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Heavy work investment represents a research area which has been intensively debated in the specialised literature, especially since 2013. On the one hand, heavy work investment can be made in the means of production, in order to increase work productivity. On the other hand, it is correlated with numerous other factors related to the quality of life and the quality of work conditions, among which: the relationship between work – living standard – personal life; workaholism and technology; the decision to retire and so on. The objectives of this research are to identify the correlations between the quality of life and heavy work investment, as well as to assess the social and economic progress from the view point of the need for heavy work investment. The research methods used in the study were mainly of a quantitative nature: bibliometric and econometric analysis (linear regression with cross-section data). The data used in the econometric models constructed were taken over from two sources: Eurostat and the World Bank. The research findings highlight the fact that in the analysed European states, making work investments by increasing the work volume is not a justified measure, because its effects do not reflect directly on the social and economic progress, quantified as the nominal gross domestic product

This paper examines the corporate governance and sustainability disclosure and investigates the existing anchor between sustainability disclosure and corporate governance in Romanian companies. The topic provides a generous field of study because of the novelty of sustainable reporting for the Romanian companies and need for robust, consolidated corporate governance. The study’s sample includes listed and non-listed companies operating in the oil, transportation, chemistry and pharmaceutical industries. Annual reports, comply-or-explain declarations and stand-alone sustainability reports of the companies were analyzed on a time frame of three years aiming at measure the quality of sustainability disclosures and investigate the correlations between board governance and sustainability disclosure. The study emphasized that the companies opted mainly to integrate sustainable reporting in the annual management report. The independent reports on sustainability are more rigorous and better aligned to the Romanian framework, then the information integrated into the annual management reports. Improved disclosure is needed on the main risks with severe impacts, policies regarding specific aspects of sustainability, key performance indicators relevant to particular businesses. The sustainability reporting is more focus on soft disclosure items. Companies with larger board size and a higher number of board meetings registered higher disclosure in sustainability reporting. Robust corporate governance is imperative for Romanian companies because they are facing drastic changes in all aspects of their activity. A new rethink approach is needed from the sustainability perspective aiming at reshaping the entire processes starting with a long-term strategy, business models, risk and data management and processing.

Companies can contribute to the achievement of the sustainability goals through their procurement function when they opt for green procurement. In the current paper, the authors focused on the procurement of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified products. Having known that attitudes contribute to the definition of the individual’s behavioral model and, thus, of her/his “green” choices, the aim of the paper was to investigated attitudes related to the procurement of FSC certified products by people in charge of private company acquisitions. Research results were based on a survey, with a sample of 214 private companies from Romania. Results of binary logistic regression analysis indicate that companies that perceive a positive impact of FSC products on forest protection and on company image are more likely to replace conventional wood products with FSC ones when they have a similar price. When FSC products are more expensive than the conventional ones, companies will be more likely to buy them when economic benefits are present, too. From a practical perspective, the findings bring to the forefront the fact that companies can be stimulated to select FSC products at similar price over conventional ones by highlighting the contribution of the former to forest protection and the image benefits that they can bring.

The present research aims to establish the impact that the current crisis situation the planet is facing, namely the COVID-19 pandemic, has had so far on the Romanian labor force market. In this context, given the lack of information and information regarding this pandemic and its effects, the administration of a questionnaire among the population was considered to identify the research results. The method of semantic differential and the method of ordering the ranks were used for the interpretation of the results. With the help of this questionnaire, it will be possible to answer the question of the research in this study: What are the main effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Romanian labor market? The main results showed that the COVID-19 pandemic affected the Romanian workforce, the respondents of the applied questionnaire claimed that they obtained better results and maintained a similar income, but the health crisis also influenced the mentality of employees, with respondents stating that in the event of changing jobs, they would consider it very important for the new employer to ensure the conditions for preventing and combating COVID-19, as well as complex health insurance. However, analyzing at the macroeconomic level, it was found that the COVID-19 pandemic induced an increase in the number of unemployed people in the Romanian labor market.

