Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies

The aim of this study is to investigate the efects of foreign direct investment, economic growth and renewable energy variables on carbon (CO2) emissions belonging to 27 European Union member states and Turkey for the period of 2002–2019 by using a panel data model. In this study, the foreign direct investment variable is used as a share in GDP, the economic growth variable is refected by the gross domestic product data in dollars per capita, the carbon emission data are estimated in million tons and renewable energy is calculated in total, as share of primary energy supply. The fndings obtained from this study indicated the efect of the related variables on CO2 emissions was statistically signifcant, the impact of foreign direct investment and economic growth on CO2 emissions was positive, and the impact of renewable energy on CO2 emissions was negative. From the evidences obtained from the results of this study, it is seen that countries should apply policies prompting the utilization of clean and renewable energy sources in their economy in order to achieve sustainable economic growth. Properly designed policies in this direction are of vital importance to decrease carbon release and to enable the switching to low-carbon economy.

The unexpected pandemic eruption in March 2020, the European efforts to diminish the gas house emissions, prolonged drought, higher inflation and the war in Ukraine clearly have had a strong impact on the electricity price. In this paper, we analyze the electricity prices on the Romanian Day-Ahead Market (DAM) along with other variables (inflation, consumption and traded volume of gas on DAM) over the last three and a half years in an attempt to understand its evolution and future trend in the economic and geopolitical context. Autoregressive Distributed Lag models are proposed to analyze the causality among variables on short- and long-term perspective, whereas Quantile Regression (QR) is proposed to enhance the results of the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression. Furthermore, using market concentration metrics – Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), C1 and C3 ratio, we analyze the competitiveness on the Romanian DAM and correlate it with the electricity price evolution. The concentration indicators on this market reflect the degree of competition manifested between sellers and buyers respectively, their dynamics being able to influence the price level. The higher concentration on the sellers’ side (HHI = 1500) indicates a potential speculative behavior on this market that led to higher prices on DAM.

This study analyzed the impact of learning ambidexterity on innovation and tested the mediating effect of enabling formalisation on this relationship in creative industries. Polynomial regressions were used to test the hypothesised relationships on a sample consisting of 379 medium and large sized Romanian firms. The results demonstrate that the learning ambidexterity improves innovation, while enabling formalisation is mediating the effects of exploratory and exploitative learning capabilities on innovation. By examining the relationships between learning ambidexterity and innovation, it extends other studies findings. The paper contributes to deeper examination of formalisation on innovation outcomes by focusing on enabling formalisation. The study is performed in creative industries and in medium and large sized companies, usually poorly researched contexts in relation with learning ambidexterity. The study contributes to ambidexterity literature by focusing specifically on learning capability, a new type of organisational capability. Due to the relative lack of validated understanding of the learning ambidexterity impact on innovation, this study contributes to the development of theory explaining this interaction and its effects. Finally, the results demonstrate complementarity between exploratory and exploitative learning capabilities.

