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The way firms and marketers promote their products is being shaped by consumer needs and trends alongside the evolution of the marketplace. As web technologies and consumers’ online behavior improve, influencers are becoming increasingly significant in social media marketing strategies. This research intends to investigate a particular digital phenomenon observed in the field of books, namely, marketing books on Instagram. Therefore, the study aims to highlight the key aspects of book influencers' Instagram activity, namely by examining the literature, but also the evolution of the bookstagram phenomenon in a dual perspective in both Romania and the United States. Furthermore, the purpose of this research is to draw attention to the similarities and differences among the existing communities in the two countries pointed out by a quantitative research. On that account, the data analyzed was collected in two different ways, first we retrieved information from Statista online database about the phenomenon in the United States of America and then, we conducted a questionnaire to bookstagram community members in Romania. Accordingly, the paper will contribute to the expansion of the literature on #bookstagram communities in various cultures around the world by providing useful information and a more diverse view of this market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper examines the influence of the historical legacy regarding the impact of the border of the former Habsburg Empire, the former political membership of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR), and perceptions about the communist past - in understanding the current tolerance of bribery in Romania, more than 25 years after the fall of communism. We started from an existing background suggesting that in the aftermath of the fall of communism, Romania underwent significant socio-economic changes, with persisting regional disparities accentuated by historical and cultural legacies. Using representative data from the European and World Values Survey joint dataset v.2.0, other relevant sources (Public Opinion Barometer from 2000 and 2007), variable selection and analysis methods based on DK/NA value treatment, binary derivations, the LASSO pack in Stata 17.0 together with different types of regressions including OLS, binary and ordered logistic ones, cross-validations both random and based on wellestablished criteria (mixed-effects modeling), and collinearity removal techniques based on maximum accepted values of the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF), the results highlight that respondents from certain Romanian macro-regions that experienced higher levels of membership in the PCR and positive views about communism are less likely to be tolerant of bribery. It appears that if the region of residence was part of the former Habsburg Empire, current intentions for bribery are higher. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the propensity to bribe is negatively affected by current macro elements, such as higher crime levels, material deprivation, urban connectivity or lower levels of migration abroad, and left-wing voting preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes us on a methodological journey, analysing the efficiency of implementing information technologies in the business environment. In the context of digital transformation of the SMEs in the EU, Romania, and the Republic of Moldova emerges the necessity to focus on implementing information technologies in the business area, as the primary factor of boosting organisational performance. The aim of this research is to shed light on the possibilities of implementing information technologies in the business environment of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. The methodology of this scientific endeavour has been geared towards using multiple methods of research, among which stands out the quantitative research, the inquiry used as a research tool, namely a questionnaire. The results of the research show a direct interconnection between implementing information technologies and customer satisfaction, particularly organisational performance. Thus, organisations aspiring to grow their performance should remodel their management system in terms of implementing new information technologies which will increase customer trust, improve client satisfaction, and gain customer loyalty to the products/services provided by the company concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to deepen understanding of the relationship between sustainable development, localisation and the purchase of goods and services from the informal economy. This has not before been investigated. To do so, it reports a survey of 1,209 respondents conducted during October-December 2021 in Romania, a country with one of the largest informal economies in the European Union. The findings reveal a link between consumers' motives to purchase informal goods and services and the pursuit of sustainable development through localisation. The analysis shows that there is no purely sustainability-driven consumer in the informal economy, but this rationale is prevalent as one of several motives for a large proportion of consumers purchasing goods and services from the informal economy, who do so explicitly for the purposes of environmental protection and localisation. The implications for theorising and tackling the informal economy are then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to test the mechanism of autocratic populism (term which will be used as a synonym for illiberal democracy) in Hungary and Romania. A mechanism could help to better explain the phenomenon of populism across different spatiotemporal settings in which it occurs, therefore it is suitable for a common understanding of populism. I am going to use a minimal definition of liberal democracy as well as authoritarian populism and compare Romania