Increases in productivity and competitiveness of an economy are based mostly on the actions of companies in terms of providing technical capital to workers and of operations efficiency (management, financial, recruitment, finding markets and suppliers, internal and external communication, etc.) through digitalization. This paper deals with the way in which the economies and companies in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries manage to adapt to the trend that started, mostly after 2000, in digitalization; also, it analyzes the extent to which an increase in the degree of business upgrading via integrating digital technology into the business model leads to a surge in economic performances (productivity, exports) and, consequently, to a greater attractivity to foreign capital flows.

The COVID-19 pandemic represented a tremendous shock for both public and private sectors and put pressure on the economic environment alongside national healthcare systems. Our article examined the economic resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic in the EU Member States and assessed if countries with more intense use of digitalization instruments (e-government features, e-commerce, ITC skills, etc.) in both public and private sectors registered a lower economic decline during 2019–2020. Our approach was based firstly on statistical correlation analysis applied to several indicators obtained from Eurostat and European Commission. Secondly, we elaborated different regional models of economic and social homogenous characteristics that could be found among EU Member States based on a hierarchical cluster analysis model applied to several structural socio-economic and digitalization indicators. The main conclusion was that there is a strong positive correlation between the share of ITC employment and the share of ITC in GDP, and the level of digital skills for individuals and the share of companies with high intensity of digitalization.

This paper’s aim is to analyze the challenges that may arise to the harmonious and inclusive economic development of EU member states from Central and Eastern Europe in the larger context of the European Common Market and the free movement of capital. The theoretical framework on which this paper is based is represented by the thesis of “structural dependence on international capital” and “race to the bottom” competition to attract foreign investment and increase the convergence speed in the catching-up process. We have also tackled the consequences arising from the social cohesion perspective, pointing out that a country cannot have at the same time (1) a high degree of social equity; (2) free movement of capital, amid structural consequences that manifest themselves as a result of this freedom; and, (3) a robust position of foreign companies as a share of value added.

Quite often, people ask questions about the size of their retirement funds, nevertheless, demographic changes are fueling an existing insecurity. Thereby, in the actual context, it is necessary to analyze the current retirement system in order to be able to provide reliable solutions in the future. The objective of the research is to elaborate an econometric analysis based on the information available for Pillar II of retirement pensions for each fund apart, but also at the market level. The mandatory private funds of Pillar II are managed by companies existing on the Romanian market. The study aims to analyze the causal relationship between the size of the fund, analyzed through the size of the total net assets, and its profitability. The research method consists in testing the connection between the two variables through a linear regression at the market and individual level, in terms of each fund. The results of the research will complete the already existing researches and, moreover, it will provide an updated base in order to evaluate the previsions regarding the investments made from these funds and act accordingly to increase the benefits that employees receive during their retirement age.