Do Apprenticeships Increase Youth Employability in Romania? A Propensity Score Matching Approach

The paper aims to bring together two main current research interests: youth employability on the one hand, and use of econometric techniques in order to evaluate the impact of different policy measures, on the other hand. The topic of youth employability is very actual for Romanian labour market, as early school-leaving and the rate of youth not in employment, education or training are among the highest in EU and show no sign of going to decrease significantly on medium and long term. Work-based leaning, as apprenticeship or internship programs are lately promoted as efficient measures to address both the need for a better school-to-work transition, as well as a better education-job match. The paper provides some insights regarding the youth experience of apprenticeship in Romania and empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that work-based programs could increase youth employability. The empirical findings where obtained through a counterfactual approach, by applying the propensity score matching technique on a sample of respondents selected from the Flash Eurobarometer 378 dataset. Our results confirm a low but positive impact of apprenticeships on youth employment in Romania. Also, the analyses confirm that apprenticeships address more to low educated young persons, so the impact of the programs is even more relevant as could be an effective measure for increasing youth employability of disadvantaged youth

Do apprenticeships increase youth employability in Romania? A propensity score matching approach

The paper aims to bring together two main current research interests: youth employability on the one hand, and use of econometric techniques in order to evaluate the impact of different policy measures, on the other hand. The topic of youth employability is very actual for Romanian labour market, as early school-leaving and the rate of youth not in employment, education or training are among the highest in EU and show no sign of going to decrease significantly on medium and long term. Work-based leaning, as apprenticeship or internship programs are lately promoted as efficient measures to address both the need for a better school-to-work transition, as well as a better education-job match. The paper provides some insights regarding the youth experience of apprenticeship in Romania and empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that work-based programs could increase youth employability. The empirical findings where obtained through a counterfactual approach, by applying the propensity score matching technique on a sample of respondents selected from the Flash Eurobarometer 378 dataset. Our results confirm a low but positive impact of apprenticeships on youth employment in Romania. Also, the analyses confirm that apprenticeships address more to low educated young persons, so the impact of the programs is even more relevant as could be an effective measure for increasing youth employability of disadvantaged youth.&nbsp

The labor market in the rural area of the Republic of Moldova

Any economic activity, under the conditions of a market economy, objectively associates the factor of production capital, with another essential factor, the labor factor, which is obtained through the labor market, thus constituting a market economy subsystem. The labor market is one of the most important elements of the market economy. The functioning of the labor market is influenced both by the economic factors and by the social-institutional nature. Economic factors are especially important for labor demand. Labor supply is modeled at the same time by economic factors (salary level as the price of this factor), but also by factors with a social or institutional coloration

Emerging trends and drivers for knowledge-intensive economy

Innovation and knowledge-intensive economy are considered crucial for addressing challenges and opportunities currently faced by Europe. The present paper aims to provide inputs for building a long-term vision aiming to promote innovation and knowledge economy for fostering smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. We analyze microdata from the 2016 Innobarometer "EU Business Innovation Trends" (Flash Eurobarometer 433), covering 14,112 companies from 30 countries in order to shed light on main drivers and results of business investments in innovation. We focus our analysis on high-tech industries and knowledge-intensive services. Additionally, expected positive impacts of innovation in knowledge-intensive sectors are explored in terms of job creation, digital economy, environment protection, health, transport, food quantity and quality, development of smart cities, etc. Our results are useful for designing an improved support for the emergence and impact of knowledge-intensive economy

Sustainable development of the agricultural sector in the Republic of Moldova

The issue of sustainable development of the agriculture in the Republic of Moldova has become very important lately. Thus, the sustainable development of the agriculture in the Republic of Moldova can be defined as a continuous and consecutive growth of the agricultural activity results. The development of the agricultural sector is of major importance for the Republic of Moldova. The rural population is 58%, whose income comes from agriculture or from other agricultural activities. That’s why, the state should support the rural population, whose income is directly dependent on the agricultural sector. The main objectives of the rural development department are: creating viable rural areas, stimulating economic growth, increasing competition in the agriculture, food and forestry sectors, ensuring a sufficient level of self-sufficiency, rational use of natural resources and tackling climate change, setting favorable conditions for improving the quality of life in rural areas. The Republic of Moldova still has to work on them

The development of the viticulture and wine sector export in the Republic of Moldova

