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The current situation of the Romanian economy must be understood beginning from the analysis of the main measures of fiscal-budgetary policy applied over the last years by the public authority. In general, the Romanian fiscal policy (before and after accession) was procyclical. However, we continue by presenting some of its characteristics for the past years when we underwent the last ascending phase of the economic cycle. Actually, Romania's GDP exceeded constantly the potential level, and the demand surplus became predominant, generating inflationary pressures. Maintaining the expansionist level of the fiscal policy, in the conditions of a positive deviation of GDP, as of 2017, and opting-out regarding the structural deficit target contributed to affecting the stability of public finances, on short-and medium-term. Romania entered into an extremely difficult economic context, generated by the pandemic, with an extremely narrow fiscal space which limited a lot the possibilities of combating the effects of the pandemic. In this paper we analyzed a period limited to the year 2020, because we consider this time as marking the end of an economic cycle in a period of peace and economic calm, as another is about to begin based on the new realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In terms of structure, state and evolution of the economy in the last decades, Romania and Bulgaria have common characteristics, being similar also, from the development perspectives point of view, with goals and projections that are intertwined. This study aims, on the one hand, to capture the economic situation as a whole, at the level of the two countries, and on the other hand to identify the best ideas, but also viable measures, which lead to the achievement of the set objectives, in the next period. At the same time, based on V A R - Vector Autoregression Model analysis, a correlation report is analyzed, which identifies three of the most important macroeconomic indicators, in the current economic environment, namely: public debt, gross domestic product, respectively investments. The reference period considered is between the years 2009 - 2021, with a quarterly frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this research was to determine the impact of renewable energy, alternative and nuclear energy, urbanization, energy use, and fossil fuel energy consumption on Romanian economic development. To investigate the relation between variables, we employed the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique in conjunction with FMOLS (Fully Modified Least Squares) and CCR (Canonical Cointegrating Regression). Long-run and short-run findings suggest that alternative and nuclear energy, as well as fossil fuel consumption, has a positive association with economic growth, but renewable energy, urbanization, and energy usage have an adversative relationship with economic growth. Similarly, FMOLS and CCR statistics indicate that alternative and nuclear energy and fossil fuel consumption have a favorable impact on economic development. Renewable energy consumption, urbanization, and energy use, on the other hand, revealed a negative connection with economic progress. Conservative solutions are necessary to implement appropriate policies to address energy consumption concerns in Romania in order to improve economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational sustainability has become, at a fast pace, from a simple desideratum, an essential condition for organizations, regardless of the field in which they operate. Being necessary for the business strategy to be built on responsibility and transparency, the non-financial data and information presented constitute the structure of a sustainable reporting. Sustainability reports published by companies can also be called a "business card" that reflects performance, social and environmental impact, while also presenting a secondary marketing function that attracts new customers and investors as well as talented employees. The aim of our study was to identify which are the main strategies in support of organizational sustainability applied by the two major food retailers in Romania: Kaufland and Penny. The study shows that there is an increasing trend toward shaping the activity towards sustainable progress, which is reflected in economic growth, environmental protection and socio-economic progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses an extremely current phenomenon: migration in opposite directions of FDI and labour, in context with the permanent need for economic growth and welfare. The analysis is carried out over a period of 12 years, in the context of setting objectives and working hypotheses regarding the realization of a correlation model of phenomena and optimization of migration flows in order to obtain welfare through economic development. The results of the research will reflect the relevance of the aggregation of the two migratory flows (FDI and labour) in order to obtain the financial leverage effect and the economic welfare in the analysed regions (EU, Germany and Romania).The conclusions of the study reflect the relevance of the method, the validity of the model and its relevance for the decision forums interested in the economic development and in increasing the population welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the path prescribed by Acemoglu and Robinson, development disparities can be better interpreted in the light of the effectiveness of political and economic institutions which rule society. From this perspective, the post-communist economies provide enough evidence when addressing the transition strategies followed in order to shape the market economy. Our paper analyses the impact of private property reform on the economic outcomes of Romania and the Czech Republic, as exponents of the two transition strategies. We employ a Vector Error Correction Model, followed by a Variance decomposition and a Granger Causality to emphasize the contribution of dissimilar property reforms to the economic dynamics. The results highlight that clear property rights in the Czech Republic have created the auspicious circumstances for enhancing growth and prosperity while, for Romania, it became an obstacle against economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of tourism is usually associated, in positive terms, with economic development, foreign currency inflows, employment opportunities, infrastructure improvements, sustainable development and poverty alleviation. However, the nature of the tourism-growth relationship is still a matter of academic debate, and, perhaps, an expression of the inconsistencies and contradictions of public policies designed to support this industry. Researchers and practitioners have not yet come to an agreement on a number of fundamental questions: does tourism stimulate economic growth or the converse, and whether the causality, if it does exist, is uni or bidirectional, is constant or can change its direction in the medium - or long run. The present paper investigates the relationship between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and international tourism in Romania, over the 1995-2016 period. Our results show that the causal effect of the GDP on the international tourist arrivals and on the international tourism receipts is significant in the long run in Romania. In the short-run, we find a unidirectional causal relationship from the international tourism receipts to GDP, and a bidirectional causal relationship