COMPULSORY EDUCATION IN ROMANIA BETWEEN EQUITY AND EFFICIENCY

The paper aims at investigating the two main characteristics of a modern system of compulsory education with a focus on Romania. It assumes that the equity of the education sector and the efficiency of resource use are strongly correlated, both supportingequality of opportunities, public education, efficiency indicators, equity indicators, compulsory education

INSTITUTIONS AND VALUES OF ROMANIANS – COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF HISTORICAL REGIONS

Starting from the results of a national survey, a questionnaire on the values of Romanians was applied in April 2008 which was used for a comparative analysis of historical regions of Romania: Moldova, Bucharest, Dobrogea, Transilvania and Muntenia.instrumental values, formal institutions, informal institutions, culture, regions

COMPULSORY EDUCATION IN ROMANIA BETWEEN EQUITY AND EFFICIENCY

The paper aims at investigating the two main characteristics of a modern system of compulsory education with a focus on Romania. It assumes that the equity of the education sector and the efficiency of resource use are strongly correlated, both supportin

A Data Envelopment Analysis for Evaluating Romania's Health System

AbstractHealth Systems’ efficiency is one of the most sensitive topics in Health Economics. Therefore, the importance of how resources are used to provide the maximum satisfaction attainable is crucial. This paper aims to assess the European Health Systems in terms of efficiency. In achieving the goal of the research, a set of relevant variables was selected from Eurostat database. A Data Envelopment Analysis has been applied to evaluate the efficiency of the Health Systems. There were used immunization rate and health expenditures as input variables, and survival rate for adults and tuberculosis rate as output variables. The study emphasizes that Romania has an inefficient Health System and even though the Romanian Health System has known different types of reforms and improvements in the last two decades, certain areas still fall below the European average and the system is still failing to provide proper services to its citizens

A Cram of E-Learning Advantages and Disadvantages

In today’s society, following the exponential development of ICT, the classical method of learning has undergone numerous changes. The emergence of the Internet has accelerated these changes due to its capacity to offer multiple possibilities of access to information, instruction, all based on dynamic technologies, transparency and open dialogue. It can be well said that the Internet is turning into an arbiter for the access to education and culture, while eLearning is a new form of education that suggests itself as an alternative with a view to the needs of continuing training and knowledge. The most widely known results of this change are obvious in two learning models mediated by ICT: eLearning and Computer-assisted learning. As well as the classical models, these models imply an efficient learning process based on well-grounded cooperation and communication activities. Moreover, these models require appropriate technology and equipment. It is also important for the eLearners to have knowledge of the new technologies. The great advantage of eLearning is the abolition of formal barriers by eliminating distances, by introducing temporal flexibility and the creation of a new type of student-teacher relationship. The authors have asked the question whether the greatest advantages of this new way of learning and refreshing will still hold for those of a higher educational and financial status, thus deepening unequal opportunity of chances. A team of members of the teaching staff of "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi (UAIC) and the Academy of Economic Studies of Bucharest (ASE) have carried out a survey among the students of the two institutions regarding the students' perceptions, expectations and attitudes related to eLearning and the identifi-cation of the profile of the student with access to this form of education. The paper presents some of the most important findings of this research.e-learning, Internet, survey, educational process

Assessment of the Efficiency of Public Hospitals in Romania

Considering the high pressure on the healthcare limited resources, mainly on hospitals, determined by the population ageing, and the increased incidence of chronic and infectious diseases, it is essential to both decrease expenditures and provide good quality healthcare. In this paper we focus on the efficiency of Romanian public hospitals. Our research goals are to identify and examine the inefficient public hospitals in Romania; to determine sources of inefficiency in Romanian public hospitals; to describe a potential reduction in all inputs on average to rationalize hospital resources; and recommend that hospital management be improved. We propose an approach that contains preliminary data analyses to obtain homogeneous distributions, then we use Data Envelopment Analysis to estimate the technical efficiency scores for the hospitals in the sample. The results showed that more than half of the examined small hospitals were technically inefficient and that they could have produced a larger number of discharges and consequently an increased number of inpatient days. Possible reductions in inputs were also indicated. These results suggest ways of improving hospital management and restructuring and reorganizing decisions that can be implemented in the hospital network

The Efficiency of Healthcare Systems in Europe: a Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

This paper aims at evaluating the efficiency of public healthcare systems in Europe by applying a nonparametric method such is Data Envelopment Analysis. For this purpose, statistical data for 30 European states for 2010 have been used. We have selected three output variables: life expectancy at birth, health adjusted life expectancy and infant mortality rate and three input variables: number of doctors, number of hospital beds and public health expenditures as percentage of GDP. Findings reveal that there are a number of both developed and developing countries on the efficiency frontier, while the great majority of the countries in the sample are inefficient

The new service economy and it's implications for statistics

The New Service Economy is an increasingly global economy in which businesses compete and communicate in a worldwide marketplace. High-technology and information-based goods and services are dominating today's economy. New business models are applied, and international business is changing profoundly. The New Service Economy poses opportunities as well as threats to data collection. In some instances, the existing data systems must be improved. The greatest challenge will be to devise new data systems designed to go beyond monitoring and with an explicit orientation to shed light on the underlying dynamics of the economy.new service economy, services, statistical data, data systems, data collection