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As a result of the fact that at the end of 2011, in Romania, was conducted the Population and Houses Census, many studies were focused on the demographic evolution from our country. Our paper is focused on the factors that are influencing the evolution of population in Romania, in order to explain the evolution of demographics. The study was conducted on a 20 years timespan, using statistical data that are characterizing the macroeconomic and demographic environment between 1990 and 2010. To achieve our goals, we will use the statistical methods to analyze the data released (time series and cross section data) by the National Institute of Statistics. We will try to find some correlations between the evolution of population and social (natural increase of population, net migration) and economic factors (employment, average net wage, GDP). We conclude sustaining that the increase of emigrants and the ageing phenomenon in last 20 years decreased the number of population, while the increase of employment and GDP are two factors that have a positive influence on the population evolution. The average net wage may have two types of effects: an increase of the wage may represent an opportunity for some families to cover easily the cost of having a child, while for others, the opportunity of gaining higher wages may change their working behavior determining them to focus on career and postponing the birth of a child.

In this paper the authors will perform a comparative analysis of the impact that the population residential areas have on the economic and social activity from Romania. Our analysis will be carried out for a time span of 10 years, between 2000 and 2009. The main purposes are to emphasize the economic gaps between the residential areas (urban and rural) and to identify the factors that determine these gaps. The economic differences between rural and urban areas and their impact on the peoples standard of living represent an important issue for international institutions like IFRC, UNICEF or OECD. Also, this topic represents a frequent subject in the economic literature from poor and developing countries. Studies conducted by Huong and Booth (2010), Alister, Alana and Ayele (2007), Chao, Zhidong and Mingxing (2008), Mateoc-Srb, Mateoc, Darva?i and Manescu (2008) or Sahn and Stifel (2002) are representative examples. Most of these papers focus on the living standards differences generated by the differences between income and expenditures between urban and rural areas. To achieve our goals, we will use the statistical methods to analyze the data released by the National Institute of Statistics. We will try to find some correlations between the economic indicators household incomes, value and structure of household expenditures, structure of household expenditures the social indicators residential area, education level, age and occupation. The highlight of the gaps between the rural and urban areas will be the main objective during this analysis. We conclude that in Romania there are substantial differences between rural and urban areas. The income differences are determining different consumption patterns between rural and urban persons. In rural areas, the population is spending less in all goods and services aspect that reduce their standard of living. Anyway, the results obtained are the subject of at least two possible limits. The fact that the data series are too short may affect the results we have obtained. Also, the economic gaps analyzed represent an average for the whole country, what means that in some regions these differences may be even higher.

The purpose of this paper is to show that the monetary policy credibility and transparency represent two powerful sources for the improvement of macroeconomic performances. In order to achieve this goal, the authors adapted the methodology developed by Kr

In this paper, using the models from the economic literature, the authors study the credibility level of National Bank of Romania (NRB) during the time span Mars 2007 – Mars 2008. We will use three types of credibility indexes - two from the economic literature and one proposed by the authors. Also, we will emphasize the impact of unpredictable shocks - the natural calamities (drought) which affected the aggregate supply in the summer of 2007 and the depreciation of RON against the euro - on the NBR credibility.

