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The current paper aims to study the application of this theory in the current economic context in Romania, contributing to filling the gaps in the existing research on this subject. Thus, in the practical part of the paper, a non-linear regression model was created using the volume of greenhouse gases as the dependent variable (representing environmental degradation) and the GDP per capita as the independent variable (representing the economic development of the country). The results suggest a significant impact of economic development on environmental pollution in Romania between 1990 and 2022. The positive correlation between GDP per capita and greenhouse gas emissions, as indicated by the positive coefficient of DPIB (-1), underscores the importance of managing economic growth sustainably to mitigate environmental impacts. This finding aligns with Kuznets' environmental curve theory, which proposes that initially, rising per capita income can result in higher pollution and greenhouse gas emissions as developing nations prioritize economic advancement over environmental concerns. However, as economies progress and mature, there is an opportunity for the adoption of cleaner technologies, the implementation of environmental regulations, and investments in sustainability, potentially leading to a reduction in both greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.

Innovation is the key to sustainable growth, development and competitiveness, and also the engine of the economic clusters. Nowadays innovative processes are conducted within clusters where each component plays its own strategic role at the highest rate of specialisation. The development of the clusters relies on the cooperation between companies, universities and R&D institutions and local, regional or national authorities. First of all, a cluster emerges due to the spatial proximity of businesses, but the real motivation consists in the need for cooperation; the effect, along with the rational use of resources and the activities’ specialisation, relies in the enhancement of competition, a positive outcome for the economic environment. Within a cluster, the partners share resources and develop future strategies; the mostly known positive outcomes are the specialised labour force, products of higher quality, cost reductions, powerful networks of suppliers and clients, etc. In our paper we aim to assess the cluster phenomenon in Romania and we seek to determine the catalysts for the emergence of the cluster partnerships in Romania. Our approach is bidirectional: firstly we assess a correlation between the economic clusters, as a cause, and as effects, the number of working persons, unemployed persons and recorded turnovers of the regional businesses where the clusters exists; secondly, we analyse the presence of clusters in the selected regions as an effect caused by the size of the active labour force, unemployed persons, number of higher education institutions, population of 25-39 years old, working specialists and technicians and lastly, the recorded turnover, in our opinion, all these six factors being the most relevant for the development of clusters. We considered suitable for our statistical approach to calculate the Pearson coefficient and also to apply the ANOVA method being able to assess also the extent of each factor’s influence on the development of the Romanian clusters. In the last part of this paper the findings are tested by using the Student’s and Fisher’s tests.

This paper aims at providing a regional approach regarding VAT rate at E.U. level and its links with the level of economic development, using data from Eurostat for the 2004-2013 period. World-wide taxation levels reflect, in a certain measure, the economic state of a particular country. If the tax level within a country is higher, the living standards are also higher, whereas a low taxation level that incites economic growth, will eventually rise. The main indicators considered in the analysis presented in this paper, as most relevant to the subject at hand, are: taxes on income in conjunction with the level of the GDP, business demography, employee compensation, poverty thresholds, income distribution, employment rate and the number of newly founded enterprises.

The aim of this paper is to contribute to an increased knowledge of the cultural values and the entrepreneurial activity that are present in countries with different levels of development. Within the group of developing countries, we focus our analysis on the case of Latin America. The study uses data from the Schwartz Value Survey (SVS) to measure cultural values, and Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for information regarding entrepreneurship. The results show that cultural variables, together with the rate of entrepreneurial activity, clearly distinguish developing countries from developed ones. Higher entrepreneurial activity is found in countries with lower levels of development; however, the cultural value dimensions of Autonomy and Egalitarianism are associated with higher development levels. In the specific case of Latin America, the results reveal the existence of two groups of countries. Firstly, Bolivia, Peru and Venezuela have higher rates of entrepreneurship and, at the same time, a greater prevalence of some cultural values (notably Embeddedness, but also Hierarchy). In contrast, another group of countries in the region—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico—is characterized by the presence of opposing cultural values (Autonomy and Egalitarianism), more in line with those corresponding to developed countries. The paper concludes with a discussion of the results, including some interesting implications, from both academic and policy perspectives. In the case of Latin America, a certain combination of cultural values (Embeddedness and Egalitarianism) may be leading to higher start-up rates. Thus, promoting these values could contribute to entrepreneurship and economic development.

