IT – CAUSE AND RECOVERY TOOL IN THE ECONOMIC CRISIS CONTEXT

The present paper aims to identify some of the weaknesses in the IT area that have contributed to the current financial crisis. At the same time, the crisis impact over the IT&C industry is analysed. Some case studies are introduced: credit risk evaluation software applications with low performance are one of the main causes for the collapse in the loan market, while investments in software applications for virtual campuses have the potential to contribute to the recovery as they reduce costs. Therefore, the IT&C is presented from two opposite perspectives: a factor that contributed to the on-going economic turmoil and an important tool in the recovery process. In the economic recovery plan designed by the European Union, an important place is dedicated to the investments in IT&C networks, in the Research & Development area or in the development of the global commerce as companies can make profit from every opportunity that appears on the market. Under these circumstances, the authors design a set of performance metrics that are meant to quantify the efficiency of software applications. The concluion is that the existence of performant information systems with high quality metrics and user-friendly interfaces undoubtly leads to an improvement in the economic pressure factors that characterize the crisis.economic crisis, IT, virtual campuses, credit risk evaluation applications, metrics

TESTING THE EFFICIENCY MARKET HYPOTHESIS FOR THE ROMANIAN STOCK MARKET

Efficient Market Hypothesis has dominated the field of research on capital markettheory. It states that asset prices are rationally connected to economic realities and alwaysincorporate all the information available to the market. In this way, securities markets are seen asefficient in reflecting information about individual stocks or about the stock market as a whole. Alarge number of theoretical, as well as empirical papers around the world have had as objectivetesting this hypothesis. Beside reviewing the most important part of literature in this respect, thepaper has as aim testing the Efficient Market Hypothesis on Bucharest Stock Exchange. The testedhypothesis is carried on time series of stock index BET (daily observations), for the period 2000-2009. The econometrical results assert that the weak form of the efficiency market hypothesis isaccomplished.efficiency market hypothesis, Romanian stock exchange, BET

An empirical analysis of the interlinkages between financial sector and economic growth

There is a growing literature body which examines the connections between financial status and economic growth. The aim of this paper is to examine the mechanism through which this positive connection is realized. The methodology is based on a pool data regression with dynamic of real GDP as dependent variable and some key variables of the financial sector. The main output of our study consists in the thesis that the financial status matter for the economic growth.finance, growth, cost of capital, yield

The companies financial architecture and the market values: is there an interlinkage ? The case of Bucharest Stock Exchange

Nowadays there is a large debate on whether the financial information proves any relevance for the investors´ prediction of the securities market values/stock prices. The paper focuses, besides reviewing some important literature concerning this issue, on an empirical analysis taking into consideration 44 companies listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange based on pool data linear regressions. It is true that the most recent research state that there is an important evidence of a deterioration of the relationship between accounting information and stock prices. Although, the main findings of this paper consist in that there are certain aspects which should be further examined for a more reliable conceptual approach. In addition, it concludes that - even in the case of an emergent capital market as Bucharest Stock Exchange - it can be found mixed evidences to support the importance of financial information in portfolio’ management decisions. In a sense or another, the paper state overall that the financial information matter for market determination of financial assets’ values.capital markets, financial information, financial assets’ valuation

Probabilistic quantum phase-space simulation of Bell violations and their dynamical evolution

Quantum simulations of Bell inequality violations are numerically obtained using probabilistic phase space methods, namely the positive P-representation. In this approach the moments of quantum observables are evaluated as moments of variables that have values outside the normal eigenvalue range. There is thus a parallel with quantum weak measurements and weak values. Nevertheless, the representation is exactly equivalent to quantum mechanics. A number of states violating Bell inequalities are sampled, demonstrating that these quantum paradoxes can be treated with probabilistic methods. We treat quantum dynamics by simulating the time evolution of the Bell state formed via parametric down-conversion, and discuss multi-mode generalizations

Quantum probabilistic sampling of multipartite 60-qubit Bell inequality violations

We show that violation of genuine multipartite Bell inequalities can be obtained with sampled, probabilistic phase space methods. These genuine Bell violations cannot be replicated if any part of the system is described by a local hidden variable theory. The Bell violations are simulated probabilistically using quantum phase-space representations. We treat mesoscopically large Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states having up to 60 qubits, using both a multipartite SU(2) Q-representation and the positive P-representation. Surprisingly, we find that sampling with phase-space distributions can be exponentially faster than experiment. This is due to the classical parallelism inherent in the simulation of quantum measurements using phase-space methods. Our probabilistic sampling method predicts a contradiction with local realism of "Schr\"odinger-cat" states that can be realized as a GHZ spin state, either in ion traps or with photonic qubits. We also present a quantum simulation of the observed super-decoherence of the ion-trap "cat" state, using a phenomenological noise model

Probabilistic simulation of mesoscopic "Schr\"odinger cat" states

We carry out probabilistic phase-space sampling of mesoscopic Schr\"odinger cat quantum states, demonstrating multipartite Bell violations for up to 60 qubits. We use states similar to those generated in photonic and ion-trap experiments. These results show that mesoscopic quantum superpositions are directly accessible to probabilistic sampling, and we analyze the properties of sampling errors. We also demonstrate dynamical simulation of super-decoherence in ion traps. Our computer simulations can be either exponentially faster or slower than experiment, depending on the correlations measured

Pharmacy Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism: A Review of the Literature

This chapter explores the issue of the conflict (real or potential) between the ethical imperatives that should guide the pharmacist in the typical practicing of the profession (i.e. within a pharmacy) and the economic constraints derived from the business dimension of the pharmacy. Marrying service and business in a single profession, pharmacy is supposed to balance harmoniously its two sides, if not to subject business demands to the higher societal, ethical requirements. However, such a balancing exercise is rather like dancing on a rope, and ethics may be trumped by economics, a phenomenon deplored sometimes by pharmacy academics or hospital pharmacists, and by a part of community pharmacists as well. Economics may prevail over ethics in rough forms such as selling health risk products (as it was in the past for tobacco or alcohol) or in more elusive ones, such as longer work hours and shorter counselling times, promoting or dispensing needless or ineffective products (food supplements, cosmetics, etc.), silently refusing to provide or recommend lower cost generics, etc. Ethical research in the field of pharmacy has generally been scarce, and numerous knowledge gaps remain to be filled by future investigations

LANDMARKS ON THE EVOLUTION OF E-COMMERCE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

In this paper are presented and analyzed a number of statistical indicators to highlight the size and the trends in the European e-commerce market in recent years, namely - the turnover of e-commerce, the share of turnover from e-commerce in total turnover of the organizations, the share of enterprises conducting online sales in total enterprises, the population share which shop online in total population. Information is presented both aggregated and individualized, allowing highlighting disparities between European states. The paper also captures a number of correlations between the orientation to online purchasing and level of development of European countries, on the one hand and access to technology on the other. The survey is based on official statistics provided by Eurostat (data from European Union countries) and information provided by EMOTA - European Multi-channel and Online Trade Association - (data pooled across all European countries)