Economic development has been a major priority for the European Commission, with significant amounts of Structural and Cohesion Funds being allocated in this direction. With the enlargements of the Union in 2004, 2007 and 2013, the Regional Development Policy faced a new challenge, with the disparity between new members and the community average being a notable one. The literature is divided with respect to the impact generated by funds allocated through the Regional Development Policy, as some authors claim the existence of positive effects, others identify conditional positive effects and other authors identify only negative effects and say that the whole support system needs to be rethought. This research presents an empirical approach to the issue of the effectiveness of the European Community’s support system for business environments. An analysis is performed at the microeconomic level in order to quantify observable effects at the level of the SMEs that have benefited from non-reimbursable financial aid. The data obtained indicate that Structural and Cohesion Funds for business environments have a significant effect in the medium and long terms, contributing to the achievement of the general objective of the Regional Development Policy (reducing economic disparities between EU member states).

The objective of this research was to identify the main factors of influence and their level in terms of framing ‘Ștefan cel Mare’ University of Suceava into the pattern of the sustainable university. Firstly, we have thoroughly examined the literature and correlated it with the local practices in entrepreneurship and education. This resulted in a set of key issues which we have investigated as variables throughout a questionnaire that has been applied to 348 students from ‘Ștefan cel Mare’ University of Suceava (USV) in Romania. By running the Principal Components Analysis (PCA) in SPSS, we have identified which type of academic skills and competencies acquired by students are influencing the development of the university and the development of students' entrepreneurial abilities. Results indicated that a high degree of material resources available to use by respondents is associated with a high level of academic training, thus this should be a good strategy to intensify. For the second part of the analysis, we have applied the logistic regression method to measure the combined influence of factors identified throughout the PCA. Statistical analyses showed that respondents who recorded higher interactions related to the university context gained higher entrepreneurial skills and competencies.

The research aim was to identify the training needs of entrepreneurs and employees within small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the Suceava, Chernivtsi, and Bălți regions, to analyze the specific training practices in the cross-border area, and to identify the common features or the disparities. The research contains an exploratory survey, based on a semi-structured questionnaire that investigates the training needs in the SMEs and specific training practices with a comparative approach. The results relate to the challenges faced by transformation economies and by the specificities of SMEs from these remote areas. Additionally, the research connects the factors involved in planning and delivering training programs for employees in SMEs in this EU peripheral area with the weaknesses of the companies in facing the market competitive economy. The results of the survey disclosed some common features and specificities related to training needs, training responsibilities, and interests in the SMEs from this cross-border area. The discussions are relevant for different categories of stakeholders, at the micro-level, for the management of the companies, but also on a larger scale, in planning the new development programs for the labor market in the targeted areas.

A vast body of literature recognizes the importance of exports as a driver of economic growth. The increasing share of more sophisticated exports gave birth to the idea that the composition of exports, and not just exports per se, could be crucial for economic dynamics. The aim of this paper was to estimate the relative importance of exports with different technological content on economic growth in Romania and V4 economies, considering R&D (Research and Development) expenditure as a predictor of the pattern of these exports. We used a panel analysis on a data set covering the period of 1995–2017 for Romania and V4 economies. The overall results outline significant differences among selected countries in terms of how the composition of exports influenced economic growth in selected countries. In addition, significant differences were found among selected countries in how R&D expenditure influenced the composition of exports. This paper has clearly shown that the composition of exports has different effects on economic growth in selected countries, mostly explainable by country-specific factors. At the same time, the R&D activity, as the main input in the innovation process, can determine the pattern of the structure of exports. The conclusions of such research could become useful tools in shaping macroeconomic policies focused on sustained growth and long-term economic development, especially in countries concerned about improving their status in the global value chain.

The exponential development of information and communication technology (ICT) through computer networks, Wi-Fi systems, wireless signals, and information storage systems has contributed to the transition to the so-called new economy, which is becoming increasingly digital and global. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teleworking has begun to dramatically change the work dynamics for all stakeholders. The aim of this research was to identify the main impacting factors and their level of influence in relation to the macroeconomic context of teleworking, public policies, and the legal framework regarding quality of life, as well as the effects of teleworking on employees and employers. Through empirical research, we explored the perspectives of employees and employers as main stakeholders who had operated in the teleworking field within Suceava County in Romania during 2020. In this regard, we undertook exploratory research, the results of which were processed using SPSS v.20. The insightful results have practical implications for the labor market, where an obvious increase in the share of teleworking in the total forms of work has already occurred, and the relations between employer and employee are expected to become based more and more on cooperation and less on subordination. The results also revealed an important tendency of employees to appreciate the positive effects of teleworking on other aspects of life.