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This study is devoted to assessing the interdependencies between health, education and wealth at the aggregate regional level of South Mediterranean Countries (SMC) for the purpose of strengthening transversal economic and social policies. It looks first, to the major contributions of the previous literature developed on this subject. Theoretical and empirical studies at micro and macroeconomic levels prove that there are causal relations between variables related to health, education and wealth. As long as only partial and limited evidence exists on these interdependencies for the SMC, the second part is an empirical analysis based on World Bank, United Nations and on composite international indices. The results show that large interdependencies appear to be consistently exhibited by the data. Also, in the Granger sense of causality, health and education have been revealed to have important effects in leading these economies. The results attained are likely contributions for the enhancement of the economic and social policies to strengthen human development in the region.

Under the impact of unfavourable demographic developments, some existing imbalances on the Romanian labor market have worsened. Thus, in 2019 the labor force shortage was estimated to 300000 persons, while in the last ten years the number of vacancies has exceeded 60,000 places, more than double the level at the beginning of the period (2010). This phenomenon may have negative social and economic effects. In this context, the present paper aims at analysing the labor shortages in Romania, at identifying its main determinants and the most important social and economic consequences and recommends a series of measures to mitigate the negative effects of this phenomenon.

Quality of life is a broad multidimensional concept that usually includes both objective and subjective evaluations of positive and negative aspects of life. This paper analyzes the interdependencies between the nine dimensions of quality of life in EU countries, based on objective indicators according to EUROSTAT approach. The main objective of this paper is to identify some patterns among EU countries and some directions of improvement of quality of life in Romania by using correlation analysis, principal component analysis and cluster methods. There are identified three main dimensions of quality of life: Material dimension, Social dimension and Educational and environmental dimension. Moreover there are identified three clusters among EU countries: one with high levels of all dimensions, one with high levels of Material dimension but low levels of Social dimension and the third one with low levels of Material dimension and Educational and environmental dimension. Romania is included in the third cluster with a high level on Social dimension but a low level in Material dimension and Educational and environmental dimension.

Finding the main influencers in brand indicators is a challenge for every marketing manager and researchers working in the branding investments area. How much to invest, which is the proper media channel mix or what is the influence of brand heritage are the questions of interest and which the paper responds to. Therefore, this paper is aiming to analyze the brand performance indicators in 2018 (awareness, trial and usage) for over 700 brands in Romania based on their investment on each media channel for 2014-2018 period and 2014 brand indicators. As for characterization of media investment 47 variables were retained, principal component analysis was used for reducing factors of influence. Thus, four main components were retrieved: media investment in absolute measures, main and second proportion in terms of media channel mix, and qualitative aspects of the brand. In conclusion, some multivariate regressions were built for identifying impact on each 2018 brand indicator using the four principal components and 2014 levels of the brand indicators.

In Romania, in the recent years, privatization, economic restructuring, diversifying and business modernization were not accompanied by a special policy on job quality improvement or on improving/modernising working conditions. There is a general legislative framework providing a threshold for working conditions, but a lot of jobs and occupational groups are exposed to multiple vulnerabilities, i.e. about 10% of the employees working more than 8 hours a day. In contrast with economic restructuring efforts, foreign direct investments and high technology transfers, employment quality have not changed substantially, in some cases the vulnerability level being even higher. The main contribution of our paper is to identify the most vulnerable occupations in Romania by using the available national indicators. Using Principal Component Analysis, we identify two main sources of vulnerability in employment: one related to working time and the other employment’s attributes i.e. the level of earnings and contract type (part time or full time). The correlations of these variables allowed us to identify the main occupations with multiple sources of vulnerability – ISCO5, ISCO 6 and ISCO 7 – appear to be the most vulnerable in terms of working time and earnings in Romania.

Based on field observations and an empirical survey on religion and identity that was conducted among the Slavic Orthodox population in the wider Baku area and in Ganja, this article examines the identity and social position of this community, now the country’s main Christian population group. While earlier research on the nominally Christian Slavic groups in the Caspian–Central Asian space tended to concentrate on ethnolinguistic and political issues, this research focuses on religious identification, religious practice, and the status of the Orthodox Church. Numbering just 1.5 percent of the population, the Orthodox Christian community in Azerbaijan is nearing extinction due to its aging membership. Nonetheless, Orthodox Christianity will keep a presence in the country and its society, although it could attract a more heterogeneous following.

