the 16th and 17th of May, the conference with the title Views on development from the peripheries of Europe was held at the institute. It was supported by EADI (European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes) and organised by three institutes: HUN-REN Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Institute of World Economics; Institute of International Relations Prague and the University of Ljubljana. The 50th anniversary of EADI presented a good occasion to take stock of the state of development studies and the understanding of development in the European peripheries. The countries on the periphery of Europe have been an object of development policies themselves, some of them lived through quasi colonial periods and therefore, the relevance of decolonisation and development issues and their perceptions seem to be different from those in the core countries, which also happen to be the biggest aid donors. On the conference, there were more than 30 presentations and participants arrived from nine countries. As a side event we organized a discussion and workshop for researchers and Hungarian NGOs working in the Global South, in collaboration with HAND Association (International Humanitarian and Development Civil Association). More than 10 civil organizations were represented, sharing their best practices and support needs regarding research-practice-collaboration in their activities. HAND also informed the participants about funding opportunities, and a thematic workshop facilitated match-making for future collaborative projects between the NGO and academic spheres.

The success of the conference is indicated by the fact that the organisers decided to continue with annual conferences on the same topic, hosted each year by a different co-organiser.

Pictures from the conference

A Report on the EADI conference bejegyzés először VGI-én jelent meg.

Article by Andrea Éltető on the  Institute of World Economics’ blog

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