Dieselgate can be considered a momentous crisis to strike out the dynamics of automobile market – which, given automobile market is made up of two parts, in deep and bitter competition (as far as theory and public discourse go), must be understood as (another) impulse meant for green cars (i.e., EVs – Electric Vehicles) market expansion and of ICEs (Internal Combustion Engine – i.e., ‘classical’ – automobiles) market shrinkage. The latter is, for the time being, according to current evidence, more or less theoretical; green cars market needs more than a Dieselgate to thrive, because scandal is, maybe, sometimes necessary for stimulating competition, but it can never replace whatever a party needs in order to outrun the other party of competition. And, in addition, EVs market cannot function without existence and advancement of other, complementary, markets – i.e. that comprising network of charging infrastructure of those very green cars –, whose growth is equally (if not worse still) problematic, especially in short run. In other words, specific characteristics of green vehicles, on one hand, and sound economic and social mechanisms, on the other hand, maintain the statu-quo which (still) exists in automobile market, and the current (relatively slow) speed of EVs market expansion.

Aceast curs sistematizeaza informatiile referitoare la implicatiile dezvoltarii durabile pentru antreprenoriat si administrarea afacerilor, demonstreaza si exemplifica modul in care sustenabilitatea, ca rezultat al inovarii, poate deveni sursa de avantaj competitiv pentru antreprenori. In acest context, am acordat o atentie deosebita inovarii sustenabile, fapt pentru care s-au investigat conditiile pentru activarea acesteia prin analiza si evaluarea unor elemente de management al inovarii.

Among other negative economic and health outcomes, the global tourism industry is one of the most affected areas by the recent pandemic. A recent estimation shows that USD 1.3 trillion were lost in revenues, in 2020 only – which represents more than 11 times the loss suffered during the 2009 global economic crisis. It is by far the most the worst year in tourism history. As a direct consequence, many jobs are at risk, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises, in countries where tourism is the main economic component, the situation is quite dramatic. In this paper, we will analyse what happened in world large regions in the sector, what the perspectives to recovery are, and what are the rebound expectations and consumer confidence. We will also investigate the specificity of the tourism situation in Switzerland, where since the beginnings of the pandemic, the big cities and tourist locations have suffered greatly from the absence of foreign tourists. The cities close to the airports showed the strongest decreases in attendance. In contrast, those which are traditionally very touristy were only slightly affected by the decline in the number of foreign visitors.

Some multinational companies have obtained great results in the field of environmental protection, their business model being worldwide recognised. There is a permanent concern to promote sustainable policies, their efforts being unanimously appreciated. We will start our analysis from the results of an international survey, assuming that in order to develop a strategy to increase the efficiency of communication in the field of environmental protection we should establish what the ingredients of a successful recipe are, in terms of sustainability. In this paper we will also analyse the views of experts on companies that are considered being able to integrate sustainable development into their business strategy, as well as on NGOs that contribute most to positive advancement of the sustainability agenda. We will see that some companies or organizations are perceived as being leaders of these rankings, years in row, but there are also newcomers, a sign that there is a constant focus on this goal.

Supravietuirea in casa vietii este determinata nu numai de factorii naturali, ci si de cei antropici, de oameni. Omule, lasa natura sa traiasca.., prin ea vei trai si tu! Dimensioneaza-ti mintea, sufletul in primul rand, prin politica pe care o duci, pentru conservarea biodiversitatii, a resurselor naturale, dar si acelor create de tine, nu numai astazi, dar si maine ...

This research tries to highlight what is needed to be done for us and our future generations to create a sustainable mechanism that is green, scalable, and secure for the way we develop and obtain energy from a purely economic perspective. The debate today is about yields when it comes to solar, wind, and hydro- and geothermal paths in producing energy, a fact that is counterbalanced by nuclear energy and the traditional coal-based energy, which still have a better economic positioning and financial output than the renewable solutions. The authors will try to introduce also the states involvement in the process, from institutional, ideological, political, and pragmatic perspective. Regarding the outcome of this research, the emphasis will be on how the standard of living will be improved, not only for our generations but also for future ones.