Based on ethnographic methods, this article provides a perspective on the relationship between state-led modernisation process and the emergence of a new middle class in the post-Soviet urban Azerbaijan. Furthermore, it examines the meaning and the characteristics of the Azerbaijani middle class and the way in which the new aspirations modify the everyday life. Due to natural resources, especially oil and gas, the Azerbaijani economy went through rapid growth, at least during the first decades of this century. This engendered stark changes in the country’s social landscape and social stratification. The state used a portion of the revenues from the extractive sector gained during the last two decades to invest in the modernisation of the country and to create new aspirational values for its citizens.

Resumen El aumento de los contratos atipicos y de la rotacion laboral en Europa esta intensificando la vulnerabilidad en el empleo. Con datos de la Encuesta Social Europea de 2008 y mediante analisis de correspondencias multiples, los autores elaboran tres indices de vulnerabilidad en el empleo (en funcion del empleador, del puesto de trabajo y de ambos), que aplican a una muestra de 29 paises, fundamentalmente europeos. El primero (equivalente a la definicion de empleo vulnerable de la OIT, basada en paises en desarrollo) explica el 51 por ciento de los datos. En el segundo, resultan determinantes la categoria ocupacional y la ausencia de responsabilidades de supervision.

According to the data provided by the National Institute of Statistics, in Romania, in 2015, there were recorded almost ten million tourist arrivals in accommodation establishments, of which foreign tourist arrivals represented less than a quarter (22.55%). After 2000, tourist arrivals have registered an upward trend, interrupted only during the global economic and financial crisis in 2008–2009. Over 57% of foreign tourists arrivals in Romania in 2015 came from the European Union (mostly from Hungary and Bulgaria), and from Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. In 2014, only 5% of companies in Romania were operating in the hotel and restaurant industry, their turnover representing less than 1% of the total value. The average length of stay for Romanian tourists ranges between 2 days (at the mountain) and over 3 days (at the seaside). Foreign tourist arrivals are mostly concentrated in mountain areas, in Bucharest, and in other cities as well. This paper identifies and explores—using methods of descriptive statistics and factor analysis—patterns existing in relationships between different tourism statistical indicators (arrivals of Romanian tourists, arrivals of foreign tourists, overnight staying for Romanian and foreign tourists, tourism accommodation capacity, tourism accommodation establishments, favorite tourism destinations). Thus, there are analyzed the essential components and characteristics of the main types of tourism developed in Romania and some measures of economic and social policy are proposed, aiming at optimizing tourism activity in Romania.

Choosing a college may be a difficult and sometimes an unpredictable process, but it is mainly seen from one perspective. We can find a lot of articles that give advice on how to make the best decision, but we do not know exactly the final result: what made a person choose a college over another one. So, a college can also be seen as a product. It is important to know the candidate's expectation and to determine his / her motivation. Many would say that the main influence is the passion for a particular field, but there are few who know exactly what they want to become when they graduate High cchool which lead us into thinking that there are other significant motives. Therefore the purpose of this study is to determine the most important characteristics which take part in the process of the decision. In order to understand how people make choices between universities, a survey was conducted (collecting the quantitative information from young Romanian citizens) from which we extracted the ideal profile of a college and the satisfaction concerning the choices made by students. The results give a general view on what the candidates / students expect from the universities.

The Romanian labor market has faced over time with an irregular transition, resulting in an increase of labor shortages. One reason for this phenomenon is the increase of emigration. This paper aims to identify: the employee profile, for those who would like to migrate for work abroad; the preferred emigration ways for employees, and the characteristics of employees who would like to work abroad for higher earnings. Therefore a survey of SME employees in urban areas of the country is developed with the support of the Romanian Institute of Public Opinion Survey (IRSOP Market Research & Consulting). The survey respondents were asked about their opinion on the major problems facing the Romanian labor market: discrimination, external migration and undeclared work. Survey results show that potential migrants’ profile in Romania is similar to that of European migrant: male individuals with low education, young and without experience. The analysis revealed a significant influence of the regional factor on migration. The authors mentioned some social and economic measures needed to be implemented to reduce Romanian external migration.

Resume La progression des formes de travail atypiques et l'augmentation du nombre d'emplois occupes au cours d'une vie professionnelle sont deux tendances marquantes de l'evolution du marche du travail en Europe. Apres un tour d'horizon des perspectives sur la question, dont celle de l'OIT, les auteurs s'appliquent a mesurer cette nouvelle «vulnerabilite au travail» en s'appuyant sur une analyse des correspondances multiples et des donnees de l'Enquete sociale europeenne de 2008. Ils proposent ainsi deux indicateurs inedits, un indice de la vulnerabilite liee a l'employeur et un indice de la vulnerabilite liee au poste, qui constituent pris ensemble un indice global de vulnerabilite au travail.

