INTERDEPENDENCES BETWEEN THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND PRIVATE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF ECONOMIC CRISIS

The main aim of the UE is to protect and sustain its citizen’s expectations by harmonizing the national politics and strategies in order to generate better results. At this moment we have three main actors: Private Business Environment (PBE), National Pubbusiness, public administration, strategy, integrated system, economic crisis

Education and Training Needs in the Field of Local Development in the Lower Danube Macro Region

The present paper is the result of an effort made by the authors to explore the needs of education and training in the field of local development, according to the situation in Romanian and Bulgarian Danube bordering regions, aiming at designing joint projects to address such needs between the universities to which authors are affiliated. Local development is here understood as a deliberately induced process of improving the welfare of local communities, which should be democratic, inclusive and sustainable, in particular with regard to creating competitive local economies, stimulating economic growth and ensuring better living conditions for the inhabitants. Local development is an important part of a governance process which involves complex interactions at various territorially defined levels: local, regional, national, cross-national, international. In the case of the regions considered in the present paper a historical opportunity is provided for them by the so called European Union Strategy for the Danube Region. In order to fully exploit this opportunity, the capacity to address local development issues should be strengthened in both countries, especially by well designed education and training programmes. This is why local development was considered a priority topic for the cooperation between the two universities. In the same framework, taking into consideration the challenges which are specific to the Lower Danube Region, other topics of interest were considered: logistics, tourism, consumer affairs or rural development. The authors of the present paper had to avoid overlapping with the work of the other teams. In particular, there are many common points between local development and rural development, because in both countries the regions on the border of Danube are predominately rural and significantly dependent on agriculture. Therefore, here, the needs for education and training are defined in strict correlation with the required capacity for understanding the development process and its priorities, designing, planning, implementing and assessing development policies with a favourable local impact in a regional context. The paper presents as in a mirror the Romanian and the Bulgarian points of view. The two perspectives are quite different but complementary. Briefly said, while the Romanian approach is bottom-up, with a focus on the local capacity to take initiatives that will contribute at shaping the regional development process, the Bulgarian one considers first the priorities of the region, in order to define the capacities required for a proper response at AE Education and Training Needs in the Field of Local Development in the Lower Danube Macro Region local level. Both perspectives are valid, and it should not be any contradiction between them. This is why we consider they are complementary. The studies rely on documentary research and secondary analysis of data in order to assess the capacity gap in addressing local development issues, and to identify education and training needs in economics and business matters related to local development. They discuss the rationale of cooperation between universities from Bulgaria and Romania in responding to such needs, and, finally they propose an inventory of joint initiatives in this respect. The paper emphasizes the factors which explain the reasons why cooperation between universities in raising the expertise in local development maters on both sides of Lower Danube is required and desirable, such as the vicinity, the common opportunities and responsibilities related to having Danube as a common asset, the similarities in development patterns, the common challenge of European integration, use of EU support and better exploitation of the Internal Market, the need to speed up the modernisation process and to achieve some economies of scope and scale. Among other proposals, authors propose the establishment of a university hub to coordinate networking among higher education institutions from Bulgaria, Romania and other countries of the Danube Macro-region in the field of local and regional development related research, education and training and a joint master program in local development.local development; education and training; Danube Region, cross-border cooperation; macro-regional strategy

Assessing Territorial Impact Assessment: The Case of Services of General Interest

There is no single or common definition or even understanding of Territorial Impact Assessment (TIA). Generally, the concept is described as a method based on a multi-criteria scenario and indicator approached analysis which will provide information about the territorial impact of a policy. The conceptual background of TIA is focused on Territorial Cohesion (TC), which, in turn, also lacks a single definition. TC has a strong connection to Services of General Interest (SGI) as these services are a crucial element of the Cohesion Policy. Key elements of TC are social, economic and territorial cohesion stressing a spatial coverage as well as fair and universal access of SGI regardless which region you live in. As the definition of SGI is wide and vague, a clear classification of these services is difficult to be set. In this sense, a structured theoretical framework regarding SGI was developed within the ESPON project SeGI - Indicators and perspectives for services of general interest in territorial cohesion and development. This paper is a spin-off of the ESPON SeGI project and aims at discussing the applicability of territorial impact assessment on services of general interest. The following four research questions are proposed to be answered: (1) how does TIA relate with SGI? (2) To what extend can TIA be applied for assessing SGI? (3) Should the territorial impact be differently assessed for different SGI? (4) Are there any external factors that make TIA difficult to use for assessing the territorial impact of SGI? Previous research and EU policy documents constitute the empirical material in this study. The analysis is focused on an ex ante evaluation of TIA and on the methodology of critical evaluation. The findings suggest a rather limited applicability as an undefined concept (TIA) is based on another undefined concept (TC) to measure the impact on a vaguely defined concept (SGI). Moreover, the particularities of each SGI may be related to economic and social changes that could be or not territorially reflected. So, using TIA for all services of general interest is difficult as various external factors interfere without having a territorial impact