The main objective of this paper is to highlight the importance of core competences as an important catalyst to enable a sustainable transition of business models to Industry 5.0. According to our research based on a scientific methodology, we illustrated that Industry 4.0 might greatly affect the labor market by introducing ITC, AI, IR and AR that will change many jobs in most areas of activity. One alternative solution to diminish these negative effects is to accommodate and prepare the shift to a more human-centric approach. In order to better implement this alternative solution and to generate mid- to long-run positive effects (from an economic, social and environmental perspective), we consider it is imperative that human resources be prepared to understand and to use new technologies. We have focused our research context on European countries. We found that only a part of the European Union Member Countries benefit from the use of human resources with advanced digital skills. Under these circumstances, we consider that only some countries will be able to face the challenges generated by the transition to Industry 5.0, while others, the emergent countries, such as Romania, will have to intensify the complex process of designing competitive and coherent strategies and implement a more efficient and effective mix of policies. This will help to better capitalize the potential sustainable competitive advantage of industries 4.0 and 5.0.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate some villages in the mountain area of Sibiu County, Romania, as “smart” tourist villages. The research was carried out in two stages: Stage 1 was collection of information on (a) food products registered in different national and international quality schemes and (b) the number of tourist structures by type, comfort category, and accommodation capacity. Stage 2 was a case study conducted among 32 rural tourism entrepreneurs from 3 villages in Mărginimea Sibiului, using a questionnaire with 22 items on the criteria for evaluation of “smart” villages. The answers were systematized, statistically processed, and interpreted. The main results are as follows: (a) Concerning products, producers, and gastronomic points (PGL) registered, there are 9 products in the quality scheme “mountain product”, 10 producers on the platform “Gusturisibiene”, 1 producer of “telemea de Sibiu”, a registered product with protected geographical indication, and 2 PGL. (b) The number of officially registered tourist structures is 93, of which 72% are agritourism guesthouses. (c) The results for the evaluation of villages as “smart” are that 78.2% of locals use the internet, 74% own at least one smart device, 60.16% of energy used is renewable. There are low values of water and air pollution; there are local job and business opportunities (93.75%); future local development activities will target agriculture with all its sectors and agritourism; public administrations have implemented 7 types of activities to increase the attractiveness of localities; and quality of life, services, and social life aspects are perceived to be at high standards.

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the energy and electricity industry, with a particular focus on green energy sources such as wind and solar energy. The analysis provided a global perspective, based on a panel of 45 countries that represent more than 90% of the world’s GDP. The analysis was structured in two steps: a counterfactual analysis based on the mean and variance of the country data sample for the 14 indicators and the 45 countries in the panel and a counterfactual analysis that looked at the statistical significance of the difference of mean between the data sets referring to the time of the pandemic and before the time of the pandemic using the t-student test of 2 samples assuming unequal variances between samples. For the pandemic time, the analysis took into consideration two years (2020 and 2021), and the benchmark year was 2019. The counterfactual analysis included a short-term perspective based on a comparative analysis with the dynamic of the year before the crisis (2019/2018 dynamic) and a long-term perspective based on a comparative analysis with the multiannual average dynamic (2019/2015 – 5 years). The study results indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a decline in global energy and electricity production, a partial reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions, a partial improvement in the global trade balance with energy and electricity, a decrease in global energy and electricity consumption, and a partial increase in global green energy and electricity production and intensity

The energy transition is a subject of significant interest in the countries of the European Union, and the involvement of public authorities is remarkable. Unlike previous energy transitions, this process is politically driven, the efforts of public authorities being secondary to the actions of companies whose guidelines are based on stability at the European level through strategies and directives. This paper aims to provide an overview of the current evolution of energy security status in the European Union and in Romania, with reference to global efforts to achieve climate neutrality through the energy transition. The historical method was used in the elaboration of the material, in order to outline the current energy security policies in terms of sustainability, both environmental and social. The logical method was used in order to emphasize the cause-effect relationship between economic processes in the energy sector. The use of bibliometric analysis demonstrated the importance of the topic of energy transition in scientific literature, but it also demonstrated the increasing interest of researchers in subjects related to energy security and energy poverty in the context of this new transition. By using the graphical method, statistic data and their evolution were highlighted in detail for the present study. The results of the articles are embodied in an approach that aims to focus on economic and social factors that determine the capacity of states to support the EU's independence from a single supplier in the current context of conflict. The authors conclude by anticipating massive challenges in achieving the environmental objectives of the European Green Deal, as well as by highlighting the issue of energy poverty as a social factor influencing global strategic decisions.

The war in Ukraine affects the European Union (EU) member states asymmetrically. The purpose of the study is to determine changes in the development of the EU countries in three key directions: ‘economy and environment’, ‘business and trade’, and ‘people and work’; to identify clusters of countries with similar transformations; and to model the impact of the studied indicators on the level of public debt amid the war in Ukraine. The research methodology includes the definition of a complex indicator of changes in the socio-economic development of EU countries, correlation and cluster analysis, and modelling the influence of the studied factors/indicators on the level of public debt. Research of changes in the context of the proposed complex indicators and their components under conditions of war showed that the changes in the areas under review varied for EU countries. Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, 17 EU countries faced a slowdown in their socio-economic growth, among which Poland was the most severely affected. Modelling made it possible to determine that, amid the war, the most important factors for the EU public debt are inflation, labour market conditions, and the possibilities of the balance of payments and the international investment position incorporated into GDP. The conducted research proves that the war in Ukraine increases the scale and relevance of general challenges that cannot be addressed at the national level. Strengthening the European defence against external aggression is the entire task of the EU.