International audience; Free Movement of people is a fundamental principle of the European Union (EU). In a context of strong divergence in employment and working conditions among EU member states, migration can be seen as a way to increase employment opportunities but also to escape from poor working conditions at home. In this article, we focus on the possible influence of employment vulnerability by comparing its individual level among migrants and native workers in EU countries. We implement propensity score matching methods using data from the European Social Survey (2008) and indexes of employment vulnerability proposed by Bazillier et al. (2014). Overall, we show that migrants face the same level of employment vulnerability than natives, all other things being equal. But there are strong differences by skill-level. Low-skilled migrants have a lower level of vulnerability mainly because of a lower level of employer vulnerability while high-skilled migrants face a higher level of vulnerability, because of a higher level of job vulnerability.

This chapter introduces the major trends that have affected the perception of the migrations of skilled labor. Different models are introduced to capture the impacts of the decisions of skilled emigrants. The last and the more up to date models are the ones related to the new economics of skilled labor migration and its likely positive spillovers into education and research. Attempts to compare the best known models are also pursued in this chapter with preliminary empirical assessments based on some available data. The results attained confirm the promising role of these models of the new economics of skilled labor migration.

International audience; Two of the most notable trends in labour markets in Europe are the rise in the number of atypical job contracts (e.g. fixed-term contracts and temporary work) and the increase in job turnover. The concept of “employment vulnerability” can be used to describe these trends, which weaken the employer–employee relationship. In this article, the authors measure this employment vulnerability, for individual European countries, by creating two indices – an “employer-related vulnerability index” and a “job-related vulnerability index” – which are then aggregated to form an overall employment vulnerability index.

Summary In the next decades, developed countries will experience dramatic changes in their demographic trends. The retirement of the wide baby-boom generations, the increase in life expectancy and the decline in fertility ratios are likely to modify the size and the age-structure of their populations. The expected population ageing in European countries will burden the pension systems, especially wherever the pay-as-you-go pillar is predominant. Recently, migration has received a widespread attention as a solution to expected population decline and ageing in these countries. The flow of (young) migrants to developed countries is perceived as a means to alleviate the financial burden of pension systems. The aim of this contribution is to clarify the issue of aging on labour and capital markets in a macroeconomic perspective. A special attention is given to the risk of imbalances in the financing of social protection in the context of demographic ageing.

Local and regional development is an increasingly important issue for researchers and politicians. The challenge of enhancing prosperity, improving wellbeing, and increasing living standards has become acute for localities and regions with developing economies. Moreover, questions about the implications of globalization for local and regional development in transition economies are of strong interest. The present chapter looks at how EEE countries have been developed at regional and local levels during the transition period and identifies some examples for Arab countries using a series of indicators and statistical methods.

This is a chapter that introduces the major arguments for selecting EEE countries for comparisons with Arab economies. The focus is placed on the neighborhood, with the European Union and the similarities related to the transition processes experienced by EEE countries while moving form centralized and administrated to open and market-driven economies. The series of international collaborative frameworks developed with the EU, with Arab countries, and within the Mediterranean region are also among the reasons behind selecting the comparisons between Arab and EEE economies.

This chapter starts with a short literature review about the opportunities and challenges facing Arab countries. The lessons learnt from EEE countries are then discussed. A synthesis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the Arab region is also introduced. Based on the conclusions from previous chapters, major inclusive economic policies are developed for the Arab economies. Furthermore, the present chapter devotes a large part to the overall economic and social policies that might be useful in generating additional insights to further the knowledge economy, social inclusion, enterprise creation, and a new environment for better well-being of the population. This could be used by policy makers to formulate coherent reforms for the sustainable development of the region based on knowledge economy principles and according to the particularities of each country and to the previous experiences of other developing countries.

One of the most salient evolutions of labour markets in Europe is the increasing number of atypical job contracts (fixed-term contracts, temporary work) and an augmentation of job turnover. These phenomena weaken the relationship between employers and employees. The concept of employment vulnerability may be accurate to describe current evolutions. Our paper provides a set of new indicators of employment vulnerability for European countries. In the context of an important mobility of workers between European countries, emigration could be seen as a way of escaping from employment vulnerability in the country of origin. In this paper, we would like to test this hypothesis by comparing individual levels of employment vulnerability between migrants and native workers. We implement propensity score matching methods on the European Social Survey (2008). Overall, we show that migrants face the same level of employment vulnerability as natives, all other things being equal. But there are strong differences by skill-level. Low-skilled migrants have a lower level of vulnerability mainly because of a lower level of employer vulnerability. On contrary, high-skilled migrants face a higher level of vulnerability mainly explained by a higher job vulnerability.