Nowadays, the role of the sharing economy in tourism increases, the number of people involved as guests or hosts rising day by day. This dynamic generates a viable alternative to the traditional services, allowing tourists to customise their trips and enrich their experiences. This paper focuses on accommodation services, investigating the factors influencing the prices established by Airbnb hosts. Using structural equation modelling, the authors analyse the influence of different categories of factors (listing's characteristics, hosts' involvement, listing's reputation, listing's location, and rental policies) on the average daily rate. The results emphasise that the hosts establish the listing's price based on listing's characteristics and on their involvement – the owners managing only one listing and the ones charging a security deposit value more their involvement, while the other hosts focus more on the listings' characteristics. The location of the listing counts for experienced owners, while for opportunist owners it has no importance. The listings' reputation has a negative impact on the price, contrary to the conclusions achieved in other studies, an aspect that supports the idea that price determinants differ across regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a world of sustainable development, affected by a certain short-term liquidity distress, the economic actors are facing uncertainty since inadequate resource management and decision making can have significant effects over a country's future economic and societal development. Therefore, the stakeholders involved in the decision-making process consider economic forecasts, based on variables that factor in recent developments, to aid them in the aforementioned process. If they did not, they would not have a greater understanding of a country's performance indicators. Using past data, a set of analyses are performed, and economic models are built, with the scope of probabilistically determining Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The main objectives of this paper are thus, to assess Romania's development since joining the European Union (EU) and provide a long-term macroeconomic projection, together with a comparison between the forecasted data and the country's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in order to realistically estimate their achievability. Furthermore, a set of scenarios have been built that aim at creating a clearer perspective of how the recent global pandemic might affect Romania. The data sets have been taken from Eurostat, the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, European Commission, National Bank of Romania and the National Institute of Statistics; and a set of statistical tools have been used to fulfill the previously stated objectives, namely; Auto Regressive Moving Average (ARMA) for the short-term forecasts and Variable Autoregression (VAR) for the long-term models. The main results suggest a negative GDP growth of 4.95% for 2020 followed by a strong rebound in 2021. However, this figure will drastically be affected by how well or poorly the situation is managed. The European Commission anticipates a downturn of 6% in 2020 and a rebound 4.2% in the following year. This paper includes a sensitivity analysis as well, that attempts to eliminate potential forecasting biases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Located in the southeast of Romania, Bucharest is the capital and the largest city in the country. Economically, Bucharest is the most prosperous city in Romania. During the last years, this city faced one of the highest growths in the number of hotels. Nowadays, due to the development of Internet-based technologies, the reservation process has changed; travelers can easily get information about the experience of other guests and also compare prices. The aim of the present paper is to analyze how prices for a hotel stay, in the city of Bucharest, can be influenced by some quality signaling factors, as star rating, online consumer's ratings and the number of consumer's comments. By using a multiple regression model for 3 to 5-star hotels in Bucharest, we identify, on one hand, the factors that have a positive influence on hotel room rates and, on the other hand, the factors that have a negative impact on the consumer's willingness to pay. Our main results supply signals to hoteliers concerning the attributes most valuable for consumers which can lead to a higher room rate premium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural events and festivals can have a significant and important influence on the development of local communities. Their utilization of the endogenous resources of an area means that these events, most often, have a positive impact on the local economy. Quite consequentially, they may also extend the socio-cultural opportunities of local citizens. However, their utilization of time and space does raise concerns regarding environmental impact. Therefore, it is imperative that stakeholders study their net impact on a region. This present paper examines the economic, socio-cultural, and environmental impact of the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF). With a history of 15 editions, the festival gathers, year by year, an increasing number of people in Cluj-Napoca. The growth of the event has had unmistakable and important effects on the city. The purpose of the paper is to analyze resident participants' perceptions on economic, socio-cultural, and environmental effects. To reach this goal, an exploratory and descriptive research was conducted. Both primary and secondary data were used in the analysis, the questionnaire being the main tool used for collecting data about participants' perceptions. The results emphasize the positive effects at the socio-cultural level. The festival provides multiple possibilities to spend free time in a pleasant way, it sustains the development of cultural life, and it improves the educational and the cultural level of community. Moreover, the festival does not influence, in a negative manner, the moral principles of the society and it does not generate an increase in crime rate. From the economic point of view, the festival has the capacity to attract investments and additional revenues for the local government, it sustains the development of the city