Consumption and hysteresis: the new, the old, and the challenge

Consumers are reluctant to change immediately their consumption patterns when confronted with budgetary changes, in spite of fluctuating economic conditions. Their reluctance evokes the notion of hysteresis used by economists to describe the persistent influence of past economic events. The importance of hysteresis in economic research represents a natural consequence of the development of economic sciences and of the pursuit of understanding economic systems’ evolution by taking into account their ‘memory’, their conscience of the past. The present paper represents an attempt to review some of the most relevant approaches to hysteresis in economics and to emphasise the impact of the phenomenon on macroeconomic consumption in Romania. The paper aims at reviewing the application of hysteresis to economic models, and subsequently at constructing a two-phase research on households’ individual final consumption in Romania during 1990 and 2016, employing both the unit root and the so-called ‘true’ approach to hysteresis. The research results indicated the existence of hysteresis at the macroeconomic consumption level, thus revealing several implications for economic policy, inaccessible through the standard economic models

THE FUTURE OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND MONETARY UNION: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS FOR A SOLID CONSTRUCTION

The article aims at analysing the debate regarding the future of the European Economic and Monetary Union as a core structure that will be capable to ensure the development of the European Union and to reach the fundamental goal of the free movement of the capital. Considered by many built on a week foundation, the discussion regarding how the European Economic and Monetary Union must be restructured became an urgent problem to be solve in the light of the last ten years political and economic events (international financial crisis, euro crisis, the radical view of several European political leaders elected after 2014). Our research focuses on different points of view regarding the future structure and regulation framework of the European Economic and Monetary Union as a critical qualitative research in order to put together the advantages and disadvantages of such opinions and the validity of arguments in their favour. Our research has as starting point the 2012 Four Presidents Report and the 2015 Five Presidents Report facing the opinions of the academia and the European financial market reality. We analysed different future developments proposals in order to identify the validity of concepts such as a banking union, new tools and mechanisms designed to contribute to the accomplishment of a functional Economic and Monetary Union. The article ends with several conclusions regarding the process to develop a deeper Economic and Monetary Union in the EU

Internet Banking in Romania at a Glance

The development of the information and communication technologies and the changes brought to the business models by introducing the use of internet services in the recent decades could not be ignored by the banking industry. The emergence and the development of the internet banking have raised many questions to both academia and industry representatives, both in terms of the benefits of the new organizational models based on providing financial services online and the degree of penetration of these services at the national economy level. This paper aims to make an analysis of the extent to which the internet banking services are used in Romania. The analysis took into account various criteria for the classification of internet banking users (age, residence, occupational status). The study showed that the use of the internet banking services in Romania is still below the European average but has an upward trend

CUSTOMER ORIENTATION IN THE MARKETING ACTIVITY OF ROMANIAN COMPANIES

Market orientation is used to describe the actual implementation of the marketing concept or in other words induces the idea that organizations which are market-oriented act according to the marketing principles. The scope of this article is therefore to nvestigate and empirically assess the perceived impact of customer orientation as main component of market orientation on business performance using a sample of Romanian companies. The research results reveal the importance of this dimension and of the items used to assess customer orientation on business performance and represents a starting point for further research in the field

The Adjusted Net Asset Valuation Method – Connecting the dots between Theory and Practice

The valuation of an entity is an intricate process leading to the establishment of its marketvalue. A company’s value is created, on one hand, by its assets and liabilities and, on the otherhand, by its capacity to generate future economic benefits. In order to evaluate the equity of acompany a balance sheet-based valuation method is used, most commonly the adjusted net assetsvaluation method. The goal of this paper is to present the theoretical background of this method as well as itspractical application. We will first analyze the main theoretical issues regarding the correctionsthat need to be performed in order to transform the book value of assets and liabilities to theirmarket value, afterwards proceeding to an example on how this method is applied to the balancesheet of a company. Finally, we will conclude on the importance of the method for a company’sevaluation process

The Romanian Healthcare Institutions – Managing Budget Limitations and Liquidity Issues

The paper aims to determine if the public healthcare institutions in Romania (particularly inConstanta County) manage the budget limitations in terms of the level of incomes andexpenditures, and if these institutions manage to insure the proper level of liquidity in order tosatisfy the entity’s creditors for exigible debts. In order to achieve these objectives, we calculatedand analyzed the three indicators of liquidity (working capital - required working capital - nettreasury) and in order to identify the degree to which the entity can cope with its short-term debtswe used a system of liquidity rates. The findings of the research show heterogeneity in themanagement of the healthcare institutions and different situations in terms of achieving financialequilibrium