The global viticulture and wine export competition is growing exponentially, manifested by the spread of new advanced technologies. These technologies have resulted in improved control over production processes and in the quality improvement of even cheap wines, in the massive entry of exporters from the "New World", whose sales have tripled since 1992. That’s why, the emergence of new import and export markets requires original and well-targeted strategies and approaches. Today the wine and viticulture sector in the Republic of Moldova depends on exports. Wine is one of the country's main export products. Over 90 percent of the produced wine production is exported. The wine industry has traditionally been the most powerful sector of the national economy of Moldova. In the past, our country was the largest wine exporter on the USSR market, because every second bottle of wine and every third bottle of sparkling wine was produced in our country

Key Drivers and Skills Needed for Innovative Companies Focused on Sustainability

Sustainable innovation at a company level drives economic, environmental and social improvement at a national level. Recent evidence has shown that businesses have increased the managerial attention and investments dedicated to sustainability. This paper aims to identify the most important drivers supporting companies to develop innovation activities oriented towards making the business models more sustainable. We explore microdata from the 2016 Innobarometer "EU Business Innovation Trends" (Flash Eurobarometer 433), covering 8635 companies from 29 countries. Using statistical classification methods, we identify the most important factors that are related to innovation activities that have the potential to shape the efficiency of raw material usage and environmental protection. The most relevant factors emphasized by our analysis are: innovation performance of the country (innovation), percentage of the company turnover invested in innovation activities, percentage of total turnover invested in acquisition of machines, equipment, software or licenses, percentage of total turnover invested in company reputation and branding, including web design, percentage of total turnover invested in software development. Also, our analysis highlights the skills that are needed the most by companies in order to support their innovation activities targeting sustainability. Our results are useful for better understanding the attention that is given to sustainability by innovative companies, and what the main factors that boost innovation dedicated to sustainability are

Pleurezia tuberculoasă la copii

Background. Tuberculosis (TB) pleurisy represents a common form of extra-pulmonary TB in children. The immunocompromised status promote the development of TB pleurisy in children. Evolution of TB pleurisy in children presents some particularities. Objective of the study. Studying of evolution particularities of TB pleurisy in children. Material and Methods. A retrospective, descriptive study that included 46 cases of TB Pleurisy in children was performed. All patients were diagnosed and hospitalized in the Municipal Clinical Hospital of Phthysiopneumology in Chisinau for the period 2015- 2019 years. Results. Prevailing age of children was 11-18 ani – 26 (57%). TB contact was found in 27 (59%) children, including ½ cases – at home. Passive detection was in 38 (83%) cases and by activ screening – 18 (17%). The most of patients were new cases – 43(93%). In 29 (63%) cases pleurisy was a complication of TB. The clinical forms of TB were: TB of intrathoracic lymph nodes– 14 (48%), Primary TB complex – 6 (21%), infiltrative pulmonary TB – 9 (31%). In all cases the localization was unilateral. The TB etiology of the pleurisy was confirmed by microbiological examination in 15 (33%). Exudative character of pleural fluid was established in 82%. Treatment for sensitive TB was given in 31 (68%) cases. Conclusion. TB pleurisy develops in children with TB contact. In TB pleurisy, the pleural fluid is an exudate. Evolution of the TB process is influenced by pleurisy. Introducere. Pleurezia tuberculoasă (TB) reprezintă o formă frecventă de TB extrapulmonară la copii. Statusul imun compromis favorizează dezvoltarea pleureziei TB la copii. Evoluția pleureziei TB la copii se prezintă prin unele particularități. Scopul lucrării. Studierea particularităților de evoluție a pleureziei tuberculoase la copii. Material și Metode. A fost efectuat un studiu retrospectiv, descriptiv prin evaluarea foilor de observație a 46 cazuri de pleurezie TB la copiii internați în IMSP Spitalul Clinic Municipal de Ftiziopneumologie, Chișinău în perioada 2015-2019. Rezultate. A predominat vârsta copiilor 11-18 ani – 26 (57%). Contact TB au avut 27 (59%) copii, inclusiv în ½ cazuri - la domiciliu. Depistarea pasivă a fost în 38 (83%) cazuri. Majoritatea pacienților au fost cazuri noi – 43 (93%). În 29 (63%) cazuri pleurezia a fost complicație a TB. Printre formele clinice de TB au fost: TB ganglionilor limfatici intratoracici – 14 (48%), Complex TB primar – 6 (21%), TB pulmonară infiltrativă – 9 (31%). În toate cazurile a fost localizarea unilaterală. Confirmarea etiologiei TB a pleureziei a fost prin examenul microbiologic în 15 (33%). Caracterul exudativ al lichidului pleural s-a stabilit în 82%. Tratament pentru TB sensibilă s-a administrat în 31 (68%) cazuri. Concluzii. Pleurezia TB se dezvolă la copiii din contact TB. În pleurezia TB lichidul pleural este un exudat. Evoluția procesului TB este influențată de pleurezie