infrastructure, and it creates opportunities for residents to develop new economic activities. Lastly, from the environmental point of view, the festival sustains the improvement of environmental issues, it does not generate important traffic problems, and it does not deteriorate touristic resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study will concentrate on the Romanian pilgrimage tourism supply, in order to identify the characteristics of pilgrimage products. Using the Hofstede's approach for Romanian society, we develop a meta-analysis and a systematic review of the most important research studies done on this topic for Romanian culture. As a result, we have determined the weight of each cultural dimension and their effects on the religious tourism and pilgrimage behavior. We correlate the findings from Hofstede's theory with the data about the supply of pilgrimages in our country: main pilgrimage routes, services provided by the hospitality units, seasonality, length of stay, tourism and religious objectives the pilgrims may visit. The collectivism tendency and high uncertainty avoidance represent the main cultural aspects having an influence on pilgrims' behavior and on the Romania's supply of pilgrimages. As a result, most of the pilgrimages are concentrated in few destinations with a strong spiritual sense for an orthodox, have a small length of stay, while the services provided are customized to fulfill the pilgrims' basic needs and emphasize the idea of sharing resources between pilgrims. The presence of a priest as a spiritual guide may lead to an improved pilgrimage experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation in rural tourism represents a source both for increasing productivity and for improving tourists' satisfaction as well. The main benefits reported by innovators are a significant increase in the number of tourists and in the length of stay, while the others are struggling to attract tourists. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the innovation activities implemented by the units acting in Cluj County's rural tourism. We applied a semi structured interview with business owners based on OECD approach of innovation. We focused on the identification of innovative activities (product innovation, process innovation, organizational innovation and marketing innovation) and on the innovation's sources, obstacles and results. We also tried to describe the profile of the innovator in terms of age, level of studies, experience in tourism before starting the business or training in tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The size of the population represents a determining factor for the dimension of the labor force, of the potential population and of the actual labor force. Starting with 1990, Romania has undergone a process of major demographic changes. The direct demographic causes of the decline registered after 1990 are due, on one hand, to massive emigration since the beginning of the transition period (1990- 1991), and, on the other hand, to the unfavorable evolution of natural growth, turning negative beginning with 1992. On the medium and long term, these changes will affect the ratio between the active and inactive population and will lead to an increase of the demographic ageing. The present paper presents the Romanian current demographic situation and examines the implications that this phenomenon will have upon the labor market in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the economic impact of tourism in the case of Romania. To fulfill its goal, the author will focus on three macroeconomic indices (GDP, employment and exports) and using statistical data will analyze the relationship between tourism and these three macroeconomic variables. The results demonstrate that, in the case of Romania, the tourism has a low economic influence. In the end, using the models developed during the analysis, it will be forecasted the value of GDP for 2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The independence represents an essential condition for the central banks that conduct an inflation targeting monetary policy. According to the international economic literature, the central banks' political and economical independence influence the formation of the private inflation expectations. Even if the aspect of central bank independence is new in our economic literature, we have some valuable papers about this subject. These papers study the role of NBR independence or analyze the evolution of the NBR independence. Our approach is different. The law 312/2004 stipulates that NBR is an independent public institution, but we want to see if the society has the same perception. In consequence, we decided to study the private perceptions regarding the National Bank of Romania's independence. To achieve this goal, we evaluated the civil society perceptions regarding the influence of presidency, government, parliament and political parties in the NBR's activity. Our research is based on the data gathered during the time span March 2007 - February 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic crisis we confront at this moment affects the peoples' lives and enterprises' activity. In this paper we evaluate the impact of economic crisis on the travel agents' activity. The peoples' standard of living and the enterprises' activities has a significant influence on the travel agents' economic performances. We will base our analysis on two assumptions. Firstly, when the society standard of living is higher its leisure expenditures are higher and the travel agents have more clients. In opposition, in recession the amount of leisure expenditures decrease and the number of private clients of the travel agents is lower. Secondly, in the economic growth times, the number of business clients of the travel agents is rising, while in the recession times the business clients are decreasing. In order to verify these two assumptions, we will conduct a survey on travel agents from Cluj County, Romania. Using a questionnaire, we will collect the necessary data and by the statistical means we will process and interpret these data. In the questionnaire we will study the evolution of the peoples' leisure expenditure and business clients' expenditures on tourism services as reported to 12 months ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]