This is a contribution to the new economics of skilled labor emigration that focuses on the mobility of physicians inside European Union from ECE countries. Economic models under risk neutrality and aversion are used. The findings show that the education could change significantly the results on the emigration benefices. Comparisons of theoretical and observed relative human capital per country averages are conducted and ensured the statistical validity of the model used. The empirical results based on the available data on emigration by Docquier and Marfouk (2008) but also by Bhargava, Docquier, and Moullan (2010) allowed further use of the model to understand the current trends in the emigration of physicians and the border between brain gain and brain drain. The countries included in the study all exhibited brain gain between 1991-2004. Each country is encouraged to anticipate the likely effects of this emigration on the economy with the increase of health demand, the domestic wages, and the increase in education capacity for medical doctors.

The focus of this chapter is on the selection of the theoretical model to be used to capture the main features related to the migration decisions of medical doctors in the selected groups of countries (ECE, MENA, and EU). The selected model is consequently submitted to empirical tests, and this is shown in the following chapters of this section.

This is a contribution to the new economics of skilled labor emigration that focuses on the mobility of physicians inside European Union from sending MENA and East European countries. Economic models under risk neutrality and aversion are used. The findings show that the education could change significantly the results on the emigration benefices. The empirical results based on the available data on emigration by Docquier and Marfouk (2006, 2008) and Bhargava, Docquier and Moullan (2010) allowed further use of the model to understand the current trends in the emigration of physicians and the border between brain gain and brain drain. The countries included in the study are all exhibiting brain gain under 1991-2004 emigration data. Each country is encouraged to anticipate the likely effects of this emigration on the economy with the increase of health demand, the domestic wages and the increase in education capacity for medical doctors.

Europe will remain the most visited touristic destination in the world with a total of 717 million tourists in 2020. The foreseen increase rate is 3.1% per year. This is one point lower than the world average, leading to a loss of market quota of Europe from almost 60% in 1995 to 46% in 2020. This paper presents the features of Southern-Western European tourism in 2020. The paper analyses the European touristic level according to the tourist arrivals in the Southern and Western Europe, as well as to the money collections. It has been foreseen that the number of tourist international arrivals will increase reaching to almost 1.6 billion in 2020 (25 times more comparing to the value registered at the end of 1990). Collections from international tourism are to reach 2,000 billion USD until 2020. The empirical results of the research will demonstrate the evolutions and tendencies of S-W European tourism. In case the dynamics of the European tourism will remain the same in the future, as the experts of OMT/UNWTO anticipate, it is necessary for stimulation measures to be adopted, as well as measures of supporting the tourism industry.

Physicians’ migration revolves around the reasons of better structure of medical education, desire for better income, general security and improved prospects for family. Moreover, many Central and East European Countries are characterized by severe shortages, inappropriate skill mixes and gaps in health service coverage. This paper starts with a literature review about the determinants of migration. Most of the post-enlargement East-West migration flows have been pushed by the dissatisfaction with economic opportunities in new member states compared to the older ones. Is this the main reason as well for migration of physicians? And which are the effects of this migration in source countries? In order to answer to these questions, we have analyzed the health sector in CEE countries: health trends and patterns, education, employment, wages, physicians’ migration by using descriptive statistics, factorial and regression analysis.

In recent years, migration for work has become the most important component of Romanian migration. According to several studies are about two million Romanian workers abroad, around 10% of population. This paper is an overview of all possible trajectories for temporary migration from Romania to EU countries. By using data from National Employment Agenc y, we have identified for each emigration trajectory the vulnerabilities associated. During the crisis the most vulnerable migrants for work were low skilled legal workers from less developed EU countries. The less vulnerable were highly skilled migrants for work in health or IT sectors. On the other hand, the head hunters were stimulated during the crisis, becoming more aggressive and increasing workers vulnerability. The offer for highly qualified jobs were relatively modest in terms of provided benefits which has turned into an obvious advantage for employers and a major disadvantage for migrants for work on medium term.

The goal of the present study is to contribute to the improvement of cooperation between countries in global efforts to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products (ITTP), by identifying common gaps and potential solutions using modern statistical instruments. For each of the 30 European reference countries, the first objective of this paper is to identify models of ITTP modus operandi. Empirical and individual observations suggest that such models exist, but no rigorous statistical evidence is available. The second objective of this paper is to assess the similarities and differences between various components of governance in countries for each ITTP model identified. The paper demonstrates that countries sharing common patterns of modus operandi in ITTP, also share common strengths and weaknesses in their governance status. Reinforcing governance with shared instruments and common goals across countries sharing common ITTP modus operandi, can potentially improve the control of illicit trade in these products. The current study presents evidence for the need to tailor cooperation between countries and the significant role of non-fiscal measures in fighting ITTP.