Cluster policy and the supporting organizations for transnational clusters promoting - Romanian initiatives

In some european areas there are thousands of active companies with quite similar profiles, but the information about the potential for cooperation among the countries in the area is scarce because of the lack of visibility of SME-s, in general, and of transnational connections between companies and the supporting organizations, in particular. To overcome the current situation which is characterized by this lack of an exchange of information among the european zones on the potential for antreprenorial cooperation, is necessary to have a common european concept and an active implication of the appropiate supporting organizations. On the basis of a context analisys our paper will try to highlighte the need for the following: • Stimulation of productive capacities of companies in order to create cluster networks in the strategic economic sectors, meant to improve the actual integration of the transnational competitive chains of SME-s and contribute thus to the narrowing of regional disparities and to an increase in the attractiveness of the regions lagging behind for FDI; • Improvement of information on the cross-border cooperation potential in theese areas of Europe and promote it, so that SME-s in the regions have a bigger visibility • Stepping up the development of some innovative economic policies, of vertical relations among companies, of the visibility and accessibility of local productive systems and continued growth at a regional level. As case study the author chose the Romanian initiatives for transnational clusters promoting in some of the strategic economic sectors.

On Local Constraints of D=4 Supergravity in Terms of Dirac Eigenvalues

It has been recently shown that in order to have Dirac eigenvalues as observables of Euclidean supergravity, certain constraints should be imposed on the covariant phase space as well as on Dirac eigenspinors. We investigate the relationships among the constraints in the first set and argue that these relationships are not linear. We also derive a set of equations expressing the linear dependency of the constraints in order that the second set of constraints be linearly independent.Comment: 7 pages, REVTeX file, to be published in Mod. Phys. Lett.

Ecological Price Setting

This article aims to highlight the elements to be taken into consideration when setting prices, so that they support the effort of resource saving from production, distribution and consumption activities as well as pollution prevention efforts. Communication and price support these efforts. Market mechanisms are based on price so they will not recognize the importance of these issues and will favour bidders with lower unit prices. They will not reflect the efforts that are being made for recycling or destroying waste from the production process or even the damage caused by it. Also, the article highlights the taxes that demonstrate the importance of the environment, taxes on products and activities that are destructive to the environment, which will be the basis for the reform of national systems, the effects produced and conviction of some European countries for non-compliance with the Community environmental legislation. Although the article makes reference to the need to adjust the price, which does not have a direct connection with the generation and disposal of waste, it must also be looked at in an ecological contex

Labour Market Policy and the Reallocation of Labour Across Sectors

This paper investigates the extent of labour market allocation across broad industrial sectors in the transition of economies of Eastern Europe since 1989. It offers various measures of the magnitude of labour misallocation and of the speed and efficiency of reallocation during the first half of the 1980s. It compares the performance of the economies of Eastern Europe with one another and with two Southern European economies, Greece and Portugal, which have also been experiencing substantial economic change. Contrary to much a pirori theorising, the paper finds no correlation between unemployment and the speed or effectiveness of labour market reallocation. The authors argue that the analysis in the paper strengthens the case for an active as against a passive approach to labour market policy.

Social Development Aspects by Regional Level in Romania

The economic transition was harmful all over, but even more harmful for Romania's social landscape. The total population decreased by both birth rate and emigration and the work force follows this trend, the remaining people get older and demographic perspectives are even worse for the following decades. The poverty also gets larger and much larger in Romania than elsewhere in Europe and Central and Eastern Europe. Data show differences on regions and district areas, but under such circumstances, the fact that students and persons attending higher education institutions' courses increase their number and ratio in the total population does no longer represent a full social improvement, but this will feed the future emigration from Romania. The healthcare, social insurance, as well as educational and human resource systems are called to act against this situation, and some undertakings are under way.human resources, poverty, emigration, labour market, immigrants, ageing index, activity rate, employment rate, unemployment rate, healthcare system, education system, social insurance.

