In this paper, using data from Romania, we analysed the changes in electricity consumption generated during the COVID-19 crisis, and the measures taken against the spread of the coronavirus to limit ...the effects of the pandemic. Using a seasonal autoregressive econometric model, we found that, beyond seasonal (weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly) effects, the average daily electricity real consumption in Romania, during the state of the emergency period (16 March 16 to 14 May 2020) decreased by −194.8 MW (about −2.9%), compared to the historical data (2006–March 2022), and this decrease is not due to the action of some random factors, and it is not a manifestation of domain-specific seasonality. The literature discusses the hypothesis that during the pandemic time, the profile of daily electricity consumption on weekdays was close to the typical Sunday profile. We tested a similar hypothesis for Romania. As a methodology, we tried to go beyond the simple interpretation of statistics and graphics (as found in most papers) and we calculated some measures of distances (the Mahalanobis distance, Manhattan distance) and similarity (coefficient of correlation, cosines coefficient) between the vectors of daily electricity real consumptions, by hourly intervals. As the time interval, we have analysed, for Romania, the electricity real consumption over the period January 2006–March 2022, by day of the week and within the day, by hourly intervals (5911 observations). We found (not very strong) evidence supporting a hypothesis that, in the pandemic crisis, the profile of electricity consumption approaches the weekend pattern only for the state of the emergency period, and we could not find the same evidence for the state of the alert period (June 2020–March 2022). The strongest closeness is to the hourly consumption pattern of Saturday. That is, for Romania, in terms of electricity consumption, “under lockdown, every day is a Sunday” (Staffell) it is rather “under lockdown, every day is (almost) a Saturday”! During the state of the alert period, consumption returned to the pre-crisis profile. Since certain behaviours generated by the pandemic have been maintained in the medium and long term (distance learning, working from home, online sales, etc.), such studies can have policy implications, especially for setting energy policy measures (e.g., in balancing load peaks).
"Fertility in Romania dropped rapidly after the col lapse of the communist rule, placing the country among those with low fertility rates, and started to grow again after the year 2014. The paper ...approach es the dynamic of fertility in Romania, focusing on the period when fertility grew again. Using data from the semi-panel conducted by World Values Survey Romanian in 2012 and 2018, the paper looks at the changes in fertility in Romania based on mi cro-level data and studying trends in cohort fertility among women of fertile age and the drivers of these changes. The cohort analysis indicates that birth postponement is the main mechanism leading to the growth in fertility in Romania in the past decade. At the same time, the results provide support to the uncertainty explanation, the fear of job losing having negative impact on the number of children born by a woman. Altogether, the results suggest that Roma nia does not yet reach the second gender revolution, that has gender equality in private sphere at its core, fertility decision relying on traditional factors such as economic uncertainty and patriarchal model, with the male partner being the main breadwinner. "
We use the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to investigate determinants of stockpiling behavior during the COVID-19 lockdown. We analyzed 518 responses to an online survey and used Partial Least ...Squares Path Modeling (PLS-PM) techniques to estimate relationships between variables. Negative attitude (perceived barriers) and others’ behavior (descriptive social norms) were revealed as significant predictors for both intention to over-purchase and the actual stockpiling behavior. The lack of significance obtained for perceived behavioral control (PBC) is also an important result, strengthening the evidence that factors’ contribution to TPB’s predictive power is strongly context-dependent, respectively that PBC is less relevant in settings dominated by uncertainty. The lack of significance is especially compelling when stockpiling behavior is regarded as deviant conduct from effective consumption. Our findings expand the understanding on the applicability of TPB and offer informed practical suggestions for improving managerial strategies, public and private ones, during extreme events when self-regulation and cognitive control are expedient but hard to achieve.
The paper explores the distribution of tree cover and deforested areas in the Central Carpathians in the central-east part of Romania, in the context of the anthropogenic forest disturbances and ...sustainable forest management. The study aims to evaluate the spatiotemporal changes in deforested areas due to human pressure in the Carpathian Mountains, a sensitive biodiverse European ecosystem. We used an analysis of satellite imagery with Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (Landsat-7 ETM+) from the University of Maryland (UMD) Global Forest Change (GFC) dataset. The workflow started with the determination of tree cover and deforested areas from 2000–2017, with an overall accuracy of 97%. For the monitoring of forest dynamics, a Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix analysis (Entropy) and fractal analysis (Fractal Fragmentation-Compaction Index and Tug-of-War Lacunarity) were utilized. The increased fragmentation of tree cover (annually 2000–2017) was demonstrated by the highest values of the Fractal Fragmentation-Compaction Index, a measure of the degree of disorder (Entropy) and heterogeneity (Lacunarity). The principal outcome of the research reveals the dynamics of disturbance of tree cover and deforested areas expressed by the textural and fractal analysis. The results obtained can be used in the future development and adaptation of forestry management policies to ensure sustainable management of exploited forest areas.
The Democratic Governance Model generates a visible opening of institutions towards citizens. By analyzing ten digital communication offers made by Romanian state universities, we pursue to observe ...if any partnership relationship with their users is created, if their websites are conceived so as to facilitate the participation of students in the activity of the institution, to comply with the manifested needs and to invite to dialogue. The result of the research reveals different degrees of fidelity of the studied websites to the new management model. Keywords: public communication, Democratic Governance, university website, e-Participation, online services, quick access to information, site attractiveness.
