GOLD COINAGE. CASE STUDY: ROMANIA AND REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

This paper is a qualitative study in which we aim to show the role of the National Bank of Romania (NBR) in precious metal currency issuance, both during the modern period, when gold was a monetary standard, and in the contemporary one, when the issuance of such currency only carries a numismatic and commemorative role. We have carried out an evaluation of such currency issuances after 1990, trying to highlight the commercial interest that they have initiated. In the case of the Republic of Moldova, obviously, we take into consideration the period after the year 1991, when this country became independent. The data that we have used comes from NBR statistics and from National Bank of Moldova (NBM), as well as from other monographic studies and documents.

The Impact of Taxation of the Domestic Economic Transactions on the Vat Collection Through Electronic Fiscal Devices

The issue of collecting tax resources to the consolidated budget has determined and still determines difficulties which cannot be neglected in all the former socialist countries of the Central and Eastern Europe. From the Members States of the European Union, Romania is the country with the highest VAT Gap between EU Member States: 41%, compared to a European average of 15.2%. One solution tried to solve this problem was the regulation of mandatory use of electronic cash registers with fiscal memory. In this way, it was considered that a better highlight and also a tighter control of economic transactions will be achieved, from a fiscal point of view. In our study, we analyze, for the Romanian context in the postEU accession, whether the mandatory introduction of these devices in recording commercial transactions has had a significant impact on VAT collection. The study includes two stages of the analysis: in the first stage we estimated the influence of VAT rate variation on the degree of the VAT collection. Then we used the residual component to test the influence of EFDs’ mandatory introduction on VAT collection or on fiscal efficiency. The results indicate an improvement in the collection of VAT but also a decrease in the efficiency of fiscal collection

Are Structural Funds a Real Solution for Regional Development in the European Union? A Study on the Northeast Region of Romania

Economic development has been a major priority for the European Commission, with significant amounts of Structural and Cohesion Funds being allocated in this direction. With the enlargements of the Union in 2004, 2007 and 2013, the Regional Development Policy faced a new challenge, with the disparity between new members and the community average being a notable one. The literature is divided with respect to the impact generated by funds allocated through the Regional Development Policy, as some authors claim the existence of positive effects, others identify conditional positive effects and other authors identify only negative effects and say that the whole support system needs to be rethought. This research presents an empirical approach to the issue of the effectiveness of the European Community’s support system for business environments. An analysis is performed at the microeconomic level in order to quantify observable effects at the level of the SMEs that have benefited from non-reimbursable financial aid. The data obtained indicate that Structural and Cohesion Funds for business environments have a significant effect in the medium and long terms, contributing to the achievement of the general objective of the Regional Development Policy (reducing economic disparities between EU member states)

An Analysis of the Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intentions among Students: A Romanian Case Study

Developing people’s interest towards starting a business plays a vital role in the former socialist countries in which, for a very long time, private property and free initiative were almost completely annihilated. Therefore, countries like Romania cannot design a sustainable growth model without taking into account the necessary improvements in the human capital factor, through the entrepreneurial education specific to the market economy, and in the social capital, which leads to stability and enhances the economic activity. The main objectives of this paper are to analyze how much the entrepreneurial intentions are influenced by certain psycho-behavioral traits of the individual (creativity, locus of control, need for achievement and risk taking propensity) and to evaluate the influence of different types of education on these intentions, in order to see if the entrepreneurial education significantly influences the entrepreneurial intentions of Romanian young people. By analyzing the specialized literature, we have developed six research hypothesis that were tested on a sample of 600 students from the undergraduate (bachelor) and master programs within the large state universities of Romania who have entrepreneurship courses in the content of their curricula, with the help of a questionnaire-based survey. Depending on the research hypothesis, several data analysis approaches were used, including Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and General Linear Models (GLM). The main results of this study clearly illustrate that the need for achievement and the propensity towards taking risks play an important role in determining the entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, graduates of the high schools with an entrepreneurial field are less inclined to engage in businesses compared to the graduates of the high schools that offer general education

An Electrochemical Oxygen Pump Model – A Tool for Sensor Optimization

AbstractElectrochemical oxygen pump sensors are increasingly important in a range of industrial sensing applications. However, their development has traditionally been based on inefficient empirical approaches. We have built a detailed finite-element model of an oxygen pump electrochemical sensor that is able to simulate the distribution of oxygen within sensor components under a range of conditions. This has been used to predict key performance parameters such as the steady state output current as a function of oxygen concentration, the startup characteristics and the transient response to a step change in oxygen concentration. The model is a powerful tool enabling multiple design concepts to be compared without the need for time consuming prototype sensor construction

The Importance of Multimodality Imaging in the Diagnosis and Management of Patients with Infiltrative Cardiomyopathies: An Update

Infiltrative cardiomyopathies (ICMs) comprise a broad spectrum of inherited and acquired conditions (mainly amyloidosis, sarcoidosis, and hemochromatosis), where the progressive buildup of abnormal substances within the myocardium results in left ventricular hypertrophy and manifests as restrictive physiology. Noninvasive multimodality imaging has gradually eliminated endomyocardial biopsy from the diagnostic workup of infiltrative cardiac deposition diseases. However, even with modern imaging techniques’ widespread availability, these pathologies persist in being largely under- or misdiagnosed. Considering the advent of novel, revolutionary pharmacotherapies for cardiac amyloidosis, the archetypal example of ICM, a standardized diagnostic approach is warranted. Therefore, this review aims to emphasize the importance of contemporary cardiac imaging in identifying specific ICM and improving outcomes via the prompt initiation of a targeted treatment

Implications and Measurement of Energy Poverty across the European Union

Energy poverty, or the inability of households to afford adequate access to energy services, is an issue that can have a significant effect on the quality of life and even the state of health of individuals and even the overall development of a nation. Since it was first brought into focus more than two decades ago in the UK, this topic has gradually gained the attention of academics and policy makers all across the EU and beyond. The current paper addresses the topic by providing not only a renewed discussion, but also an improved energy poverty indicator (with clear and relevant results at the EU level): the Compound Energy Poverty Indicator (CEPI). Moreover, knowing that the risk of poverty and social exclusion, efficiency of heating systems, total consumption of energy per household and rising energy prices tend to increase the severity of this problem in some countries, CEPI is then included into an econometric model so as to determine some possible factors that tend to put pressure on an already existing issue of energy poverty. The results of this research are expected to be relevant not only for academics (as it offers insights into the structure and severity of this topic within the European Union), but also for national and EU policymakers who are confronted in the field with the problem of sustainable development