The objective of this research was to analyse the differences in stakeholders’ perceptions of the vocational competences acquired by students enrolled in master’s programmes for preparing future accounting professionals in Romania. We collected rich information on twelve master’s programmes at the four biggest universities in Romania. We proposed two indicators for the comparative analysis: the integration index (INTINDEX) and convergence index (CONVINDEX). We expected very specialised programmes focused on several competences necessary for certain professional certifications to have a lower integration level than general programmes aimed at making students familiar with various professional services they may further provide for the labour market. A low level of convergence was expected for the disciplines providing vocational rather than technical competences. The qualitative analysis of the syllabi pertaining to the disciplines studied helped us establish the existence of provisions concerning vocational competences. Two surveys were conducted (among students and educators). We applied Howcroft’s model (2017) to identify the differences in the stakeholders’ perceptions. For a deeper understanding of different perceptions, we conducted interviews with students, educators and employers. Our results may have a series of positive implications for the academic environment, the business environment and professional bodies. This study brings forward evidence that may be used by students when making decisions such as pursuing a career in accounting, or may be used to improve the educational process to train the youth who meet employers’ needs and continue their professional training within professional bodies.

Energy efficiency is one of the main objectives of the European Union's policy. Organisations are trying to implement various measures to improve energy efficiency to optimise their business models. Professional accountants prepare the financial and nonfinancial information of the organisations. In this context, the objectives of the document are: (i) to assess progress in the implementation of energy efficiency improvement measures (EEIMs) within some Romanian organisations and (ii) to assess the usefulness of energy efficiency improvement measures and the perceived impact of these measures on the organisation. In this regard, exploratory research was carried out based on a questionnaire to which 445 professional accountants from Romania responded. The research results indicate that the most frequently implemented measure to increase energy efficiency for organisations in Romania is the purchase of equipment/computers with a lower energy consumption. Furthermore, there are differences in the implementation of each measure, depending on the size of the organisation and the activity sector. The implementation of all energy efficiency improvement measures, evaluated based on an original composite indicator, is achieved at an average level, and it is more frequent in the trade sector (except the construction products sector), services sector (except the architecture sector, consultancy in construction, engineering) and manufacturing sector, as well as in micro, medium, and large entities. Furthermore, professional accountants believe that the most useful measure of improving energy efficiency that an organisation could implement is the use of assets that belong to the highest class of energy efficiency. Our research helps identify the most practical measures that the state can adopt and that organisations can implement to improve energy efficiency

“He loses who knows what he will do when he wins. He wins who knows what he will do when he loses”- Nicolo Machiavelli, The Prince Thus, the author of this paper has as a provocative approach the presentation of the aspects regarding the internal audit, its organization and functioning in the structure of an organization, in the context of corporate governance. This book is addressed to all those who want to know how the application and promotion of good principles of company governance have the effect of improving and improving performance at the level of each organizational entity, regardless of legal form or field of activity. An essential component of corporate governance is internal audit, which is the driver of identifying, assessing and mitigating those risks that can significantly affect the proper functioning of an entity, as well as the achievement of the objectives within the management plan.

COVID-19 had a tremendous impact on education and the well-being of both students and teachers. The paper analyses the undergraduate students’ and academics’ perception of the online education services provided by the Faculty of Administration and Public Management (FAPM) of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies (BUES). Individual interviews and an online survey were carried out in order to reflect both the pros and cons of online learning and the determinants that significantly impact the satisfaction of the main stakeholders of the education services. Research findings reveal that despite the great challenges related to online learning, many opportunities have emerged to advance the quality of education. Thus, students and teachers agree on the fact that traditional education and online education provide both advantages and disadvantages, suggesting that, in the future, a hybrid teaching-learning system might help bring together the strengths of both approaches.