Research background: This paper presents an overview and a fundamental analysis of the fiscal system in Romania and how it should be, also by showing one of the European champions on fiscal efficiency, the Polish system. Although we are talking about the 21st century, about evolution, economic, financial and fiscal sustainability, the Romanian tax system has been intensely blamed for its inefficiency, outdated procedures and last but not least the excessive bureaucracy. This topic was intensely discussed and debated both by the competent authorities who tried to identify the deepest issues and by the specialized press representing a great interest for both natural and legal taxpayers. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this paper is to identify the challenges, limits and solutions so that the Romanian tax system can become efficient and implicit, a model to follow for success. The paper shows how the Romanian fiscal system works and how taxes add to the degree of economic growth and what are the limits of actual system. Methods: The paper evaluates the actual literature, its conceptual limits, the classification and how it should be at technical level. Findings & Value added: The research will highlight the harmonization of the Romanian fiscal system with the European Union’s one and especially with one of its champions, Poland.

Research background: This paper is targeted towards the concept of globalization, its limits and how today’s social movements are proof of a new path needed for sustainable development, sustainability as a goal, economic growth as social progress and the need for taking care of all nationalities, all types of countries when it comes to their development (emerging versus developed) and importing the American’s Navy principle, “No man left behind”, in this case from a social and economic perspective, because we try to highlight that today’s protests and riots are actually based on the need to be listened on the issues they have, each economy having different issues for its population and these vary from LGBT issues, Black Lives Matter, All Lives Matter and anti-corruption movements. The paper analysis 2020’s social movements and the double standards of social development depending on the types of economies we observe. Purpose of the article: The paper represents on overview of the social movements in 2020. Methods: The research is based on fundamental analysis of the news that feed social movements and the technical approach of their economic results. Findings & Value added: The paper offers the big picture on how the economy develops in line with its social movements and also targeting the need for a clear future.

Lately, we face many challenges that threaten the well-being of society and the quality of life. All of these challenges are complex and closely related, which means that one approach can have positive consequences for others. In this context, population growth, an extremely delicate subject, from a social and ethical point of view has generally become a threat to the entire planet, and in particular, to urban agglomerations. At the global level, population growth puts even greater pressure on basic resources, from fresh water to fertile land, endangering the very existence of humanity. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the population trend globally, as compared to the population trend in the big urban agglomerations, as well as the evolution of some indicators of the quality of life depending on the population growth. Following the analysis, we aim to identify various challenges and develop proposals for the sustainable development of urban space.

Entrepreneurial education is one of the fastest growing areas in the world today, with a growing interest in academia, which allows the possibility of linking current labor market needs to academic theory. The purpose of this article is to make a positive contribution to the formation of future entrepreneurship programs, by analyzing existing curricula to identify potential educational gaps, as well as to identify the skills needed by students in the context of sustainable business development. This will allow entrepreneurial trainers to exchange ideas that facilitate collective learning and help inform researchers about the future directions of education. This article will focus on the analysis of existing entrepreneurship education at the international level, as well as on the development of suggestions on how entrepreneurship education can progress further, as a way of shaping the future development of the economy. Keywords: entrepreneurial education, sustainable business, sustainable development

This paper aims to review the different impacts of income inequality drivers on the Gini coefficient, depending on institutional specificities. In this context, we divided the European Union member states in two clusters (the cluster of member states with inclusive institutions / extractive institutions) using the institutional pillar as a clustering criterion. In both cases, we assesed the impact of income inequality drivers on Gini coefficient by using a fixed effects model in order to examine the role and importance of the institutions in the dynamics of income disparities.The models were estimated by applying the Panel Estimated Generalized Least Squares (EGLS) method, this being weighted by Cross-section weights option. The separate assessment of the income inequality reactivity to the change in its determinants according to the institutional criterion represents a new approach in this field of research and the results show that the impact of moderating income inequality strategies is limitedin the case of member states with extractive institutions., Comment: 18 pages

The absorption of European funds is a process influenced predominantly by the managerial capacity of local and regional authorities and by the ability of Member States to provide the necessary co-financing. Thus, the managerial capability of the local authority in a Member State is the key to a high absorption rate of structural funds. This paper aims at revealing the poor situation of Romania’s European fund absorption rate and brings to light the situation in Romania, Region South-West Oltenia, in context of the Regional Policy applied by the European Union, which targets all regions of the EU, stimulating economic growth and improving life quality by strategic investment efforts. This policy of EU (European Union), is also a form of support which orientates the efforts towards all less developed regions, as South-West Oltenia. Most studies on the administrative capacity for absorption of structural funds focused on the analysis of national and regional administrations from a financial and macroeconomic perspective, and less on the administrative capacity of local authorities. The paper focuses on identifying the main factors of local authorities in absorbing structural funds, at the level of Region South-West Oltenia, Gorj and Valcea counties from Romania and finding solutions for increasing the level of absorbtion.