and Hungary along three major components of the mechanism: constitutionalism (division of powers), the cultural construction of "the people" and the different conditions of the emergence of a charismatic personality. Investigating political processes will show why authoritarian populism or illiberal democracy has gained prominence in Hungary but has failed in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively been influencing the air transport industry. The devastating impacts, which started to be felt since the first months of 2020, consisted in rationalizing the fleet, reducing staff number and reconfiguring their networks and capacity. Therefore, understanding passengers' attitudes towards travelling during a global pandemic may strengthen aviation industry practices and minimize the costs in the downturn period. Considering these aspects, the purpose of the present paper is to analyse the behaviour of airlines' leisure and business passengers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, by underlying those factors that may have a strong impact on their travelling attitudes. In order to achieve this purpose, we have conducted an online survey on a sample of 146 respondents from Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper starts with an introduction of previous European instruments concerning cooperation in criminal matters, moving towards the presentation of European Investigation Order as regulated by the 2014/41/EU Directive. It then analysis the implementation of this instrument in Romania by Law 302/2004 on international judicial cooperation in criminal matters using a comparative method with reference to Austria, Latvia and Sweden. The paper gives some examples from Romanian jurisprudence involving European Investigation Orders. In the end, after presenting some of the disadvantages that may arise from executing an European Investigation Order, such as the costs that may burden the executing state, the paper ends in an optimistic tone concluding that the EIO seems to be a very useful tool for practitioners as it sets time limits and permits direct transmission of requests being faster and easier to execute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union's (EU) Cohesion Policy, the oldest policy within the EU, has undergone numerous transformations over more than three decades, evolving in both objectives and implementation instruments. The recent expansion of the European Union has rekindled discussions on the efficacy of Structural Funds in achieving economic goals. (Drăgan, 2018). Analyzing the impact and effectiveness of cohesion policy in Romania, as well as understanding the challenges involved in fund absorption and distribution at all levels, is crucial for achieving sustainable regional development to benefit citizens. Starting from the research question: "To what extent has Romania capitalized on the funds allocated through the cohesion policy?", this study outlines the following main objectives: (O1) identifying and analysing the main challenges for the regional policy and for the strengthening of regional and urban development (O2) determining the thematic priority areas to which the majority of cohesion funds in Romania have been allocated, (O3) identifying the primary investment priorities for which European funds have been attracted in Romania. This study aims to address the stated objectives and, where necessary, to identify areas for improvement and suggest strategies to overcome these obstacles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the implications of the brain drain phenomenon in Romania, focusing on possible solutions at European, national and local level. The consequences of the brain drain phenomenon as well as the magnitude of the problem in Romania were analysed based on a quality methodology, namely the secondary analysis of statistical data, all in correlation with other concepts such as trust, vulnerability and resilience. Although there are still no analytical indicators to accurately measure them, the conclusions and recommendations that have been made showed that a bottom-up approach to highlighting the solutions already implemented can be seen as a future model for brain drain analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article answers the following research question: What effects did Romanian Foreign Policy have on the settlement process in Transnistria between 1992 and 2008? By looking at this particular question this article conceptualizes the role of Romania towards the conflict in Transnistria. It identifies three different major changes in Romanian's Foreign Policy between 1990 and 2008 that include the following defining traits: post-communist identity(1990-1993); re-defining of national identity (1993-2004) and defining an Euro-Atlantic identity (2004-2009). Based on this distinction three types of action towards the Republic of Moldova are identified: 1. Establishing Bilateral relations 2. Consolidation of diplomatic relations 3. Advocacy in Euro-Atlantic structures that have led to specific roles by Romania towards: 1. the facilitation of direct mediation (1992-1993) 2. Noninvolvement in direct mediation and support for third party mediation (1993-2004) and 3. Support for the expansion of the third party mediation framework in the conflict in Transnistria (2004-2008). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the tourism-related official actions undertaken by the government in Romania during the COVID-19 pandemic from a stakeholders' perspective. The approach is based on answering three research questions: (1) Which are the policies that tourism stakeholders benefitted from during the pandemic? (2) How do tourism stakeholders appreciate the utility and efficiency of the measures implemented by the government? and (3) To what extent do the stakeholders perceive these measures as providing long-term benefits? Methodologically, the study relies on the statistical analysis of data collected through a questionnaire applied to tourism stakeholders from Romania. The results indicate mixed perceptions regarding the implemented policies, with most stakeholders considering the received support as less than optimal. A positive perspective is given by the fact that although most stakeholders regarded the positive impact of the policies only in relation to the pandemic period, there are also stakeholders indicating long-term benefits of these policies. These results are useful for providing lessons from the recent pandemic and for suggesting ways for improving governments' response to future crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relative importance of four factors in the capital structure decisions of Romanian listed firms. The existing empirical research on capital structure has been largely confined to developed countries. The Romanian Financial Market has been developing at an exponential rate and dedicated research in the field is required. We used 100 firms listed in 2010 at the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The objective of this paper is to build on previous studies model all the important factors affecting capital structure decisions. We find that factors such as tangibility of assets, firm size, liquidity, and profitability have significant influences on the leverage structure chosen by firms. These results are believed to have significant implications for the theory of finance and to be of importance to the corporate treasure in choice of new financing and to the financial analyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The personality of a city is an important concept to be created and evaluated by local administrators as this should be part of the touristic strategic approach. The aim of this paper is to create a research instrument that allows researchers to define the brand personality of a Romanian city. In order to use one instrument in a specific geographical area, the instrument has to be created using a qualitative research. Three focus groups were conducted in order to identify items to create the research instrument which is presented at the end of the paper. This research is a preliminary step for a future quantitative research that is intended to measure the city brand personality of the city of Iasi. The created instrument can be applied to any Romanian city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explores five barriers, acting as obstacles to chaos in terms of policy (A), economic (B), social (C), demographic effects (D) and natural effects (E) factors for six countries: Russia, Japan, USA, Romania, Brazil and Australia and proposes a mathematical modelling using an original program with Matlab mathematical functions for such systems. The initial state of the systems is then presented, the element that generates the mathematical equation specific to chaos, the block connection diagram and the simulation elements. The research methodology focused on the use of research methods such as mathematical modelling, estimation, scientific abstraction. Starting from the qualitative assessment of the state of a system through its components and for different economic partners, the state of chaos is explained by means of a structure with variable components whose values are equivalent to the economic indices researched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there are many studies on the democratization trajectory of former communist countries of Eastern Europe, only a few of them have a particular focus on how transitional justice helps democratic consolidation. The present comparative study seeks to fill that gap by focusing specifically on the cases of Romania and Albania, situating them in the wider kaleidoscope of former Eastern Europe. Some of these countries have had a fast implementation of transitional justice measures and successful democratization. Yet, despite adopting an early mechanism of transitional justice, others did not necessarily have any particular success in their democratic endeavour. On the other hand, additional states have had democratic consolidation despite not undertaking such rapid measures (for example Estonia), while others have failed either to adopt the transitional justice mechanisms or democratizing at all (i.e., Belarus). The present paper offers a theoretical framework that seeks to capture and explain such dynamics and by referring specifically to the telling cases of Romania and Albania, to explain what role and impact transitional justice measures have in democratic transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how monetary policy decisions affect inflation and other economic variables is particularly important. In this paper we consider the implications of monetary policy under the inflation targeting regime in Romania, based on an autoregressive vector method including recursive VAR and structural VAR (SVAR). Therefore, we focus on assessing the extent and persistence of monetary policy effects on gross domestic product (GDP), price level, extended monetary aggregate (M3) and exchange rate. The main results of VAR analysis reflect a negative response of consumer price index (CPI), GDP and M3 and positive nominal exchange rate behaviour to a monetary policy shock, and also a limited impact of a short-term interest rate shock in explaining the consumer prices, production and exchange rate fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the relations between Poland and Belarus in the 21st century in the light of the recent events showing the re-rapprochement between the two countries. The aim of the paper is to present the importance of economic cooperation and the development of trade relations for the strengthening of the relations between these countries. The author emphasizes cooperation in the energy sector. He describes how crucial trade and economic cooperation is in overcoming crises in political relations. The author stresses the role of Poland in supporting the economic