ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF ENERGY - ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF POLLUTION?

In many countries of the world investments are made for obtaining energy efficiency, pursuing to increase the generation of non-polluting fuels due to the fact that energy is vital for any economy. The increase in non-polluting fuels and in renewable energy generation might lead to diminishing the dependence of countries less endowed with conventional energy resources on oil and natural gas from Russia or from Arab countries. Nevertheless, environmental issues represent serious questions facing the mankind, requiring the identification, prevention, and why not, their total solving.European Union countries depend on imports of energy, especially on oil imports. At the same time, the European Union countries record a high volume of greenhouse gas emissions, substances adding to global warming. The transport sector is the main consumer of fossil fuels and generator of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, diversifying the energy supply used in the transport sector with less polluting sources is an essential objective of the European Union policy in the transport, energy and environment sector. Road transports’ is the sector recording the highest consumption of energy and the highest volume of greenhouse gas emissions.The use of ecologic fuels in the transport sector is an important factor for achieving the objectives of European policies in the field. It is yet to be seen to what extent alternative energy sources are damaging to the environment, as it is a known fact that even for them is recorded a certain level of negative externalities.sources of energy, sources of pollution, energy efficiency, non-polluting fuels, environment

Tourism as backer for regional development. A real deal or just another hope?

The present paper aims to estimate the economic impact of tourism in Centre development region of Romania, using the regional input-output analysis. Prior Work in the field of assessment of tourism impact suggest input – output analysis as a strong instrument of analysis, previous research papers using this model in various region and countries of the world. The main approach of the paper is to develop GRIT model (Generation of Regional Input - Output Tables) previously used by the experts. The results of the paper indicate lower backward or forward regional tourism multipliers as compared to those estimated at national level. The main findings of the paper has significant implications for the decision-makers in order to support tourism sector and better capitalize the tourism natural and cultural patrimony. Furthermore, the methodology could be used in other Romanian development regions. The value of the paper consists in adapting input-output methodology at regional level in order to estimate tourism impact

Procjena utjecaja klimatskih promjena na obalni turizam u Rumunjskoj

Climate change is one of the major concerns facing the world today, estimated to generate both benefits and costs in various economic and social areas, i.e. agriculture, forestry, food industry, tourism, infrastructure, human health, settlements etc. The estimation of the specialists indicates that, generally, the costs of climate change will exceed the benefits. This paper aims to investigate the climate change impact on the Romanian seaside tourism. Using various multiple regression models, the data indicate that the increase of mean air temperature and sunshine duration stimulate domestic tourist flows to Romanian seaside resorts. The economic impact of climate variability on tourism sector was estimated, considering various scenarios of analysis. However, future research is needed in order to extend the analysis, using a larger data base and applying the empirical investigation on other tourism destinations exposed to climate change.Klimatske promjene su jedna od osnovnih briga današnjeg svijeta za koje se smatra da generiraju kako dobitak tako i troškove na raznim ekonomskim i društvenim poljima, npr. u poljoprivredi, šumarstvu, prehrambenoj industriji, turizmu, infrastrukturi, ljudskom zdravlju, naseljima, itd. Procjene stručnjaka ukazuju na to da, općenito govoreći, troškovi uzrokovani klimatskim promjenama premašuju dobitke. Cilj ovog rada je istražiti utjecaj klimatskih promjena na obalni turizam u Rumunjskoj. Koristeći razne višestruke regresijske modele, podaci ukazuju na to da povećanje srednje vrijednosti temperature zraka i trajanje sunčanih dana potiču domaća turistička kretanja prema rumunjskim obalnim destinacijama. Ekonomski učinak klimatske varijabilnosti na turistički sektor je procijenjen uzimajući u obzir različite scenarije analize. Ipak, potrebno je još istraživanja kako bi se analiza proširila uz pomoć veće baze podataka i koristeći empirijsko istraživanje u drugim turističkim destinacijama na koje utječu klimatske promjene

The assessment of taxation impact on economic development. A case study of Romania (1995-2014)

Tax policy is an important tool in the process of stimulating economic development, and the analysis of the impact on the macroeconomic indicators is constantly in the attention of specialists. The present paper aims at identifying the factors that have a positive influence on economic development for the case of Romania, with a model showing the influences of tax variables such as current taxes on income, wealth, etc. and taxes on production and imports, GDP per capita being a proxy for economic development, for the period 1995-2014. In this paper, the importance of hypotheses checking for a regression model is underlined