between GDP and the number of international tourist arrivals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper resumes research on the current dimensions and implications of a sustainable development. Taking in consideration some of the latest theoretical insights and strategic approaches of the European Union for progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), a few trends and issues are analysed, also in the particular case of Romania. The close inter-correlation between most of the SDGs is highlighted, since they cannot be all reviewed here. For a more practical purpose, there will be analyses on the required and actual evolution in reducing the Romanian gap of some SDG progress indicators. Monitoring SDG 12 in an EU context focuses on progress made in decoupling environmental impacts from economic growth, in decreasing energy consumption and in tackling waste generation and management. The conclusions refer to conceptual or applied sustainable development insights and policy recommendation for promoting a more sustainable production and consumption pattern in a circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation in Europe, and especially Romania is lagging behind the State of the Art. The European Commission and policy makers are trying to learn from best practice examples, such as the big corporate models in USA and adapt innovation ecosystems to its specific context. European Universities, Cities, Policy makers are driven to work together in Digital Innovation Hubs, while building ecosystems designed to drive research and innovation to the foreground of European Development. As SME's are the main pillar for economic growth and Cities are the driver for sustainable social development, Europe's future depends in leveraging on their adaptability, resources and creativity, while bringing academia, users and communities to the co-creation and co-design table of goods, services and processes. Digital Innovation Hubs and Urban Innovative Actions provide the context for making these actors work together for the common good in a smart, sustainable and livable Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign direct investment (FDI) represents one of the ways to finance any economy. In the study we approached the theme from the point of view of the evolution of foreign direct investments in Romania. Using analytical methods, interpretations and correlations, we drew conclusions on the categories of foreign direct investment, net foreign investment flow and the balance of foreign direct investment. Last but not least, we analyzed the relationship between FDI and GDP as one of the main macroeconomic indicators of the result, highlighting the percentage and trends of foreign direct investment in GDP in Romania between 2000 and 2018. We also high lightened the directions where foreign direct investment is needed in Romania to support a sustainable development of our country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public investments play an important role in stimulating the economic growth and in reducing the disparities between urban and rural areas or between the regions of a country. The share of public investments in GDP in Romania has decreased significantly in recent years, giving the increase of some categories of public expenses, as well as the decrease of the budget revenues that have generated actions to adjust the state budget, in order to avoid the excessive deficit procedure. This paper analyzes the problem of public investments in Romania correlated with the evolution of the main categories of public expenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation in Europe, and especially Romania is lagging behind the State of the Art. The European Commission and policy makers are trying to learn from best practice examples, such as the big corporate models in USA and adapt innovation ecosystems to its specific context. European Universities, Cities, Policy makers are driven to work together in Digital Innovation Hubs, while building ecosystems designed to drive research and innovation to the foreground of European Development. As SME's are the main pillar for economic growth and Cities are the driver for sustainable social development, Europe's future depends in leveraging on their adaptability, resources and creativity, while bringing academia, users and communities to the co-creation and co-design table of goods, services and processes. Digital Innovation Hubs and Urban Innovative Actions provide the context for making these actors work together for the common good in a smart, sustainable and livable Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural tourism is now determined by limited economic opportunities, poor infrastructure, low motivation to possible offers, lack of proper service guarantees. Nearly 500 Romanian villages are already tourist locations, with certain characteristics determined by a heritage item, or complex ones when multiple components lead to various activities. This paper includes a typology of tourist villages in Romania according to the types of practiced tourist activities, insisting on the use of a more comprehensive terminology: tourism in rural environment, participative and creative tourism in rural areas. Tourism becomes a system accepted in the rural environment as a real opportunity for economic development with multiple social consequences. By multiplying tourism potential to meet tourists' demands, many villages will get tourism valences with various activities in this filed, including environment protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we present results of a micro-study based on a demo-economic perspective of a minority population of Indian origin, which had been migrated to Romania for over 700 years. We refer to the Romani population, almost 600,000 people, representing 3.25% of the total population. The migration to Europe, Wallachia and today's Romanian territories started from India in the 14th century. The spoken language has the same northeastern India origin, which is close to Sanskrit. From this viewpoint, we assume that the population has some specific features that define Indian people today. We mention here multiple talents, sensitivity, successful combination of various crafts and art, aspects that need a thorough study of the evolution of this population. Furthermore, such a study is important in the context of a dynamic economic and social expansion of the native country, India, perceived as the third major world power in the future, after USA and China. However, the bibliographical sources reveal some issues, such as the multiple economic and social problems related to the inclusion of the Romani population in the context of insufficient measures taken by the public authorities with respect to the Romani inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the first 1920s, Romania and Italy took different positions on the situation ratified by the Peace treaties of Paris, which constituted the main objective obstacle for any attempt of durable approach between Rome and Bucharest in the following years. If Rumania, after the annexation of Transylvania, was satisfied with the territorial arrangement achieved, in Italy the myth of the "mutilated victory" began to spread. If the Romanian diplomacy aimed at preserving the so-called status quo, the Italian diplomacy first of all since the end of the 1920s, aimed at changing the territorial situation on its Eastern boundaries. In the economic field, Rumania offered to Italy great opportunities to exploit its raw materials, whose