transformation of Belarus creating an alternative to the cooperation between Belarus and Russia. In this article the author uses descriptions, as well as the predictive methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal payments in the public health care system represent one of the most sensitive topics in the medical world. It is also a subject of interest for many researchers. As evidenced by reports from various European institutions, a catalyst for their use was the COVID-19 pandemic. Among all the countries of the European Union, Romania was reported with the highest rate of use of these payments. With the support of parallel marketing research, carried out both among patients in Romania and among medical staff, it is demonstrated that they do not consider such practices natural. However, following the conclusions, in order to stop this trend, it is recommended, among other things, to reduce the institutional asymmetry, to tighten the penalties for the medical staff who accept such payments or to stimulate the medical staff, by increasing their salaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Romanian banks use derivatives to hedge against or speculate on the movement of economic variables such as foreign exchange rate or interest rate. To report these contracts, they apply the IFRS in both consolidated accounts (from 2007 onwards) and individual accounts (starting with 2012). This paper analyzes disclosures on derivatives for a 6-year period (2007- the year of the EU adhesion -2012) based on 132 financial statements available. The findings show that more than 72% of Romanian banks use derivatives, mostly for economic hedges and without much application of hedge accounting. Swaps are the most important contracts and foreign exchange risks the most protected against. On average, disclosures on derivatives follow the IFRS rules but provide little additional information beyond the minimum requirements which enables ambiguities and misinterpretations from users of the financial statements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to conclude whether the adoption of the single currency induced a trend of structural resemblance, and if so, to determine groups of countries with similar fiscal structures inside the Euro Area. Taking into consideration total revenues, indirect taxation, direct taxation and social contributions, we analyzed primary data and completed it with multidimensional classification. Having in view Romania's objective of adopting Euro currency we aim to establish to which subgroup is Romania more similar in terms of fiscal structure and whether this resemblance enhanced since the accession to the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses the recent developments regarding the Romania trade in goods. We highlight how Romania's trade in goods evolved after the EU accession. In this period Romania's exports and imports were influenced by the economic crisis, which had a major impact especially on imports. The paper presents the primary trends that have set the volume, dynamics, structure and performance of trade in Romania in the crisis and postcrisis period. We have noticed what changes took place in the structure of exports and imports of goods and also who were the main external partners of Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies regarding the contribution of migration to development are limited to an isolated analysis of the economic effects of migration. But the migration process is in turn influenced by other processes. So a wider framework including migration and other processes of development would be more appropriate. The experience of South European and East Asian countries have shown us that, during development, countries can change their migration profile from emigration to immigration. The present paper shows the stages of the migration transition experienced by these countries trying to match them with Romania's experience. So, focusing on the case of Romania, this paper examines the evolution of international migration starting with 1990, in the context of the broader transition process, offering prospects regarding a possible migration transition in this case as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As history proves, any enlargement of an overstate structure produces disarticulation and an increase of pressure on the borders of it. On the other side the economy produces integrative effects along the border despite of the original significance of separation that a border has. The crossborder policies of the European Union as regional player are meant to contribute to the economic structure building and enhance the stability inside and outside the Union area. Setting up the normative framework for crossborder relations is a very present-day field, being subject of study and research in all Union bodies, in the Member States governments, candidate countries or beneficiaries of the relations with the Union as well. This normative framework is meant to propel the economic increase and the raise of the daily life conditions in the neighbor countries. Alongside the border there are happening complex phenomena, some of them easy to be quantified, such as economic ones, some of them more difficult that cannot be controlled but only sociologically researched, such as cultural-identity-emotional ones. The paper aims to draw the guiding marks of the European Union external crossborder areas and the crossborder cooperation frame for Romania, to identify already visible and potential effects of the enlargement on the external borders and to make an inventory of policies that should integrate the crossborder economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accession to the European Union for Central and Eastern Europe countries involved their requirement to start the process of the European Monetary Union integration. The desire to enjoy the benefits of EU membership has made both the 10 countries that joined EU in 2004 and Romania