THE INFLUENCE OF THE NUMBER OF ACTIVE ENTERPRISES IN SERVICES ON EXPORTS. THE CASE OF 25 EU COUNTRIES IN 2007

Services are the most important contributor to the GDP and also the most important job generator. Countries development, usually, is based on the services sector. The present paper is aiming to highlight the influence of the number of active enterprises in services on exports. The paper is based on a model generated using data provided by Eurostat, for 25 EU countries and for 4 services categories. Generated in Eviews 4.1, the model is correctly specified, with a R-squared value of 0.65, and revealed a validated influence of the number of enterprises active in Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and household goods and in Real estate, renting and business activities on exports.enterprise, services, exports, European Union

The involvement of the public and private sector - elements with influence on travel & tourism demand during the crisis period

In the context of the economic crisis, the consumers´ behavior registered changes, so tourists have become highly price sensitive and tending to economize on the duration of their holidays. Starting with the changes generated by the economic crisis, the need to achieve a new economic level is felt both in the public sector through the development and consolidation of new public policies and also in the private sector through the involvement into solid plans, with adapted initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to capture the impact of the public and private sectors involvement on the Travel& Tourism (T& T) demand during the current economic crisis, the period 2008-2010. As design, the content is divided into three main parts, as follows: the perspectives of public and private sector on T& T industry, the impact of the economic crisis on T& T, and the econometric analysis which is concentrated on the connection between the T& T demand and some potential variables with impact on it. The methodology refers mainly to the econometric analysis, constructed in concordance with the findings of the paper. In order to test the link between the variables, the author uses the macroeconomic approach, by including into analysis the European Union member countries. Regarding originality, the paper reveals the positive influence, as real growth, of the T& T Direct Industry in GDP and the capital investment in T& T on the T& T demand

The involvement of the European Union in funding the member states during the economic crisis period

The budget of the European Union (EU) is financed by the member states’ own resources and has different types of sources. A tax which represents the percentage of a member state’s Gross National Product into the European Union’s Gross National Product is one the main source for the budget. In addition, trade fees, duties, a fee applied on value added tax (VAT) are relevant contributions in financing the budget of the EU. In order to achieve a high level of welfare, the UE is funding a lot of actions at the community level. The EU support is reflected by structural funds, which generate a lot of benefits for the member states, encouraging the competition among them. The paper discusses about the involvement of the EU in funding the member states, taking into consideration the current context of the economic crisis. This crisis period, starting with 2007, creates new situations for which the UE has to adapt its offer of structural funds towards the member states. The situation of member states, the distribution of structural funds, main domains for investment in the current context and ways of actions is analyzed, in order to obtain an overall perspective on the EU support

Public marketing in supporting the tourist destinations

National policies and public marketing of destinations should cover measures on broadening the supply of travel agencies, on intensifying promotion actions for the offered touristic product. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to choose modern means of promotion so that tourists remain informed on existing and available accommodation, accommodation rates, recreation and entertainment means, booking and payment methods. This paper aims to discuss about a suitable public marketing in the way of supporting the tourist destinations

Universities as suppliers of entrepreneurship education services. The cases of the University of Seville and the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest

The paper advocates the role of universities in the knowledge-based economy as suppliers of entrepreneurship education in order to stimulate the emergence of entrepreneurs among their graduates. The paper presents the University of Seville (US) in Spain and the Academy of Economic Studies (AES) in Bucharest, Romania as two case studies. The first part of the paper describes and compares the offer of entrepreneurship education in both universities. This analysis reveals the increasing interest in introducing and promoting entrepreneurship education since the implementation of the Bologna educational process started. The second part of the paper investigates the entrepreneurial intentions among graduates at both academic institutions. This empirical research is based on two surveys carried out among 93 graduates of the US and 98 graduates of the AES in 2010. Following the hypotheses of Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour, Personal Attitudes towards starting-up and Perceived Behavioural Control -self-efficacy perception- are studied as primary antecedents of the entrepreneurial intention. The analysis reveals the existence of higher entrepreneurial intentions for the AES. This seems to be due to more positive personal attitudes towards entrepreneurship for the graduates at the AES, whereas no significant differences in self-efficacy can be appreciated