The article aims to conduct an analysis regarding the concept of social responsibility in the Romanian Orthodox Church during the COVID-19 period. The research investigates the social activities conducted by the Church in the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to emphasise its social responsibility toward the community and its impact in times of crisis. In this regard, a descriptive case study was conducted that analyses how the Church implemented the decisions taken by the national authorities, as well as its own measures, in order to fulfill its social mission in such difficult times.

This paper explores the environment of European bureaucracy starting from the research question regarding the role and place of consultative institutions (the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Committee of the Regions) in the European institutional system. The purpose of our investigation is to explain the nature and functionality of the institutions mentioned in the multilevel governance architecture of the European Union (EU). To achieve the proposed objective, we analyse the condition of advisory institutions as actors/agents of the European structure through the prism of the rationalist current and then we argue, through the grid of social constructivism, that the institutions in question serve, through their consultative attribute, also a role of legitimising supranational legislation with subnational applicability in the EU, against the background of the precariousness of legislative powers at regional and local level. Our research identifies the way in which the consultative institutions of the EU legitimise the community legislative process, a context in which the results obtained show the existence of a significant discordance between the need for legislation at the regional level and the much undersized legislative attribute at this level as a result of the constitutional limitations of the member states. The specified phenomenon feeds an imperfect subsidiarity and a deficient proximity within the EU, for the remedy of which the feasible solution consists in improving the administrative-legal cohesion in the EU through a potential reconsolidation of the Union treaties, which would generate a more homogeneous distribution of the administrative-territorial devolution.

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated impressive effects on all organisations, especially educational ones, creating a provocative, complex, and totally new environment for practitioners in human resources management (HRM), but also for managers who had to find practical, viable, and ingenious solutions to ensure the continuity of the instructiveeducational process, but also to help its employees adapt to this extraordinary crisis. Since studies addressing this topic are sparse, this study aims to explore the impact that the change in the educational paradigm generated by the COVID19 pandemic has had on HRM, expanding the objective of management research and performance in preuniversity education in Romania. The methodology consist of a SWOT analysis that identifies the main strengths, challenges, and opportunities that have arisen from the new pandemic, offering updated perspectives to HRM practitioners and managers, and regarding the possible development directions at the national level that could arise from these opportunities. Also, a survey opinion was conducted among teachers from Romania, Cyprus, England, Greece, Spain, and Turkey in order to identify to what extent they have knowledge about the following concepts: Human Resource Management and performance in education. In the end, in order to determine the knowledge by country and intensity levels for the Education Performance indicator, a statistical analysis was performed.

As far as students are concerned, there is a well-founded relationship between academic performance and career management from which a special professional path can result, based on the multitude of knowledge, skills, and experiences acquired during the years of study. To this end, the presence and help of teachers participating in the learning process, the teaching activities they are involved in, and their own participation are determinant factors. This research aims to highlight the impact that the above factors have on the professional future of students. For this purpose, 395 respondents, including students in the bachelor’s and master’s cycles, were involved in the research process, to whom a questionnaire was given in electronic format during two stages: one where the didactic activity was carried out in online format and the other carried out face-to-face. Hypotheses testing was performed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The present study focuses on two main directions regarding the results obtained. Thus, with respect to the acquisition of knowledge and the development of student skills, it emerged that the effect of the content in the didactic activities on student skills and the development of competencies is strengthened by the skills and degree of involvement of the teaching staff from the university environment. Related to the management of students’ careers, the analysis showed that the effect of the content in didactic activities is complemented by the accumulation of knowledge and the formation of student skills. The rigorous economic training resulting from didactic activities constitutes a main pillar in the students’ future, even more so depending on how much they perceive that the topics covered in the university courses are of interest to them. The results of this study can serve as theoretical support for future research that addresses the topic of student career management and the implications of university activities on knowledge and skills. In addition, the results can support decisions for the management of higher education institutions regarding the development and implementation of university programs and educational strategies with the aim of increasing the involvement of teachers and students in the teaching–learning process.