In the context of globalization and sustainable development requirements reconfigures all aspects of social and economic life so as to remove disincentives for progress towards a society that recognizes the importance of capitalization not only economically but also in terms of human resources and natural resources. We started this research building on the general and specific trends identified as being relevant for integrating business sustainability: increasing inequality in revenue; decoupling economic growth from the opportunity to generate income through job creation, endangering the primary distribution of well-being; intensifying geostrategic competition; increasing pollution in developing countries; the manifestation of the impact of climate change through extreme weather phenomena and the diminution of water resources; increasing companies' contribution to addressing general development issues and increasing consumer demand for sustainable performance. In this context, I start with addressing and clarifying the concept of sustainable business, which is becoming more and more individualized in the global economy, its promotion and development becoming a flagship feature for many companies and I will continue with identifying and analyzing managerial strategies and tools. Keywords: sustainable development; sustainability strategies; business; innovation.

Waste represents in European countries as one of the biggest issues regarding environmental protection. The population consumes immense quantities of natural resources, renewable and depleted, and also tries to value environmental factors that if consumed they will damage the environment on the long run. Managing waste represents and targets all activities needed to value, eliminate, transport, use, and collect waste. To create optimal waste management, we must target reducing consumption of natural resources. With population growth, we also have a new measure targeted, especially because there are limited natural resources that are consumed more than supported to restock. The main objectives of managing waste are environmental protection and healthcare status and also keeping natural resources and their extractive environment intact. Our chapter offers a new approach on waste and the issues it develops, how waste will complicate our daily actions and influence the decay of the environment. To increase the value and ease the process of manufacturing, we need renewable materials to be sorted and separated from other types of products; this way they cannot cross-contaminate each other. Deposits of urban and industrial waste have a huge impact on the environment because they pollute the air, the soil, and all types of waters, and they modify on the spot, but for the long run, the soil’s fertility, the environmental long-term output, and the aesthetics of the environment. We should emphasize the fact that having the necessary information and realizing the dissemination to the population about the importance of an optimal waste management will help future projects on managing waste, and it will give a push to ignite solutions for environmental issues, protecting green areas and eliminating the risks for human health, especially because we also need to protect the communitarian sentiment at all costs.

Education is the path to sustainable evolution and acceleration of the catching up process in emerging economies. Without education there is no technological breakthrough, no increase in the created added value and also no improvement in the overall quality of life of a nation’s inhabitants. This paper focuses on the added value created by education as a standalone process and also as a 2nd tier influencer of the economic meadow, with strong bifocal influence resulted in the adaptation and creation of economic policies targeted towards new educational standards. The main method of research used was documentary analysis that used both primary data from the literature, especially articles from journals indexed in international databases and from secondary data. The findings allowed us to draw conclusions on the expected course of action for education in the next period as well as the elements that can be included in the educational strategy. The pressure of globalization requires changes both economically, socially, politically and culturally and educationally. Changes are often accompanied by risks. Their debates have made it possible to identify future actions. The pressure of globalization requires changes both economically, socially, politically and culturally and educationally. Changes are often accompanied by risks. Their debates have made it possible to identify future actions for a sustainable and sustained development of emerging economies.

In this article we present an econometric model of oil production forecast at OECD member level that will allow decision makers but also other oil product stakeholders to be responsible for oil production in OECD member states. This responsibility can be perceived from several perspectives: economic, social, environmental, political, military etc. In order to be able to find the ideal formula for our calculation, we went through the specialized literature and brought elements of analysis during the research through several econometric paths traveled by other researchers and who provided us with support for our research. Before proceeding technically, in order to understand the urgency of this approach and of this study, we also discussed how oil and natural gas are explored, exploited and extracted from the underground deposits. We considered that the proposed model could be improved in the future so as to portray certain geopolitical or economic factors, determinants for oil production, such as embargoes, periods of armed conflict in the main extraction areas or times of financial crisis and the decline of financial markets.