Interdependence Between Public and Private Sector in Services - a Regional Development Tool

Starting from some relevant theories regarding the interdependence between the public and private sector, the reality shows that these sectors are connected one with each other, even more by daily activities. Three main key market segments (manufacturing, construction and automotive industries) benefit from the support of both European Commission and the private sector, by Public- Private Partnerships, in order to stimulate the economic recovery after the crisis period. Nowadays, to obtain a strong relationship between the public and private sector the investment should be focused on human resources and mutual technology. Ways of interaction between the two sectors are included in this paper. Among them it can be mentioned government assistance, legislation, joint projects, industrial and community development. The interaction between the two actors could become a regional development tool as long as the state of a developing country, especially, is determined to come up with proactive activities that bring economic transformation and further on, a position in the global economy. These could be achived by promoting public-private alliances, according to local conditions. The cooperation between the state and businesses, by regulations, is of real impact on services. The access of individuals to basic services like primary education, health, water resources, energy represents an important mean in order to eradicate poverty and register progress of the community.regional development, public sector, European Commission

Education and Training Needs in the Field of Local Development in the Lower Danube Macro Region

The present paper is the result of an effort made by the authors to explore the needs of education and training in the field of local development, according to the situation in Romanian and Bulgarian Danube bordering regions, aiming at designing joint projects to address such needs between the universities to which authors are affiliated. Local development is here understood as a deliberately induced process of improving the welfare of local communities, which should be democratic, inclusive and sustainable, in particular with regard to creating competitive local economies, stimulating economic growth and ensuring better living conditions for the inhabitants. Local development is an important part of a governance process which involves complex interactions at various territorially defined levels: local, regional, national, cross-national, international. In the case of the regions considered in the present paper a historical opportunity is provided for them by the so called European Union Strategy for the Danube Region. In order to fully exploit this opportunity, the capacity to address local development issues should be strengthened in both countries, especially by well designed education and training programmes. This is why local development was considered a priority topic for the cooperation between the two universities. In the same framework, taking into consideration the challenges which are specific to the Lower Danube Region, other topics of interest were considered: logistics, tourism, consumer affairs or rural development. The authors of the present paper had to avoid overlapping with the work of the other teams. In particular, there are many common points between local development and rural development, because in both countries the regions on the border of Danube are predominately rural and significantly dependent on agriculture. Therefore, here, the needs for education and training are defined in strict correlation with the required capacity for understanding the development process and its priorities, designing, planning, implementing and assessing development policies with a favourable local impact in a regional context. The paper presents as in a mirror the Romanian and the Bulgarian points of view. The two perspectives are quite different but complementary. Briefly said, while the Romanian approach is bottom-up, with a focus on the local capacity to take initiatives that will contribute at shaping the regional development process, the Bulgarian one considers first the priorities of the region, in order to define the capacities required for a proper response at local level. Both perspectives are valid, and it should not be any contradiction between them. This is why we consider they are complementary. The studies rely on documentary research and secondary analysis of data in order to assess the capacity gap in addressing local development issues, and to identify education and training needs in economics and business matters related to local development. They discuss the rationale of cooperation between universities from Bulgaria and Romania in responding to such needs, and, finally they propose an inventory of joint initiatives in this respect. The paper emphasizes the factors which explain the reasons why cooperation between universities in raising the expertise in local development maters on both sides of Lower Danube is required and desirable, such as the vicinity, the common opportunities and responsibilities related to having Danube as a common asset, the similarities in development patterns, the common challenge of European integration, use of EU support and better exploitation of the Internal Market, the need to speed up the modernisation process and to achieve some economies of scope and scale. Among other proposals, authors propose the establishment of a university hub to coordinate networking among higher education institutions from Bulgaria, Romania and other countries of the Danube Macro-region in the field of local and regional development related research, education and training and a joint master program in local development