low price seemed very desirable to the Italian investors. In the cultural field, one may notice the substantial success of the propaganda of the Institute of Italian Culture of Bucharest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The difficulties with the health system, occurred after 1989, are manly induced by the lack of appliances and human resources and by the natural consequences due to the interruption of the reform process, which negatively influenced the repartition of medical service within the urban and rural spaces, in the Land of Severin. The supply and access to medical services are the major problems concerning the assurance of a better living standard and also social and economic development, especially in rural areas. Villages with a dispersed population (in the mountainous and piedmont area in the Land of Severin), represent quite a unique challenge for the management and use of medical services. The claim to improve the support is laid by vulnerable groups, as elders and those who live in isolated places (e.g. Marga, Negruşa and Moiseşti villages) or people who compulsory need dialysis three times a week. The low level of economic development have induced problems concerning the existence, the quality and accessibility of social services and difficulties in case of temporary or permanent health care services. The present reformation measures take into consideration the way of organization and operation of health care services, the problem concerning the financial means and equipment of sanitary units and, the provision of last generation medical technique correlated with a continuous training process of medical staff and health care personnel. Currently, by means of the Local Development Programme 2006 - 2013 and with the help of the European structural funds, the authorities want to establish and implement a special programme to modernize the medical cabinets in villages, to convey pharmaceutical products to this area, to eliminate the daily travel of doctors and to provide ideal conditions for them and for the nurses to integrate into local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the transformation of Romania into a market economy during the 1990s under the National Salvation Front's (FSN) leadership. The privatization effort involved a voucher plan with each Romanian adult receiving a voucher for shares in a number of private investment funds. In addition, the liberalization of economic regulations by the FSN involved giving workers the right to organize and the right to strike. Two major pieces of labor-related legislation were passed by the FSN parliament in February 1991 which were aimed at incorporating labor into the emerging political economy. Negotiations between equal and free parties are provided by the Law on the Collective Labor Contract.

This paper analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on economic growth and electricity consumption and investigates the hypothesis of the influence of this consumption on the gross domestic product (GDP) for Romania. Using time series on monthly electricity consumption and quarterly GDP and a multi-linear regression model, we performed an analysis of the evolution of these indicators for 2007–2020, a comparison between their behavior during the financial crisis vs. COVID-19 crisis, and empirically explore the relationships between GDP and electricity consumption or some of its components. The results of the analysis confirm that the shock of declining activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic had a severe negative impact on electric energy consumption and GDP in the first half of 2020, followed by a slight recovery. By using a linear regression model, long-term relationships between GDP and domestic and non-household electricity consumptions were found. The empirically estimated elasticity coefficients confirm the more important impact of non-household electricity consumption on GDP compared to the one of domestic electricity consumption. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the results of the study could be useful for optimizing energy and economic growth policies at the national and European levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the necessity of achieving economic development by keeping the quality of the environment, the aim of this paper is to study the impact of economic growth on GHG emissions in a sample of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries (V4 countries, Bulgaria and Romania) in the period of 1996–2019. In the context of dynamic ARDL panel and environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), the relationship between GHG and GDP is N-shaped. A U-shaped relationship was obtained in the renewable Kuznets curve (RKC). Energy consumption, domestic credit to the private sector, and labor productivity contribute to pollution, while renewable energy consumption reduces the GHG emissions. However, more efforts are required for promoting renewable energy in the analyzed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the national level data on energy consumption by final consumption sectors (agricultural, industrial, construction, residential and transport), the present study is aimed at estimating the energy consumption at county level. The overall energy Romania has consumed throughout a year has been broken down into 'demographic' and 'economic' components. The changes in the two components were determined on an annual basis for the following reference years: 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. The variables used in the current investigation were assembled into two groups of indicators: demographic (urban population, population size, proportion of the population aged 65 years and over, the economically active population divided according to activities of national economy: agriculture, industry, transport), and economic (GDP per capita, energy consumption by the activities of the national economy: agriculture, residential, industry, transport). In some cases, where a significant share of the population worked in the industry sector (with the probability of a diversified industry), our calculations overestimated energy consumption. This may also be due to the cumulative effect of some demographic factors (i.e., the high degree of urbanization). The paper discusses the effect of the demographic variables (e.g., size, age and occupational structures) have on energy consumption. The paper shows that the economic growth Romania has been subject to since the year 2000 has led to a rise in energy consumption for two economic activities (agriculture, transportation) and it also turned out that improving the technologies used in industry has a positive effect on energy efficiency. Energy efficiency depends, in addition to the technologies used in each economic activity, on demographic factors. Some of the demographic factors have different trends in terms of energy consumption. The effect of the population size must be explained in the context of changes in the structure by age groups (aging of the population), changes in fertility and mortality rates. Moreover, the economic structure changes alongside the alterations undergone by the demographic structure. This, in turn, changes production and consumption, transport infrastructure, as well as social services. In order to draw firm conclusions about the relationship between energy consumption and population structure by age group, further detailed studies are needed, including making use of other indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]