Sustainability will bring changes in all aspects of the everyday life by overposing ecology over economy. Departing from this prediction made more than a decade ago we are analysing at what extent the entropy based economic theory of value could contribute to the paradigm shift needed for a faster change toward sustainability. Concepts and rational of Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen developed several decades ago are revisited and interpreted through the lence of sustainability. Finally it is discussed how entropy management tools could be used for minimizing high entropy generation and creating incentives to support negentropy sources such as education, research, but also traditional ecological knowledge. La sostenibilita potra portare dei cambiamenti in tutti gli aspetti della vita quotidiana sovrapponendo l’ecologia in economia. Uscendo da questa previsione fatta piu di una decina di anni fa, stiamo analizzando in che misura l’entropia economica basata sulla teoria del valore potrebbe contribuire a questo cambiamento di paradigma necessario per un piu rapido passaggio verso la sostenibilita. I concetti razionali di Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen sviluppati alcuni decenni fa sono rivisitati ed interpretati attraverso la lente della sostenibilita. Infine si e discusso di come gli strumenti entropici di gestione potrebbero essere utilizzati per minimizzare la generazione di elevata entropia e creare incentivi per supportare fonti di negentropia, quali l’istruzione, la ricerca, ma anche la tradizionale conoscenza ecologica.

This paper represents an overview of the concept of multi-level governance and the approach delivered on innovation at European level with the purpose of helping and empowering researchers and businesses to thrive in a technologically advanced economy. The concept of multi-level governance derives from the analysis of the institutional framework for the development of Community policies and the Community political process. This stems from the presumption that the Community governance system has a high degree of differentiation and integration both vertically and horizontally. The multi-level governance model illustrates how certain competences of the national state are transferred to the supranational level or to the public or private sub-national authorities. Within this model, we can meet both supranational actors and actors at national, regional or local levels. This type of governance is characterized by the existence of a limited number of authorities, divided so as to be able to perform more functions, excluding their overlapping to exercise exclusively competences on delimited territories. Multi-level governance in innovation is characterized by a national transition as a unique place for the development and implementation of innovation policy, both at supranational and sub-national levels. Keyword: multi-level governance, European Union, development, social cohesion, institutions

Local and organic food production is often linked to geographical identity that drives consumers to buy products due to their intangible attributes such as protection of the environment, support of local communities, and preservation of traditions. The primary objective of this paper was to find out if the Romanian consumers preferred a closer location of organic food production. Research results were based on a random survey, with a sample of 424 people from Romania. Seven variables related to consumer preferences and habits were analyzed through descriptive statistics and by Mann Whitney, Wilcoxon, Kruskal Wallis tests, and Spearman's rank-order correlation coefficient. Three location situations were taken under analysis: local vs. other national locations; national vs. other EU locations; and EU vs. the rest of the world. The results revealed that Romanian consumers were prone to local organic food sources, as long as 65% of them preferred locally produced foods over other national sources. A closer location was also more attractive in the other two tested situations, as follows: 77% of the sample preferred foods from Romania to those from other EU countries and 62% preferred European products to those from the rest of the world. The paper concluded that the promotion of the concept of a closer location could be an unexplored opportunity for those interested in the Romanian market.

The intellectual property, viewed under both its components, industrial property, on the one hand, and copyright and related rights, on the other hand, is one of the basic levers of economic, social and cultural development of the nation. In this context, we can say that the protection of intellectual property is of great importance. Its essence, scope and purpose is to protect the product of human intelligence and at the same time, to ensure consumers that they can use this product.

Sustainable management of forests is determined by several factors, the main anthropogenic. The destruction of "green gold" leads to a number of economic and environmental imbalances generating major risks. Ecological restoration leads to a theoretical and practical examination of the relationship between restoring forest area and forest protection activities through a regional sustainable development, so that the forest soon will be represented by the link: harmony - abundance - constancy. The article will make a pass through the existing literature in the field of forestry and environment relationship - the economy, to show the way and the opportunities to relate the efforts for environmental protection and sustainable forest management with economic efficiency through the implementation of important projects in the field.