and Bulgaria which became EU member in 2007 to engage on the path to join the European single currency endeavoring to meet not only the nominal convergence criteria but also real convergence. This paper makes an analysis of the Romania's capacity to achieve the nominal convergence criteria in the current context. The change of the financial and economic conditions due to the crisis that spread worldwide during 2007 - 2008 changed the issue from "Romania can fulfill the nominal convergence criteria?" in "Is it advisable for Romania to adopt the Euro, given the uncertainty clouds over the currency's future?" The analysis is made by considering the comparative situation of other countries that are in the process of joining the single currency. The objective of the research undertaken in this paper is to investigate Romania's capacity to approach the nominal convergence criteria and so realistic goal of joining the Euro it is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to give an insight into the link between corruption and the implementation of structural and cohesion funds in Romania and the other Central and Eastern European states (CEE). Although there is a great interest within the mass-media and the civil society for this topic, very few in-depth analyses have been carried out on this subject by independent researchers. This article starts with an evaluation on the various indicators and indexes that quantify corruption, continuing with a comparison at a regional level. Afterwards, the analysis continues with a brief assessment on the implementation of structural funds in Romania and the other CEE states. What we have found by analysing the corruption indices and absorption rates for 7 European Union member states is that there is a strong link between the two phenomena: states with high levels of corruption benefit less from structural and cohesion funds having lower absorption rates. [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]

Based on the chain of events brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was the year of online education and in many parts of the world, including Romania, this is still the norm in most higher education institutions. After a full academic year of distance learning, 131 undergraduate business students filled in a questionnaire about how they perceived the entire process and what they thought about their Business English course in particular. Results showed that the teaching, learning and evaluation experience was relatively positive, although direct interaction with teachers and peers have suffered the most in the process. Encouragingly, about 43% would like to continue with a hybrid system in the future, which is no doubt due to the flexibility the online system provides. However, further research is needed in terms of establishing the long-term effects of online education on university (language) courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research paper the main focus is on religion and how it is influenced by income and education level, how people from different social classes look at religion nowadays. It is a known fact that our income, our education will influence our opinion regarding religion and I analyzed these aspects using a survey carried out by Gallup International for 2014, in Romania. The statistical data shows us clear differences between people with low income and basic education, and people with high income and high education, when it comes to religiosity. Therefore, we can say that income and educational attainment impacts religious belief, but we have to take into consideration that there are exceptions among people and this does not apply to all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores spatial economic convergence in Romania, from the perspective of real GDP/capita, and examines how the shock of the recent economic crisis has affected the convergence process. Given the presence of spatial autocorrelation in the values of GDP per capita, we address the question of convergence in terms of both classic and spatial regression models, thus filling a gap in the Romanian literature on this topic. The empirical results seem to provide support for both absolute and relative beta divergence in GDP/capita, as well as sigma divergence among Romanian counties on the long run. This is the consequence of the two-speed regional development, with the capital region and some large cities thriving by attracting human capital and FDIs, while the lagging regions are systematically left behind. Failing to validate the neoclassical approach on convergence, our results rather support the new divergence theory based on polarization and centreperiphery inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyse the spatial interaction of Romanian Cities from 1948 to 2021 trying to perceive if, along seven decades of quite different political regimes - from Central Planning to Market Interaction-, there have been changes in the logic of spatial interaction between City Regions. The study looks into the economic-demographic evolution of Romanian city regions and tests whether, throughout time, adding to the role of the economic base, their evolution follows a logic of size maximization, or a logic of maximization of interaction flows subject to the spatial structure of Romanian cities. Results show that the logic of spatial interaction changed during the period. Except for the first periods from 1948-1956-1966, the spatial evolution of Romanian City Regions is better explained by a logic of size maximization, either in the period of Central Planning (1966-1992) or in the period of Market Interaction where the population of the previous period, or the logic of size maximization, has a strong effect in the relative performance of city-regions when compare with the logic of maximization of interaction flows. Furthermore, exports play a more reduced role in regional growth when space is appropriately integrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is