THE CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS OVER EUROPEAN UNION BUDGET

Today the global economy is facing the biggest financial crisis of the last eighty years, with huge implications in real economy. The international financial institutions, together with the developed countries’ governments have to take a series of exceptional decisions, decisions meant to minimize the devastating effects of this crisis over the economy and citizens. The European Union Budget is the most important tool of the Community that can decide the amount of revenues and expenditures for each political objective. In this paper will try to capture the main effects that this financial crisis has over the European Budget. The focus will be on the “social policy” expenditures and on the dynamic changes of the budget’s indicators.European Union budget, financial crisis, European Union policy

INVESTORS’ TYPES OF BEHAVIOUR DURING CRISIS

Given the present economic situation the subject regarding the propagation mechanisms of financial crisis is of present interest. In these mechanisms, investor behaviour seems to be one of the propagation’s causes, and that’s why we think that the study of inventors’ types of behaviour during crisis might bring light on this controversial subject. Does any kind of behaviour make a financial market "contaminate" other markets? Sometimes, during crisis, the investors behaviour seems to be unforeseeable. In this article we will analyze how the investors behaviour may influence the power of the financial crisis propagation using the example of the Romanian capital market and we’ll try to identify the types of investor behaviour on this market, the Romanian capital market.investor behaviour, financial crisis, financial contagion, propagation, capital market

RISK MANAGEMENT, CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Financial management implies a complex and extensive area of interest with deep connections with financial analysis, corporate finance and risk management. Thus, risk management is an integrative part of the financial management, referring to the set of actions and strategies performed in order to cover the risks incurred by various dimensions of the company activity. Financial management and, implicitly, risk management, involves an oversight responsibility of the Board. In fact, the Board is in charge with the monitoring of the effectiveness implied by risk management strategies and practices, resulting that the connector between financial management and corporate governance consists of the corporate risk management. The paper starts with general aspects on corporate risk management as support to company’s value, which sets forth the scope of the issues the paper discusses. It briefly describes why Board of Directors involvement in the company strategies is directly related with firm performance. Next, by reviewing the general evidence, the paper explores why corporate governance may matter for sustainable development

FINANCIAL CONTAGION AND INVESTORS BEHAVIOR

International capital markets, in general, seem to be volatile markets, influenced bymany factors, a phenomenon that affects both developed markets, as well as least developed, withemerging market economies suffering most because of this. It is clear, however, that volatility willremain for as long as it is delayed the adoption of specific measures at national and internationalfinancial architecture level, measures that may be necessary to reduce these risks, to limit theirimpact, and that the question financial market can relapse in a manner as efficiently as possible.investor behaviour, financial crisis, rational investor, irational investor, financial contagion

ROMANIA'S REAL CONVERGENCE TO THE EUROPEAN UNION Dragos Mihai Ungureanu , Permanent Representation of Romania to the European Union Ruxandra Dana Vilag, Romanian-American University Bucharest George Horia Ionescu, Romanian-American University Bucharest Florian Bogdan Stoian, “Lucian Blaga†University of Sibiu

In the process of European integration, switching in 1999 to the third stageof Economic and Monetary Union, has intensified the need to coordinate economic andsectoral policies of the Member States. The process of coordination is necessary toharmonize national economic policy objectives in order to minimize the negative impactof economic policy measures taken by some member countries to other member countriesand reduce the temptation for Member States to have behavior riders. Real Convergenceis an essential goal of Romanian integration into the European Union. Attenuation of thedevelopment gaps maintained between Romania and the EU can not be achieved solelythrough the use of market forces. Economic transformations occurring globally andincreased risk aversion contributed to a signifiant reduction of capital flows to Romania,increased pressures upon exchange rate.Real convergence, nominal convergence, integration, European Union

ASSESING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF REAL CONVERGENCE IN ROMANIA

The convergence is an essential objective of the integration process of Romania in the European Union. Minimizing gaps in the level of development that arise between Romania and the average European Union can not be achieved solely through the use of marconvergence, European Union, real convergence

Circular Economy – A New Direction for the Sustainability of the Hotel Industry in Romania?

The present article deals with aspects related to the transition to a new model of economy – the circular economy – a more appropriate model for the current tendencies of ensuring the sustainability of economic processes. Tourism, as an economic branch with strong dynamics in recent years, is one of the areas where resource conservation and environmental protection are of significant importance. Circular tourism, derived from the principles of circular economy, aims at recycling tourism resources and favoring the sustainable development of the environment, thus giving tourists a greater sense of responsibility. The authors sought to study the influence of the implementation of integrated quality-environment-security systems on the economic performance of hotel establishments in Romania from the perspective of industry managers, as a starting point for determining the applicability of the principles of circular economy in this sector. In order to study this influence, questionnaires were addressed to tourism operators in order to establish the existing link between the implementation of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards and the economic, social and environmental performance of those operators. From the perspective of the systemic approach and analyzing the obtained data, the authors of the paper argue that the hotel industry in Romania is not yet sufficiently prepared to adopt the principles of the circular economy, the adoption of an integrated management system not having as much influence as believed on the performances of the operators in the field

Chitosan-Based Materials Featuring Multiscale Anisotropy for Wider Tissue Engineering Applications

We designed graphene oxide composites with increased morphological and structural variability using fatty acid-coupled polysaccharide co-polymer as the continuous phase. The matrix was synthesized by N, O-acylation of chitosan with palmitic and lauric acid. The obtained co-polymer was crosslinked with genipin and composited with graphene oxide. FTIR spectra highlighted the modification and multi-components interaction. DLS, SEM, and contact angle tests demonstrated that the conjugation of hydrophobic molecules to chitosan increased surface roughness and hydrophilicity, since it triggered a core-shell macromolecular structuration. Nanoindentation revealed a notable durotaxis gradient due to chitosan/fatty acid self-organization and graphene sheet embedment. The composited building blocks with graphene oxide were more stable during in vitro enzymatic degradation tests and swelled less. In vitro viability, cytotoxicity, and inflammatory response tests yielded promising results, and the protein adsorption test demonstrated potential antifouling efficacy. The robust and stable substrates with heterogeneous architecture we developed show promise in biomedical applications