Humankind engaged in the global material flow many substances that fall outside the biogeochemical cycles, but also outside economic cycles. Consequently a linear pattern emerged hindering both the availability of natural resources and the safety of environmental conditions. Closing the loop is an issue of technical innovation but the economic underpinning of material flows indicates the need of a novel model for a more sustainable material flow. Several models already emerged and they are aggregated in a policy document that proposes the model of circular economy. Along with reuse and recycling the rethinking of value chain is an important contribution that will harness consumption’s potential to contribute to sustainability. Product Service Systems by widening the system boundaries allow more optimization opportunities to improve eco-efficiency of products.

Territorial cohesion represented a goal with a changng importance during time. Since the territorial impact of the most important sector policies proved the existence of contradictory effects, territorial cohesion gained in importance and became outlined as a goal and as field of action. The main visions regarding the models that lead to increased territorial cohesion will be compared with the identified trends and the priorities of European Territorial Agenda 2020 in order to outline how territorial differences have impact on European policy

In current conditions, the energy security is a global challenge that creates gaps between the main world economies and perpetuates systemic risks that are causing direct effects on world stability. Energy plays a key role in modern society and is a vital component for achieving sustainable economic development. In this context, we are analyzing the interplays among energy security, competitiveness and sustainability. We raise the attention regarding the question of competitive aspects of finite energy resources, in terms of finding alternative sources for funding for investments in environmental technologies, biofuels, wind etc. The generic relationship is further detailed by considering the particular case of Romania.

Recent decades have brought to the attention of public opinion and decision makers a new dimension - the environmental dimension. For a long while this was considered a stand alone problem, but nowadays the environmental protection enjoys a general recognition, leading to the integration of this new issue in the management of any human activity in order to prevent situations of imbalance that led to dramatic effects, with high economic costs. The aim of the paper is to explain the conceptual framework for the emergence of the eco-economy concept and the implications of integrating ecological restrains in the economic thinking in order to pursue the goal of sustainability. The first section explores the drivers of human behavior from different perspectives, analyzing the implications of biological, intellectual and spiritual interactions. The second section analyzes the clashing timescales that induce lags between the rhythm of nature and the rhythm of human activities. The last section highlights how the eco-economic approach would contribute to the achievement of sustainable development’s goals.

Sustainable development reframed decision making at all levels by widening the scope of criteria that should be considered for substantiation. Environmental and social aspects enriched the information support of decisions triggering complexity frameworks especially at governmental level. For Romania, a recent member of the EU and signatory of important multilateral agreements, complying with the requirements of sustainable development became an important managerial challenge. In addressing this challenge a key aspect is the proper information support which will be assessed by analyzing the availability and significance of sustainability indicators in Romania. Intensive use of resources with potential to generate irreversible environmental losses and an important gap against the EU level are observable by taking in account the level and evolution of key sustainability indicators.

Sustainable development was built as a conceptual framework for solutions that harmonize economy-environment relation. Although widely accepted, its practical implications are still subject of debate and controversies. Our paper targets this area and attempts a theoretical explanation and an overview on the progresses toward sustainability made at corporate level. Therefore we explore the theories of corporate environmental behavior and than describe the various approaches used by companies to improve their contribution to the overall goal of sustainability. A special focus is given to management practices implemented in order to improve companies’ environmental and social performance and we report on the progresses in standard development by international organizations such as ISO and SAAS. Lo sviluppo sostenibile e stato costruito come un quadro concettuale per le soluzioni che armonizzino la relazione economia-ambiente. Anche se ampiamente accettato, le sue implicazioni pratiche sono ancora oggetto di dibattiti e controversie. Il nostro articolo ha come obiettivo questa area e tenta una spiegazione teorica ed una panoramica sui progressi verso la sostenibilita assunti a livello aziendale. A tal fine si esplorano le teorie di comportamento ambientale al livello dell'impresa e si descrivono i diversi approcci utilizzati dalle aziende per migliorare il loro contributo al raggiungimento dell’obiettivo generale di sostenibilita. Una speciale attenzione e conferita alle pratiche di gestione implementate al fine di migliorare le prestazioni ambientali e sociali delle imprese, riportando inoltre i progressi nello sviluppo di standard da parte di organizzazioni internazionali quali ISO e SAAS.