Looking for Tourism Legacy for the Future: Social and Cultural Dimensions

The investigation of socio-cultural impact of tourism has brought about a substantial number of case studies, still its assessment remains very poor. This paper aims to put under discussion some indices and instruments of measuring the socio-economic impact of tourism, such as tourism intensity, correlation indicators, covariance analysis, Kuznets curve, regional tourism development typology at European and national level. The results of this analysis should represent useful data for policy-makers and practitioners in order to consolidate tourism policy objectives and philosophies of development on medium and long term

Romanian intra-industry trade: A panel data approach

This research examines the determinants of intra-industry trade (IIT) in the automobile components sector in Romania. Following previous studies, our manuscript applies a gravity model equation with panel data. The dependent variable used is IIT in automobile components. The analysis of the determinants of IIT is undertaken using a panel approach. The panel data models were estimated with Pooled OLS, fixed effects (FE) and random effects (RE) estimators. The results are presented with country characteristics as explanatory variables, and the models have four statistically significant variables. This research adds significant contribution to the intra-industry trade topic. Little academic attention has been devoted to the Romanian experience. The trade in the automobile components sector between Romania and some European countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland and Turkey) was examined, between 1995 and 2008. Using a panel data approach, the results show a positive correlation between endowments and IIT. The results indicate that the Romanian IIT is explained by differentiated quality, i.e. vertical specialization. Our study also consider economic dimension, this proxy confirms the positive effect of IIT, and so the market size is important to differentiated product. The economic model also confirms the hypothesis that volume of trade increases if the transportation costs decrease

THE IMPACT OF TOURISM TAXATION: ANALYSIS FOR ROMANIA

In modern economies, taxes levied by governments are the most important source of government revenue. Like any other economic sector, tourism is taxed, but it also benefits from financial resources from the government. However, given its specificity, taxation implies a different approach in order to stimulate development, as long as any tax increase can lead to higher prices for tourism products. The paper aims to investigate the tax multipliers of tourism and recreational activities and the propagation effect of taxes, using the data provided by the National Institute of Statistics (NIS), applying Input-Output (IO) methodology for the year 2014.</p

CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL ECONOMIC STATUS. PRESENT AND PERSPECTIVES

Climate change, currently affecting the entire planet, is considered by the specialists the result of the increase in anthropogenic GHG concentrations. Sectors such as agriculture, transport, energy, tourism and also food security, population health, water resources, and ecosystems become vulnerable to the changes in climate. The climate change could generate costs and benefits for the Romanian seaside and mountain tourism, the multiple linear regression models proving that the tourism demand (arrivals and overnights) is depending on tourism offer (bed-places’ number, tourism capacity in function), but also on climate parameters (air temperature, layer of snow).climate change, costs, economy, tourism

Trade and portuguese immigration

This manuscript examines the link between trade and migration flows using a gravity model for the period 1995-2007 between Portugal and European Union countries. We also include in our sample the Portuguese speaking countries (PALOPS), i.e., ex-colonies. Globalization drives people to migrate, in some countries, immigration being more pronounced las in Portugal, in last decade, this country receiving foreign residents. This is a new reality to Portuguese economy. For many years, the Portuguese have emigrated to European countries, the United States of America and other countries. Currently, Portugal is witnessing a reverse trend, Brazilian, Cape Verde,Ukrainian and Romanian communities choose Portugal as a destination country.We find evidence that immigration has a positive influence in bilateral trade. We also introduce economic size and regional trade agreements (RTA); these proxies confirming a positive impact of bilateral trade. These results show that the gravity model can explain the pattern of bloc’s trade. Our results also confirm the hypothesis that trade increases if the transport decreases

ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF ENERGY - ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF POLLUTION?

In many countries of the world investments are made for obtaining energy efficiency, pursuing to increase the generation of non-polluting fuels due to the fact that energy is vital for any economy. The increase in non-polluting fuels and in renewable energy generation might lead to diminishing the dependence of countries less endowed with conventional energy resources on oil and natural gas from Russia or from Arab countries. Nevertheless, environmental issues represent serious questions facing the mankind, requiring the identification, prevention, and why not, their total solving.European Union countries depend on imports of energy, especially on oil imports. At the same time, the European Union countries record a high volume of greenhouse gas emissions, substances adding to global warming. The transport sector is the main consumer of fossil fuels and generator of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, diversifying the energy supply used in the transport sector with less polluting sources is an essential objective of the European Union policy in the transport, energy and environment sector. Road transports’ is the sector recording the highest consumption of energy and the highest volume of greenhouse gas emissions.The use of ecologic fuels in the transport sector is an important factor for achieving the objectives of European policies in the field. It is yet to be seen to what extent alternative energy sources are damaging to the environment, as it is a known fact that even for them is recorded a certain level of negative externalities