offering a presentation of the energy market in Romania by analyzing its characteristics before and after the fall of communism. Becoming a member of the European Union brought many challenges for our country on different levels, the restructuring of the energy market being one of them. The final aim of the European Union is to create a common European energy market based on sustainable development where the consumers would benefit from quality services and lower prices. An insight on how the market is currently functioning in Romania is provided together with a presentation of the new challenges we have to face in reaching a fully liberalized energy market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The opportunities to avoid paying taxes provided by tax havens have motivated numerous multinational companies to resort to offshore operations, generating a significant tax loss at a global level. Romania is facing the same problem and the Finance Minister estimates that offshore operations in tax havens are approximately between three and four billion Euros. The refusal to exchange information and the lack of transparency of many tax havens represent a barrier for tax authorities to control these transactions and facilitate the coverage of illegal activities. This has determined certain countries, among which Romania, to impose higher taxes on taxable income of non-residents who are residents in "uncooperative" jurisdictions. In this paper we have emphasized the issue of tax havens and we have presented their classification after the foreign contribution to the capital of Romanian companies. We have also listed the ones with which Romania has signed agreements for information exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we have analysed a "special" period in the history of Romania's trade, namely the period when market economy was replaced by the state economy. It is the period preceding the transition. We analysed how Romania's exports and imports have evolved between 1945 and 1989, highlighting the events that influenced trade, and also what changes occurred in the structure of exports and imports by product groups and, not least, who were the main external partners of Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The remittances of international migrants are particularly important for Romania as one of the top European emigration countries and an important remittance recipient country as well. Responding to the need to better understand the determinants of remittances, our paper examines the significance of selected economic, social and demographic factors that impact on the remittance behaviour of Romanian international migrants, as characterized by the propensity to remit and the amount remitted. The present work builds on a new database of 1514 Romanian migrants from 52 destination countries, resulting from our 2010 online survey. One of the main findings is the fact that the remittances are strongly affected by migrant's income, return intention and presence of the spouse in the destination country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first EU Alert Mechanism Report demonstrates the vulnerable macroeconomic external position of Romania, the current Romanian's balance of payments reflecting a severe need of financing and capitalization. On the other hand, the 2007-2013 programming period potentially provided a significant amount of EU money for investments (around 29 billion euro) through Structural Funds. However, five years after the beginning of the current financial framework, the level of absorption remains extremely low. The paper focuses on the main Romanian macroeconomic imbalances (the current account balance, international investment position) and on the most important sources for financing investments and development - the EU financial structural instruments: ERDF and Cohesion Fund. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at pointing out the evolution in real and financial plans in order to adhere to the EMU, using a comparative approach, on the example of Romania, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. The main results of the study are the following: the four countries have made notable progress in the years preceding the current crisis; however, considerable efforts are still needed in order to comply with the euro zone, in terms of living standards, economic structure, degree of openness of the economy, etc.; refer the financial convergence, directions are needed to increase the financial intermediation and financial depth in Romania and Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary recording slightly more favourable indicators. On the other hand, central banks, except the Polish one, should significantly improve the transmission mechanism of monetary policy upon the financial and real sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to briefly analyze the economic transition of Romania from a behavioural economics perspective. Despite the adverse effects experienced in the past regime, the paper finds out that the suitable macroeconomic policies implemented had fundamental effects, generating economic welfare and higher standards of living, life satisfaction, and happiness / subjective well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research is focused on realizing a better understanding of the aspects and the conditions that facilitate human traffick in a full transition society, such as the Romanian society. To highlight the characteristics of human trafficking and the actual dimensions of this phenomenon in Romania, the paper used both quantitative methods involving interpretation of statistics compiled by the competent institutions and the qualitative research methods, involving the analysis of reports, articles or case studies presented in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article analyzes the challenges faced by the European Union in its endeavour of implementing and