European Union was created for enhancing the cooperation and economic development of country members. This very complex initiative is a long-term process that contributes to reduction of inequalities due to the expansion of trade relations, increased mobility of factors of production and dissemination of technology and gradually added more freedoms between countries and common policies in this respect. Among the main objectives of EU are economic and social cohesion, which must be achieved mainly by promoting the conditions for economic growth and reducing disparities between the levels of development of EU regions, ensuring a high level of employment and a balanced and sustainable economical growth. The European Funds are the financial instruments of the common policies, being significantly diversified and improved in the last decades. The EU enlargement implied new challenges and higher efforts to support such common policies from a very limited common budget. For new members from Eastern Europe that joined EU, these European Funds were seen as a very important and reliable support for boosting their economic development. This paper will discuss, from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, the possible impact of these funds on the economic development, with a specific focus on the Eastern European Countries (EEC).

The relationship among foreign direct investments and economic growth is a very controversial issue that has given rise to an abundant literature. Numerous research studies examine the bidirectional causal relationship and investigate the major determinants of these investments. In the same order of ideas, this article gives an empirical study from four North African countries to evaluate the role of transport infrastructures to improve the territorial attractiveness for the foreign direct investment. The present paper starts by a theoretical study explaining the role of transport as a major determinant of FDI. In a second section, we represent the empirical study. By using an econometric model with panel data, we found that traditional determinants of FDI have the most significant influence on the international investors’ decision. However, the same findings verify a positive impact of transport and consider it as a new important factor with strategic issues that cannot be avoided. The empirical validation from the four countries leads to verify that it is necessary to adopt development strategies that take into account the transport infrastructures and logistics function

The title of European Capital of Culture could help immensely a city and its surrounding region from cultural, social and economic pointd of view. Cultural activity in the city is gaining momentum and new categories of tourists are attracted here. To determine if being a cultural capital influenced or not the growth and/or decrease trend as regards the number of tourists that came to Sibiu in a consecutive period of 23 years, the starting point was that this event had a major impact on tourists. The present paper is a quantitative research based on the number of Romanian and foreign tourists accommodated in structures of tourist receptions with functions of tourist accommodation. The conclusions of this article respond to these questions: Being a European Capital of Culture attracts or not more tourists than usual? The increase in the number of tourists was proportional with the effort of the authorities involved in the project?

The paper aims to study, reveal and understand one of the most important production factor, considered by some as being labor, understood nowadays as human capital. It is important to reveal and to demonstrate that the investment into human capital will have results with a very high return on investment, maybe not so seen in the first years to come just after the investment, but for sure as a big result and a cause for economic development. The investment into human capital can be determined by public or private investment. Either the case the result will be in favor of the national economy

Operating with business ethic we meet, some ethical systems, some of them developed in Antiquity, that still have a great influence upon economics development. One of these is the ethics of virtue. The aim of this paper work is to focus upon the one ethical system virtue ethics and to illustrate his influence in economical field, offering a new coordination in this direction. We understand the importance of the human character for a successful leadership and management. Recent ethical dilemmas illustrate us how a vicious character has an influence not only to the possessor of that type of character but also to the entire community where he develop his activities. For a comprehensive understanding I expose a briefly review on virtue ethics as it was developed by Plato and Aristotle, ant its new coordination and influence upon our contemporaneous economy, illustrated by some examples.

In this paper is realized an empirical analysis of the influence of social welfare and taxation on insurance. The analysis is performed on a sample of 36 countries and a horizon of 3 years (2005, 2007 and 2008), being tested 4 linear regression models (life premium subscribed, non-life premiums subscribed, number of companies and number of employees in the insurance sector). The results of study confirm a relationship between the development level of countries and insurance, but exclude the existence of the relationship between taxation and insurance.