The health crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic has induced, among other things, an increase in the importance of remote work or teleworking (TL) in the current period. The objective of this research is to identify the economic and social impact of telework in changing the behavior of employees in Romania. The research was conducted approximately one year after the onset of the pandemic until the beginning of the vaccination period in Romania. The research proposed includes three main directions of analysis of the extracted data, which are related to telework efficiency, this being considered one of the most important indicators for a company. In order to obtain conclusive results, we used a mixed methodology, combining results obtained through a survey based on a self-administered electronic questionnaire, with a data mining analysis. Detailed analysis of the groups identified based on work efficiency allowed us to highlight the most common employee profiles. This analysis was doubled by a second classification experiment, which provided us a more detailed analysis of the groups identified based on job satisfaction and highlighted the most common employee profiles. The expansion of telework in various economic areas is a result of adaptation to the new economic and social conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The paper proposes an insight into the relation existing between economic development and resource consumption and the associated implications and challenges for forested areas in Romania. In accordance with this purpose, the methods used are both qualitative and quantitative by using a relevant literature review, including international and national reports. In the 1950s and 1960s, Simon Kuznets introduced to modern economic theory the idea that there are certain market forces directly correlated with economic development. After almost two decades of a market economy in Romania, we are witnessing a relative decoupling process between economic development and social inequality. Moreover, the country strives to make the transition to a circular economy by involving all relevant stakeholders and by attracting the necessary financial support. Sustainable development offers the perspective of reaching an equilibrium between economic, social, and environmental aspects. Finding the right tools to assess multiple impacts has always been challenging as regards decoupling the economic development from natural resource consumption. Although there are multiple interpretations of the outcomes of a decoupling process, this paper aims at assessing the evolution of forested areas through econometric research using the Environmental curve of Simon Kuznets. As our main results, we have observed a decoupling process in the GDP growth that will not lead to a decrease in wooded areas in our country, mainly due to rural–urban migration, shifts in consumption patterns (from firewood toward natural gases, etc.) and improvement in the legislative framework in the case of forestry products. Among the weaknesses of the model used are the limited data availability and the reduced number of observations with annual frequency (data were taken only for 22 years), the use of a square pattern instead of a cubic one (it is possible for the results to differ and consequently another form of this curve, either N or N-inverted) or the use of data with a low accuracy related to the total forest areas in Romania. Among the conclusions of the papers, the decoupling process is not a single action process. Our research focused on forest area and the need to connect it with other policy actions related to mainstreaming sustainability, promoting a circular economy or bioeconomy, or developing innovative public policies and instruments.

After 1990, when the economic system changed in Romania, the mining industry was the most controversial field from a productive-economic point of view and subject to reforms and transformations for efficiency. Currently (2022), there are nine main mining perimeters in which the production of useful, energetic, and nonenergetic mineral substances is operational, and in others it has decreased or stopped. Still active mining areas need economic and ecological assessments to identify similarities and proximity symmetries for informed exploitation decisions and feasible complex resource utilization. The main objective of our study is to define a framework for the theoretical and practical contribution to the substantiation of decisions and expressions of interest regarding future investments in mining projects for useful and energetic and non-energetic mineral substances in Romania. Investments in the mining industry are expensive, with major risks and subunit success rates for specific geotechnological conditions. The purpose of the research is to provide the methodology for using some variables of similarities from proximity mining deposits in the stage of exploitation or post-exploitation affected by anthropogenic activity in the national geological territory through a case study of Romania. With the help of statistical scales, the research results highlight that in the exploitation and post-mining perimeters in Romania, the states of “affect” and “post-affect” anthropic, respectively, of eco-economic damage are in a maximum proportion of approximately 36% in relation to the ideal situations of no affect. For a mining investment project, knowing similar or symmetrical exploitation and post-exploitation properties and situations, and from the geological deposits in the vicinity, premises are created for optimized strategic and tactical decisions, based on reality and, above all, for the provision of expressions of interest for new investments that have a programmed, expected success rate.

The protection, safety and security (PSS) of complex objectives have become managerial subjects for aspects such as guarantee, growth and development. These aspects are marked by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The present paper approaches the analysis of the current state in the PSS field through a case study with reference to the situation of small modular reactor (SMR) investments, which officially entered the application agenda for the first time in Romania and in the European Union (EU). The main object of the research aims at the perception scale of integrated PSS, using the method of interviewing decision-makers and researching the factorial structure of the centrality items of PSS activities in SMRs. The central view of this article is to conceptually delimit integrated PSS, their operationalization to complex objectives, and, respectively, their management in the context of research on the analysis and development directions registered nationally and internationally in the field. Derived from this approach, we defined secondary objectives as follows: to highlight the achievements in the field that contribute to ensuring the functioning of complex industrial objectives; to characterize energy demands in the context of the increasing phenomenon of globalization, technological transfer and knowledge; and to establish the framework for evaluating integrated PSS that have a preventive, safe and feasible contribution in the new economy.

The economy is currently experiencing developing conceptual instability and a flurry of views. This structure imposes external demands on businesses and, most importantly, on the people who operate as the enterprise’s main engine. The company’s top management has the primary responsibility for easing internal decision-making factors that are causing pressures to escalate. If this doesn’t happen, external pressures may become exponential internal pressures that ultimately lead to the company’s destruction as it finds itself at the cross-point of the pressures. The working perspective of the irrational and the bidirectional hierarchical relationships, as well as the interactions between technological evolution and human resource management, are all covered in this paper’s 360-degree view of a company’s productivity ecosystem. Additionally, we try to identify certain potential standard traps that might have an impact on the company’s medium- and long-term viability as well as short-term productivity.

In a global context marked by conflict and instability, the impact of war on the economy and, in particular, on inflation becomes a topic of major importance. However, there is a lack of detailed studies on the effects of contemporary conflicts on inflation in Romania. This study aims to fill this gap by analyzing the impact generated by recent conflicts, especially the war between Russia and Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic, on the inflation rate in Romania in the period 2005-2023. The methodology used involves an econometric analysis of macroeconomic data from this period, combined with a qualitative examination of applied economic policies. The main findings indicate that these events had a significant effect on the evolution of inflation, influencing both internal and external factors of the Romanian economy. The study adds value to the existing literature by providing an updated and detailed perspective on how global events affect inflation in an emerging economy like Romania.