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Fair trade is a growing topic among researchers, which has grown in recent decades. This paper aims to identify the importance of fair trade as a topic of scientific research. To achieve this goal, a bibliometric analysis was performed, consisting of a quantitative analysis of statistical data through which the research results are disseminated and public performances are presented. Through this analysis it is possible to perform multiple analyzes including the identification of scientific publications in a particular field and citations of authors or articles. With the help of the VosView program, there has been a strong link between fair trade and food security, consumption, standards, quality, certification, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human needs and the consumer behaviour are in a permanent transformation and having more sustainable and healthy food becomes a priority. The consumer behaviour follows the trends of the population needs. Eco-food consumption is increasing, as a result of agricultural, nutritional and food production policies. The producers in the eco-food branch should focus on quality that meets the consumers' demands. This study is focused on eco-food products analysis from the new consumption behaviour and sustainability point of view. The main purpose is to analyse the attributes perceived by consumers and their interest related to viability and sustainability of the ecofood, in association with expected benefits. The methods used for research are the market survey and focus group, alongside the incursion in the literature related to eco-food consumption behaviour. The research area is delimited on Iași County population, only for the eco-food products consumers. The results indicate a growing interest for the eco-food consumption, especially among middle-aged people, interested in better quality of life, personal and family health, and a sustainable new lifestyle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper highlights the activity of raising sheep and goats in Romania, and the consumption of meat from these categories of animals, in the period 2015-2021, while also sketching the autochthonous ethnographic framework where the economic activity is placed - the tradition records millennial pastoral aspects that are still preserved more or less formally with deep echo in Romanian popular spirituality, reflected in popular beliefs, traditions, customs, folklore. The paper analysed specific indicators of the sheep and goat breeding sector, such as: quantitative fluctuations of the number of sheep and goats; the sheep meat production obtained in slaughter houses; the number of sheep slaughtered in slaughterhouses; the price for sheep meat "per 100 kg live weight" and the average annual consumption, per inhabitant, of sheep and goat meat. The statistical sources for our data are the National Institute of Statistic and Eurostat, as well as other specialized materials. Statistical data showed that in Romania in 2021 there were over 10,000,000 sheep and approximately 1,500,000 goats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to present the evolution and future trend of organic farming, the forecast made for the next period, until 2025. The data provided by the international database Eurostat have been used to set up the forecast for the next period until 2025 regarding the areas occupied with oilseeds plants, using SPSS software, Forecasting working method. Organic farming is the production system that is based on certain strict principles of obtaining products, in accordance with guidelines and standards. national and international standards, which are designed to reduce the human impact on the environment while maintaining the normal functioning of the agricultural system. Comparing Romania to the EU member countries in terms of total area converted to organic farming, it ranks 8th with a total area of 291,629 ha, and first among European countries with 90,124 ha in terms of area grown with oilseeds in an ecological system. As a result of the application of measures to support and stimulate organic production, it is claimed that the area under organic farming at national level will increase by about 67% in 2022 compared to 2012. The results showed that in 2025 it is expected as Romania to cultivate up to 21,884 hectares of rapeseed, 71,274 hectares of sunflower and 26,963 hectares of soybeans in an ecological system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aimed to study the purchase habits and behavior of the young generation regarding consumption of organic products. For this purpose, literature in the field was studied regarding the EU organic production and consumption. In order to determine the young Romanian consumers' perception concerning the organic products, a field survey based on a questionnaire was run during March -June 2021 on a sample consisting of 191 students from Sibiu and Brăila. Organic agriculture is a dynamic system in Romania, registering in the last 10 years an ascending trend, from 182,706 ha in 2010 to 468,887.05 ha in 2020. The organic products are consumed by the 90.6 % of the young people investigated (173 persons). They purchased organic products mainly form local markets (81.15%), super (80 %) or hypemarket (70.1%). Also, an amount of 66 % respondents use to buy organic products from specialised stories. The young generation believes that the most effective way to promote the consumption of organic products are: events organised in hyper or supermarket, specialised fairs for organic products, events like "open doors" at ecological operators. The students who were part of the target group of this study are in the category of well-informed consumers. They know how to recognize organic products by the existing marks on the packaging (69.6%). Young people say the main qualities of organic products are: healthy (93.2%), tasty (71.2%), contain fewer chemicals (61.8%), improve quality of life (51.3%), do not contain synthetic additives (48.7%). At the same time, organic products protect the environment (45%), support family farming (40.3%) and the local economy (40.3 %). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital inclusive finance is a new type of financial service that combines digital finance with inclusive finance. It is of great significance for improving the accessibility of financial services for small- and medium-sized enterprises and promoting their development. In this paper, we merge the Peking University Digital Financial Inclusion Index of China with the innovation data of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) from the National Bureau of Statistics, verify the facilitating effect of the development of digital financial inclusion on the technological innovation of MSMEs, and explain the mechanism of the influence of digital finance on the innovation of MSMEs from the perspective of alleviating financing constraints and promoting consumption. Digital inclusive finance has a promoting effect on the technological innovation of enterprises of different technological levels, but the support for high-tech enterprises is still insufficient. The heterogeneity analysis found that there are significant differences in the regional effects of digital financial inclusion; the central and western regions compared to the eastern region have better performance of digital inclusive finance to promote enterprise innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a method of using the theory of cumulative energy demand to assess this demand in longterm operation of vehicles with a mileage forecast of up to 350,000 km. Based on the results of operational "consumption" of energy and taking into account the energy "costs" of obtaining it, a comparison of the currently popular BEV's (Battery Electric Vehicles) and FCEV's (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles) was presented. The question arises how much energy must be used to propel vehicles in their natural operation. After calculating using available data, the answer is -- by operating FCEV's on average, two times more electricity is needed than by operating BEV's. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Meat is an essential food used by the population to meet food needs, it is an important source of protein and fat. Meat consumption is highly variable worldwide, at least due to the preponderance of certain species in its establishment. The structure of consumption is linked to the customs and traditions of each region. For this reason, the purpose of the paper was to analyze meat consumption in Romania in the period 2014-2018 pointing out its dynamics, structure and annual change. At national level, there is a preponderance - in consumption - of pork, followed by poultry (about 87% of total consumption at national level). It can be seen that the total level of meat consumption was 65.78 kg, a level which was constituted by actual contributions of: 0.58 kg - other types of meat, 2.26 kg - sheep and goat meat, 5.62 kg - beef, 23.80 kg - poultry and 33.52 kg - pork. The consumption of edible organs was 3.10 kg (4.71% of the total consumption). There is a need to improve the structure of total meat consumption by increasing the share of beef and other meats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using monthly zip-code level data on credit card transactions covering 16 U.S. cities, this paper investigates changes in consumption at local commercial places during the early coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era. Since using aggregate-level data can suppress valuable information on consumption patterns coming from zip codes, the main contribution is achieved by estimating common factors across zip codes that are controlled for factors that are zip-code and time specific as well as those that are zip-code and sector specific. The estimation results based on common factors across zip codes show that relative consumption of products and services that can be consumed at home (e.g., grocery, pharmacy, home maintenance) has increased up to 56% amid COVID-19 compared to the previous year, whereas relative consumption of products and services that cannot be consumed at home (e.g., fuel, transportation, personal care services, restaurant) has decreased up to 51%. Similarly, after controlling for the corresponding factors, online shopping has increased up to 21%, while its expenditure share has increased by up to 16% compared to the pre-COVID-19 period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sharing economy is established as a new economy in the digital era. Many reviews on the sharing economy avail, but none, to date, has shed enough light to illuminate understanding pertaining to the similar and dissimilar characteristics of consumers and producers in the sharing economy. To address this gap, this paper aims to provide a one-stop, state-of-the-art overview of existing research on the sharing economy through the lens of consumers and producers. To do so, this paper conducts a systematic review of 148 articles on the sharing economy identified through the snowballing technique and organized using the antecedents, decisions, and outcomes (ADO) and theories, contexts, and methods (TCM) frameworks. In doing so, this paper unpacks the trust, personal, economic, social, entrepreneurial, environmental, legal, and technological factors that impact on behavioural performance, loyalty, and impact factors among consumers and producers in the sharing economy. Finally, this paper also reveals the theories, contexts, and methods that avail for sharing economy research, as well as the potentially fruitful directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concepts of internet banking and mobile banking have led to changes in people's financial behavior in terms of earning, consuming, and saving. This new concept, which entered the market quite recently, was used at the beginning of the new digital technology in various types of activities, banking operations, and nowadays these services are used by all people who want to save through banks or create new sources of income, as well as to make quick currency exchanges without going to credit institutions. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze people's behavior toward new digital technologies, e-banking adoption, and non-banking financial institutions internet services. The objectives pursued are: whether e-banking users are homogeneous in their characteristics in the EU 27 and which users have the most convergent or divergent behavior in the EU 27. Statistical data taken from Eurostat 2023 was used for the Sigma convergence analysis, the time series taken into consideration being from 2004 to 2022. The results showed that the changes in the procedural-fiscal-financial sphere are the ones that fully reflect the two principles underlying the tax evolution: digitization and simplification. These results confirm that people are adopting the new digital technology and change their behavior from consumer to prosumer. The study shows that all most categories adopted e-banking using new digital technologies when it comes to consumption and saving, with few exceptions that should be carefully supported. Plain Language Summary: E-Banking convergence and the adopter's behaviour within the EU Countries The concepts of internet banking and mobile banking have led to changes in people's financial behavior in terms of earning, consuming, and saving. This new concept, which entered the market quite recently, was used at the beginning of the new digital technology in various types of activities, banking operations, and nowadays these services are used by all people who want to save through banks or create new sources of income, as well as to make quick currency exchanges without going to credit institutions. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze people's behavior towards new digital technologies, e-banking adoption, and non-banking financial institutions internet services. The objectives pursued are: whether e-banking users are homogeneous in their characteristics in the EU 27 and which users have the most convergent or divergent behavior in the EU 27. Statistical data taken from Eurostat 2023 was used for the Sigma convergence analysis, the time series taken into consideration being from 2004 to 2022. The results showed that the changes in the procedural-fiscal-financial sphere are the ones that fully reflect the two principles underlying the tax evolution: digitization and simplification. These results confirm that people are adopting the new digital technology and change their behavior from consumer to prosumer. The study shows that all most categories adopted e-banking using new digital technologies when it comes to consumption and saving, with few exceptions that should be carefully supported. Digital transformation is not just about buying new, modern equipment, or retrieving data quickly and securely, but also about the technical implementation of state-of-the-art IT systems. It should be noted that digitization has had important effects on both public and private organizations and people, which can be translated as follows: time saved in people's interaction with public and private organizations; efficiency in administrative processes; transparency in their work. The economic environment becomes much more attractive and leads to investment and innovation in all areas. The digitization of all public or private services would also strengthen the administrative capacity of the whole population. Through studies, research, and future studies, it is essential to analyze and demonstrate that new digital technologies and their use could lead to the elimination of tax fraud, increased public confidence in local or central government and confidence in business. Finally, we can say that it is essential that new research in the field of digitization and e-banking use strengthens the literature reviews and explains at a higher level the answers to all research questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring Consumption Switzerland is a public–private partnership between the University of St. Gallen and the payment companies Worldline and SIX that processes and publishes payment data on transactions in Switzerland processed by Wordline/SIX in real time. This paper provides background information on this novel source of data and presents their attributes, aggregation and granularity, and their interpretability. The paper presents several use cases that show the strengths of the data, and it alerts future users of the data to possible challenges. The paper also discusses the project's impact and provides an outlook. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the SV-TVP-VAR model is used to study the relationships between income inequality, household debt, and consumption growth in the US. This is of great significance for studying whether household debt can become a "substitute" for income and whether it is possible to achieve sustainable growth in consumption under the background of worsening income inequality. According to the research results, the main conclusions are as follows: Firstly, the widening of income inequality would increase consumption in the short term but restrain consumption in the medium and long term, as the relationship between them would turn from positive to negative. Secondly, household debt could improve consumption in the short term but reduce consumption in the medium and long term, with long-term effects being greater than medium-term effects, which means that the long-term negative impact of US household debt on household consumption would be persistent. Lastly, widening income inequality has led to rising household debt over different maturities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]