Product Market Regulation in Romania: A Comparison with OECD Countries

Less restrictive product market policies are crucial in promoting convergence to higher levels of GDP per capita. This paper benchmarks product market policies in Romania to those of the OECD countries by estimating OECD indicators of Product Market Regulation (PMR). The PMR indicators allow a comprehensive mapping of policies affecting competition in product markets. Comparison with OECD countries reveals that Romania’s product market policies are less restrictive of competition than most direct comparators from the region and not far from the OECD average. Nonetheless, this achievement should be interpreted in light of the fact that PMR approach measures officially adopted policies. It does not capture implementation and enforcement, the area where future reform efforts should be directed if less restrictive policies are to have an effective impact on long-term growth prospects. Part I : a comparative analysis of Romania’s PRM and Inward-oriented Policies.regulation, product markets, administrative reforms, inward looking policies, outward looking policies

Skills development among South African based innovative ICT firms

Thesis (M.M. (Innovation Studies))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2016FDI is a buzzword used in the discourses of many emerging market politicians over the last two decades and SA politicians make no exception. It is commonly accepted that many multinationals (MNEs) provide employment opportunities and contribute to the transfer of technological knowledge in support of the host country’s catch up activities. This study aims to provide insight into how the South African subsidiaries of innovative ICT MNEs invest in skills development and why their local leaders chose to act in this way by comparing the case studies of IBM SA, Cisco SA and Dimension Data. It also seeks to find which of these three firms is more efficient at this investment and how South Africa, as a host country, influences their investment activities. The theoretical foundation for this study contains the literature review under the topic framed by the research problem: “How innovative ICT firms based in SA invest in skills.” The researcher gained knowledge about the habit of investment in skills in these branches of MNEs, in particular, their behaviour when they operate within South Africa, and produced a set of propositions that were investigated under the framework of the three case studies using qualitative research methodology. On one hand, the outcome of the study is that these researched branches are not innovating in SA because of the special emerging market context of SA and consequently, at present, they do not invest in R&D and innovation activities. On the other hand, SA government business consultants consider the branches of MNEs as sources of strong innovative and R&D activities that may influence SA innovation successes, different from what these firms do. Moreover, the results of the analysis show that the studied firms intensively exploit their existing products for maximum short-term profit. Policy makers could be assisted by this study in developing adequate policies in support of R&D and innovation activities. The study could also provide guidance for those HQs and leaders of local branches who want to improve their performance in SA and to SA innovators who are seeking to understand the twofold effect of globalisation.DM201

Regional structural change and growth in Romania

This paper identifies and explains the impact of increasing economic integration with the European Union on regional structural change and growth in Romania. Using data on imports and exports we first investigate the trade performance patterns between Romania and the European Union in the period 1990-2000. Second, using regional data for the period 1991-1999, we analyse the changes in regional specialisation patterns. Third, we discuss changes in the patterns of location and concentration of industrial activities. Forth, we investigate the relationship between regional specialisation and growth. Next, we look at the role of trade liberalisation in determing regional wage differentials. Finally, based on the results found in the previous sections, this paper predicts the types of likely winning and losing regions in Romania in its economic integration with the European Union.

Product market regulation in Romania : a comparison with OECD countries

Less restrictive product market policies are crucial in promoting convergence to higher levels of GDP per capita. This paper benchmarks product market policies in Romania to those of OECD countries by estimating OECD indicators of Product Market Regulation (PMR). The PMR indicators allow a comprehensive mapping of policies affecting competition in product markets. Comparison with OECD countries reveals that Romania's product market policies are less restrictive of competition than most direct comparators from the region and not far from the OECD average. Nonetheless, this achievement should be interpreted in light of the fact that PMR approach measures officially adopted policies. It does not capture implementation and enforcement, the area where future reform efforts should be directed if less restrictive policies are to have an effective impact on long-term growth prospects.Public Sector Regulation,Transport Economics Policy&Planning,E-Business,Emerging Markets,Markets and Market Access