Ecolabelling in the Romanian Seaside Hotel Industry—Marketing Considerations, Financial Constraints, Perspectives

The tendency to implement diverse environmental tools and promote the adoption of environmentally friendly practices in tourism activities is relatively new. One such tool is the EU Ecolabel used in the hotel industry as a voluntary European initiative meant to attest to the responsible attitude towards the environment. Since holding the ecolabel by the Romanian accommodation units is rather an exception, our aim was to investigate the views of industry managers on environmental issues, focusing on the EU Ecolabel, and get a glimpse of the challenges and prospects of ecolabelling within the seaside hotel industry. To this end, the study was designed and conducted on 60 hotel managers. The research results gave evidence to the measures already implemented, those pending implementation, reasons for not applying for the EU Ecolabel, and the most challenging criteria. The potential impact of the EU Ecolabel on the economic activity efficiency, and its role in customer decision processes and in marketing communication, was highlighted. Subsequently, a mathematical model was proposed, revealing that the intention to meet the criteria and obtain the EU Ecolabel depends on the managers’ level of knowledge of the EU Ecolabel, their opinion on whether holding the EU Ecolabel represents a competitive advantage, and the current efficiency level of the hotels’ economic activity. Considering the research findings, it is obvious that the industry would benefit from ampler and more sustained information campaigns on the EU Ecolabel

From Financial Tradition to Innovation in Contemporary Banking

The financial crisis that affected the world market in late 2007 and determinate the failure of some prestigious banks and an unprecedented collapse of the stock market indices had multiple causes and lead to the transformation of the global financial market. To determine the causes that have pushed the commercial banks to accept risks becoming higher and higher involving derivative transactions, will examine what changes occurred in the recent decades in the structure of international financial markets, especially in the banking activities typology.financial crisis, commercial banks, derivatives

EURO ADOPTION – THE ILLUSION OF THE MONETARY INTEGRATION OF ROMANIA

The accession to the European Union for Central and Eastern Europe countries involved their requirement to start the process of the European Monetary Union integration. The desire to enjoy the benefits of EU membership has made both the 10 countries that joined EU in 2004 and Romania and Bulgaria which became EU member in 2007 to engage on the path to join the European single currency endeavoring to meet not only the nominal convergence criteria but also real convergence. This paper makes an analysis of the Romania's capacity to achieve the nominal convergence criteria in the current context. The change of the financial and economic conditions due to the crisis that spread worldwide during 2007 - 2008 changed the issue from "Romania can fulfill the nominal convergence criteria?” in "Is it advisable for Romania to adopt the Euro, given the uncertainty clouds over the currency's future?” The analysis is made by considering the comparative situation of other countries that are in the process of joining the single currency. The objective of the research undertaken in this paper is to investigate Romania's capacity to approach the nominal convergence criteria and so realistic goal of joining the Euro it is

THE STRATEGIC APPROACH TO HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN ROMANIAN COMPANIES - AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

The importance of human resources in modern companies has raised several research issues in the specialized literature. One of particular importance concerns the approach to human resources management practices. The research papers have revealed two main approaches - the administrative and the strategic one. The second orientation proved to be the one that generated different debates. The strategic perspective implies the existence of differences in practice concerning the development of specific human resources activities within the companies. The results of several specialised studies concerning the human resources management practices within Romanian companies were presented. We considered it necessary in order to understand the situation of this particular field and its specific approach in the companies located in our country. This paper aims to analyze the use of such approach in companies located in Constanta county, through an empirical study. It intends to investigate whether there are major differences concerning the assessment of the importance of specific practices (human resources planning, training, performance appraisal, and career management) between the companies having a human resources strategy and the ones without a human resources strategy. It also aims to investigate if the importance granted to the above mentioned set of practices varies function of the size of the company (number of employees). The research tool used was a questionnaire distributed to human resources managers or to other persons in charge of the specific human resources activities. A total of 75 questionnaires were distributed between October – November 2015, and 62 were returned filled in. The results of the study are in line with results of previous studies regarding human resources management practices in Romanian companies. Namely, the results indicated that the perceived importance of human resources planning and training was significantly different in companies having a human resources strategy from the ones without a human resources strategy. Moreover, the level of the perceived importance of the specific practices considered in the analysis (human resources planning, training, performance appraisal, and career management) varies significantly function of company size. The relevance of the present study is heralded by the interesting revealed facets of human resources management practices in Romanian companies, and represents a starting point for further research on the two main approaches on human resources management – the strategic approach vs. the administrative one