developing cross-border cooperation as a means for reconciliation and regional development. It also presents the context in which Euro regions appeared as a form of institutionalized cross-border cooperation and focuses on the Danube-Kris-Mures-Tisa Euro region, highlighting the opportunities and threats faced by this particular Euro region. Acknowledging that mass-media is a mirror of the society, the paper aims to establish, by analyzing the regional mass-media, if DKMT can be considered a case of good practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years a substantial part of literature that covers topics on European integration has turned its attention to how the membership of the European Union (EU) has generated and contributed to domestic reform, a process commonly known as Europeanisation. This process represents the reform of institutions, structures and policies in compliance with the requirements, policies and dynamics of the European integration mechanisms. Following the national - European interaction, countries internalise European legislation and adapt institutionally. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the Europeanisation process and also to what extent it has influenced the political and economic reform in Romania throughout the pre-accession period. Despite its essential contributions, the Europeanisation effects were less significant in Romania (especially in the early years of negotiations with Brussels) compared with other Eastern European countries. And this has not been caused by the Europeanisation lack of efficiency, but mainly because of the Romanian political class reluctant to change that largely undermined the dynamics of the accession process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Romanian accounting system had different development stages. The last one started when Romania accessed the European Union. As the EU member states had the obligation to issue financial statements of the listed companies using International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Romania was no exception. As IFRS are different from national accounting regulations, it is expected that the reported turnover will be different under IFRS regulations compared to the national ones. In this paper we study to which extent the IFRS implementation has changed the accounting figures on turnover declared by Romanian listed companies. As the results show us, the majority of the companies have been neutral in what concerns the IFRS implementation, i.e., the reported turnover does not differ very much when different accounting regulations were applied (the national ones and the IFRS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared from other services, the medical services are accessed, required and necessary for any person, meaning a high cost for health care. In Romania, the level of health financing is below the European Union average, which means confronting both health professionals and patients with the lack of resources. Both funding and organization determine the proper functioning of a health system that is reflected on the population's health. This article aims to study the Romanian health system from the financing perspective and the financial management of health institutions, related to the performance level of this sector. In order to have a clear picture, Romania needs to be compared to the rest of the EU Member States in terms of financing, and sector performance. The performance degree the Romanian healthcare system contributes to a large extent to the population's general health, and it is necessary to comply with the European legislation. The degree of funding for this sector is reflected in performance and thus requires a higher GDP percentage allocated to health. The functioning of the health sector as a whole and the funding and management of its resources are a matter of general interest, given that these aspects are reflected in the health status of the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years a considerable amount of attention has been directed to the migration of tertiary educated people. Social scientists are interested in the brain drain phenomenon, in order to understand the positive and negative effects of highly-skilled migration in the sending countries. This paper examines physician migration in Romania, a country which records in Europe one of the largest stocks of emigrated medical doctors in the last few decades. Using data from official statistics, a survey carried out among Romanian medical doctors who have migrated, as well as innovative data from LinkedIn, we provide detailed evidence on the emigration flows and trends of Romanian physicians in terms of destinations, specialties and time frame of emigration. In addition, our study sheds light on the underlying reasons for migration and on difficulties encountered in the destination country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU and Canada represent the largest market in the world for the sale of ecological products attracting exports from many third countries and recording a total sale of 95% of the worldwide total market. The European market for ecological products - also known as "bio" / "eco" - in absolute figures - is somewhere around 20 billiards euro/year, and in the case of Romania, the market for those products varies around 200 million euro/year. According to European legislation, there are harmonized provisions and procedures for the import of ecological products which can be implemented in two ways: either by complying with the EU legislation on ecologic products, or based on the equivalence between the existent standards and control systems. In many European countries, the operators on such a market obey the rules established by Legislation for ecologic productions strictly. In Romania, a sanctioning system against those economic operators who fraudulently use product labels suggesting they are organic products has just recently been