Hardi Tamás - Tóth Károly (szerk.): Határaink mentén. A szlovák-magyar határtérség társadalmi-gazdasági vizsgálata (2008) (Somorja, 2009)
Esettanulmányok
224 Summary nicity of the respondents (Hungarians in Hungary, Hungarians in Slovakia, or Slovaks), with one more characteristic mentioned as typical of the Hungarians in Slovakia: they are faithful. This characteristic definitely reflects the historical relations of these people to Hungary and the judgement of this relationship. The findings of the research reveal that the judgements of the Hungarians, both of those living in Hungary and in Slovakia, are largely the same: there is a harmony between self-evaluation and the image living in the nation on the other side of the border. On the other hand, the self-image of the Slovaks and the image of them in the Hungarians are completely different. The Slovaks consider themselves as friendly, hospitable, peaceful, sympathetic, helpful, busy and happy people, the mean value of these characteristics ranged from 3.83—3.98. A totally different image of the Slovaks, the Slovak nation was revealed by the Hungarians - both the Hungarians living in Hungary and in Slovakia. The most typical characteristic associated with the Slovaks was pride. This was the only characteristic whose mean value approached four (3.98 and 3.9, respectively). In addition to proud, the Hungarians see Slovaks as selfconfident and material, but the mean value of these traits ranged from 3.5-3.6 on a scale up to five. It seems that the evaluation of the Slovaks, the image made of them is strongly influenced by the former stereotypes, the old attitudes (the relationship between the two nations has never been really friendly), at least this is suggested by the significant “gap” between the self-image of the Slovaks and the judgement by the Hungarians. The research findings suggest anyway that there is a kind of restriction in the case of the Hungarians living in Hungary not only in their self-evaluation but also in the judgement of the people (Slovaks) and minority (Hungarians of Slovak nationality), as there is not one reply where a value above four (on a five-grade scale) was given to a question “How much is it typical ...” The judgement of the Hungarians living in Slovakia was anyway usually more positive, both in their selfesteem and their evaluation by the Slovaks, or the Hungarians living in the mother country. ECONOMIC RELATIONS Business foundation in Slovakia It is a general view that the different taxation systems in the two countries reinforce the economic movements between the countries. The better economic environment does not only mean the simpler and more comprehensible Slovakian taxation system but also involves the simpler legal environment, the less difficult procedure of the foundation of businesses and the lower administrative and additional costs (e.g. attorneys’ fees). Entrepreneurs often use the opportunity of moving their businesses from Hungary to Slovakia, in order to exploit the better conditions of taxation. This means that the business remains to be a Hungarian enterprise but the taxation is based on the Slovak system. The opening towards Slovakia has another important objective: the expansion of the market, as the penetration into and opening up of new markets offers higher revenues for the growing businesses. In addition, expansion to the border region actually means that the Hungarian firms get into a Hungarian environment, as the proportion of inhabitants with Hungarian mother tongue or with Hungarian language skills is high in the border region. Another very attractive factor is the skilled, reliable and cheap Slovak labour force. In the 1990s Slovakia had an unemployment rate of 20-25%, a significant part of the former unemployed are now employed by Hungarian entrepreneurs, among other things. In the Bratislava district and in West Slovakia several multinational corporations - e.g. large automotive companies - appeared where the Hungarian companies wish to be