The main objective of this study is developing an analysis methodology for the forest fund dynamic. One of the most severe current issues which Romania faces is the extent of deforestation, under the ...pressure of economic activities, also affecting forest areas. The Global Forest Change 2000-2013 data, supplied by Maryland University, was used for the analyses conducted, being further subjected to a segmentation process, using the Colour Deconvolution plug-in of ImageJ 1.49s. The segmented images have been manually binarized, and based on the latter, the covered areas have been further calculated and expressed in km2. For this purpose, a macro was written, implemented in ImageJ 1.49s. The resulting binarized images have been fractal analyzed, using the software ImageJ 1.49s - FracLac 2015Mar6206 - Box-counting Fractal and Lacunarity Analysis. ArcGIS platform was used to draft the cartographic materials, justifying and supporting this study. The main results of this study comprise of the alarming increase in deforested areas and the large difference between official data and statistical data reported from the real field situation, which illustrates the high extent of illegal logging, reached lately. Coherent strategies for territorial management are highly required to reduce, halt and even fight against these illicit activities.
Patients' satisfaction with health care systems has been a widely debated topic for both practitioners and researchers in the past decades. The aims of our paper are to present the theoretical ...approach about the concept of patients' satisfaction and to analyze the results of a research concerning the satisfaction of the Romanian patients regarding health care services. To such ends, we tested seven assumptions through a quantitative research based on a national survey done on health care beneficiaries (1076). The data gathered was processed through the SPSS software. The findings of our research show that patients' satisfaction is influenced by the level of trustfulness of the medical staff, physicians and nurses' professionalism, and the time spent waiting at the emergency units. A distinctive element in the equation of the Romanian patients' satisfaction is given by the corruption existing in the health care system. The findings of the study indicate clear directions in rethinking the health care system, directions that may lead towards the development of a trustworthy climate and higher satisfaction with the health care services in Romania. Keywords: patients' satisfaction, health care system, patients' rights, globalization, Romania.
This paper advances the study of the relationship between the attitude towards academic dishonesty and other types of dishonest and even fraudulent behavior, such as tax evasion and piracy. It ...proposes a model in which the attitudes towards two types of cheating and fraud are systematically analyzed in connection with a complex set of latent construct determinants and control variables. It attempts to predict the tolerance towards tax evasion and social insurance fraud and piracy, using academic cheating as the main predictor. The proposed model surveys 504 student respondents, uses a partial least squares—path modeling analysis, and employs two subsets of latent constructs to account for context and disposition. The relationship between the outcome variable and the subset of predictors that account for context is mediated by yet another latent construct—Preoccupation about Money—that has been shown to strongly influence people’s attitude towards a whole range of social and economic behaviors. The results show academic dishonesty is a statistically significant predictor of an entire range of unethical and fraudulent behavior acceptance, and confirm the role played by both contextual and dispositional variables; moreover, they show that dispositional and contextual variables tend to be segregated according to how they impact the outcome. They also show that money priming does not act as a mediator, in spite of its stand-alone impact on the outcome variables. The most important result, however, is that the effect size of the main predictor is large. The contribution of this paper is two-fold: it advances a line of research previously sidestepped, and it proposes a comprehensive and robust model with a view to establish a hierarchy of significance and effect size in predicting deviance and fraud. Most of all, this research highlights the central role played by academic dishonesty in predicting the acceptance of any type of dishonest behavior, be it in the workplace, at home, or when discharging one’s responsibilities as a citizen. The results presented here give important clues as to where to start intervening in order to discourage the acceptance of deviance and fraud. Educators, university professors, and academic administrators should be at the forefront of targeted campaigns and policies aimed at fighting and reducing academic dishonesty.
Patients’ satisfaction with health care sys-tems has been a widely debated topic for both practitioners and researchers in the past de-cades. The aims of our paper are to present the theoretical ...approach about the concept of patients’ satisfaction and to analyze the results of a research concerning the satisfaction of the Romanian patients regarding health care ser-vices. To such ends, we tested seven assump-tions through a quantitative research based on a national survey done on health care benefcia-ries (1076). The data gathered was processed through the SPSS software. The fndings of our research show that pa-tients’ satisfaction is infuenced by the level of trustfulness of the medical staff, physicians and nurses’ professionalism, and the time spent waiting at the emergency units. A distinctive el-ement in the equation of the Romanian patients’ satisfaction is given by the corruption existing in the health care system. The fndings of the study indicate clear directions in rethinking the health care system, directions that may lead towards the development of a trustworthy climate and higher satisfaction with the health care services in Romania.
The research focused on the impact of obtaining the status of European Cultural Capital on the dynamics of the business sector. Special attention was paid to the dynamics of tourism economy, the main ...economic activity which benefited from obtaining the status of the European Cultural Capital. The analyses focused on the impact of this obtained status on the adaptive capacity of each economic sector. Research was based on a number of relevant indicators to the structural dynamics of local economy: the evolution of the number of firms, the evolution of the number of employees, the evolution of turnover, profit evolution. All these indicators were analyzed in terms of NACE code - Classification of National Economy Activities for 2000-2012. Based on these indicators tendency matrixes were drafted projecting the dynamic picture of local economy. Analyses identified the superior dynamics of this local economic system due to capital inflows and to adaptive planning initiated by the decision-making structures.
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