considered. Taking into consideration all these aspects, the present paper relies on the most recent bibliographic and statistical references in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic entities today are struggling to find the most effective way of combining the resources they have, tangible or intangible, in order to produce and sale the most wanted products, their purpose is to gain and keep the highest share of the market. These intangible resources, in our era, which is changing from industry based to knowledge based, are represented by knowledge, brain capacity and the power to use it at the highest rate. Knowledge has started to be considered a primordial factor, along with energy and matter, factors that hold the origin of the universe. The economic agents have realized that holding the latest information, in any domain or activity, and its proper use, also means holding a greater share of the market for a longer time, which leads to the final purpose of every economic unit, the profit. They can be called knowledge consumers. In Romania's rural area things are not the same, the knowledge consumer is theoretically represented by any economical unit activating here, but, as shall be presented further in this paper, things are far from theory. Those who should be knowledge consumers are using old methods and technologies, they are based on their own experience and do not know how to use the information that regards them directly, things that have to be changed in order to be an active and competitive member of the E.U. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present paper is to analyse the changes that occurred in the Romanian medical system since the communism's collapse and until nowadays and to determine the evolution of the population's health status during this period. During the last 25 years, the public Romanian healthcare system has been struggling to cope with underfunding. Our results indicate that this fact had a significant influence on both the medical assistance, reflected in physicians' emigration and poor healthcare conditions, especially in rural areas, and on the individuals' health status, Romania being far behind other EU states from this point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper aims to analyze the impact the economic crisis bursted out in the United States at the end of 2007 and quasi spreaded all over the world had on the (re) orientation of trade flows (exports) among European Union member states in general, and Romania in particular. As observation and analysis data tool we chose groupings, tabular and graphical representation. The analysis will be conducted at individual and group of countries levels. The main findings will show that although the geographic network of member states trade has been seriously shaken by the crisis, export flows orientatio remained quite similar to the period previous to economic decline. As for Romania, its exports prove to be influenced by the economic situation of the main European partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we analyze the evolution of the Romanian banking system after the 2007 financial crisis and the country`s accession to the European Union. The first part analyzes the main elements of the banking system: ownership structure, number of employees and banking units, loans and non-performing loans. The second part analyzes the level of financial intermediation of the banking system. The results showed that majority of the capital is private and foreign, the top five banks held over half of the bank assets, number of employees decreased due to the crisis and non-performing loans share had increased by over nine times. Romanian banking system have a low degree of financial intermediation, but the new developments of the EU banking systems proved that it can be a strong point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper assesses the role of social, economic and especially environmental factors in determining general, as well as ecotourism demand in Romania. In order to provide in-depth insights, we utilize a two-step approach: cross-sectional analysis for 2013 and a fixed-effect panel analysis for the 2000-2013 timespan (employing a total of 22 explanatory variables). Each of these methods was applied considering the counties of Romania. The main results show that, over the last 15 years, social and economic factors have contributed to the evolution of tourism demand more than aspects related to the environment. However, the emerging trend observed in 2013 shows a significantly stronger impact of ecological determinants on both general, as well as ecotourism demand. In order to encourage the attractiveness of the tourism sector, local and regional authorities should channel their policies in a balanced manner towards all of the three components of an integrated and sustainable system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in regional economic growth trajectories and the multiple regional effects of the economic crisis have revived studies dedicated to the subject of resilience. The main goal of this paper is to measure the resilience of the Romanian regions, seeking to answer two basic questions: What was the regional impact of the global crisis from 2008 onwards? How have the Romanian regions recovered following the crisis? We focus our analysis on the region with the highest economic growth in the post-crisis period (South-East) in order to understand the main drivers of economic recovery. The methodology of the study involves a multi-dimensional understanding of resilience. This means that we have extended our focus from economic indicators towards a more inclusive methodology related to the measurement of regional well-being. Our main finding is that productivity growth was a critical driver of economic recovery, having a significant impact on income and jobs, as well as influencing non-material elements of well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]