Digital literacy is among the mandatory abilities to any higher education level and represents a fundamental ingredient in successful professionalization. Considering the deep penetration of digital technologies in everyday life, digital literacy offers a set of transversal skills that could improve a whole area of activities, from banking operations to civic participation. However, these skills are diverse and vary according to the development of technologies and society. This study fills an important academic gap on digital literacy by placing it in a specific and well-defined context, analyzing different perspectives that involve such learning, such as predictors of digital literacy in different types of students. In addition, research increases its importance as it is being developed during the pandemic, a period characterized by accelerated technological use and sudden changes. This research used a quantitative design based on the answers to a questionnaire conducted from March 2021 to May 2021. From a methodological perspective, we tested several hypotheses using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) within the structural equation model (SEM). The results show that communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, and technical digital skills are more present in the case of students enrolled in social sciences, while other digital skills (i.e., creativity and information) are more prevalent in the case of humanities students. Moreover, the results showed that, except for creativity and problem-solving-related digital skills, all of the digital skills were significantly influenced by students’ different levels of education.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher educational institutions worldwide switched to emergency distance learning in early 2020. The less structured environment of distance learning forced students to regulate their learning and motivation more independently. According to self-determination theory (SDT), satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and social relatedness affects intrinsic motivation, which in turn relates to more active or passive learning behavior. As the social context plays a major role for basic need satisfaction, distance learning may impair basic need satisfaction and thus intrinsic motivation and learning behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between basic need satisfaction and procrastination and persistence in the context of emergency distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in a cross-sectional study. We also investigated the mediating role of intrinsic motivation in this relationship. Furthermore, to test the universal importance of SDT for intrinsic motivation and learning behavior under these circumstances in different countries, we collected data in Europe, Asia and North America. A total of N = 15,462 participants from Albania, Austria, China, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Kosovo, Lithuania, Poland, Malta, North Macedonia, Romania, Sweden, and the US answered questions regarding perceived competence, autonomy, social relatedness, intrinsic motivation, procrastination, persistence, and sociodemographic background. Our results support SDT’s claim of universality regarding the relation between basic psychological need fulfilment, intrinsic motivation, procrastination, and persistence. However, whereas perceived competence had the highest direct effect on procrastination and persistence, social relatedness was mainly influential via intrinsic motivation.

The role of the interest and exchange rates in sustaining economic growth has been a highly researched subject. Therefore, this study examines the influence of the monetary policy interest rate, the real exchange rate and the business climate in the Euro area on the economic growth in Romania. For this purpose, we have applied a pre-test for structural breaks to identify the existence of structural breaks, followed by the traditional unit root tests and the unit root tests with structural breaks to verify the stationarity of the variables. The results of the Bound cointegration test led to the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) short-run model that measures the short-run impact of the interest rate, exchange rate and the business climate in the Euro area on the economic growth of Romania. Our findings show that in the short run, the economic growth is negatively influenced by the interest rate, and positively by the exchange rate. We also indicate that the business climate in the Euro area has mixed effects on the economic growth. Finally, considering the growing interdependence between the internal and external (European) business environment, the results are highly significant for handling the interest and exchange rates in sustaining economic growth.

The current health crisis has several socioeconomic influences that could be compared to those experienced during the 2008 economic and financial crisis. Governments around the world are making great efforts to sustain markets as there are signs showing that the health crisis will be followed by an economic crisis. In this study, we aim to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the Romanian stock market. For this purpose, we considered the influence on the Bucharest Exchange Trading (BET) index of such variables as the number of new cases and the number of new deaths caused by COVID-19, measures taken by authorities, and the international economic context. The collected data covered the period between 11 March 2020 and 30 April 2021. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bound cointegration test was used to measure the impact of COVID-19 on the stock market. The results showed a significant long-term negative impact of the pandemic on the BET index for Romania, while the European economic context had a positive influence. Therefore, these results could be used by authorities as a good guideline for the efficient management of measures that aim to reduce the negative effects of the healthcare crisis.

Given the current context, with phenomena such as dramatic climate change, water, air, soil pollution, etc., the complex relation between environmental degradation and economic growth is intensely debated in the academia as well as in worldwide politics. This study examines the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions, gross domestic product, energy consumption, and urbanization rate in Romania and Bulgaria over 1980–2019 period. For this purpose, we have applied the ARDL bounds testing approach and, to validate the robustness of the results, we have used the VEC Granger model. The results showed that there are long term relationships between CO2 emissions per capita and the determinant factors taken into account in both countries; however, while the inverted N-shape of EKC is significant in the case of Bulgaria, this does not happen in the case of Romania although the model which includes the inverted U-shape of EKC is significant for both countries. Considering the fact that both Romania and Bulgaria are emerging economies which, despite having made significant progress, are still in search of a path towards sustainable development, such a study may constitute a good starting point and may suggest some action directions in terms of sustainable development policies.

The increasing awareness of the impact of global climate change has brought bio-based projects back into consideration. Thus, having as supports the reality of the troubling scenario that threatens the entire ecosystem and the up-to-date theoretical discourse and debate on sustainable development, this article aims to investigate the socio-economic and institutional determinants that trigger the dynamics of the bioeconomy value added indicator—a valuable instrument developed and recently launched by the EU’s BioMonitor project. Using a panel corrected standard errors framework, we find that investment in human development along with innovation, the growing role of women and sound public governance have a positive effect on the transition towards a durable and resilient bioeconomy at the European level. This naturally implies that a combination of social and technological innovation can ensure the rise of a sustainable bioeconomy.