Ioana Manafi - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Ioana Manafi

Between East and West: Geopolitical Perspectives for Young Arab Migrants in Romania

Sciendo eBooks, Oct 28, 2023

Societies, Aug 21, 2023

This study focuses on the integration facilitators of young migrants in Romania, as resulting fro... more This study focuses on the integration facilitators of young migrants in Romania, as resulting from the information gathered through a Photovoice participatory action research method. Young third country nationals were asked to take photos which they thought best summed up their migration experiences. Next to the photos, the migrants were also asked to submit short texts describing the captured images and the meanings that these had for them, thus adding richness and nuance to the data. The evidence gathered reveals that several factors, such as access to education, interacting with a new culture, and with new places and people, are perceived as opportunities and positive migration outcomes. Therefore, human and social capital, as well as the natural or urban environment in the host country, contribute to the enhancement of integration opportunities for young migrants. The paper sets out to analyze how such factors which can facilitate integration are captured in a PAR. Research results show that young migrants perceive their experiences in Romania as enhanced by some factors through which they advance in their integration paths.

Eastern European Journal of Regional Studies, Jun 1, 2023

Using an exploratory research, this paper aims to gain in depth information on Moldovan migrants ... more Using an exploratory research, this paper aims to gain in depth information on Moldovan migrants in Romania across different generations. It focuses on changes in migrants' aspirations over time and how historical context influences coping strategies. The study compares behavior and experiences of earlier Post-Socialist migrants (pioneer migrants) with recent young migrants in Iasi and Bucharest. Results indicate evolving aspirations and reduced integration barriers, with recent migrants benefiting from technological progress and easier access to Romanian citizenship, facilitating faster integration.

The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 2020

This paper examines the impact of international migration on the occupational mobility of workers... more This paper examines the impact of international migration on the occupational mobility of workers over the three phases of labour migration-pre-emigration, emigration and post-return-by constructing mobility matrices using the sample of return emigrants from the Kerala Migration Survey 2011. The study finds that a large proportion of emigrants from Kerala take up occupations in the service sector while abroad irrespective of their pre-emigration occupation or training. Most emigrants return, while they are still in the labour force, and the major reason for returning is adverse labour market conditions at the destination. Though around half of the return emigrants report the inclination to take up entrepreneurial activities, only about 10% are engaged in self-employment, suggesting that there is no real evidence of a rapid boost to entrepreneurship. The study finds that there is moderate mobility between the pre-emigration occupation and the occupation abroad as well as between the occupation abroad and post-return, but not between occupations in the pre-emigration-post-return phases, indicating that workers move out of their traditional occupations while abroad, but most likely return to their original occupation post-return. Work experience abroad does not cause any significant upward mobility in any occupational groups except among professionals, who move to managerial positions post-return.

Economic and Regional Studies, May 31, 2023

The economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic was fundamentally different from those of ... more The economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic was fundamentally different from those of the past, with unforeseen implication on supply chains and European trade. As the literature regarding the pandemic is vast bibliometric techniques were used to find the most influential themes and authors. The aim of this paper is to test if cascading failure is possible when shocks arise in European trade. Materials and methods: To characterise the European commerce, network analysis was employed using Eurostat data of imports and exports in the following years: 2018, 2019 and 2020. Trade value indices were also used to characterised European trade during the pandemic and Enterprise Survey run by World Bank for in-depth, cross economies comparisons. The results from the network analysis characterise the compactness of the network, showing that the European trade network is characterised by robustness. Conclusions: Cascading failure has a low probability of occurrence.

The Influence of the Minimum Wage on Education and Training in Eu. Some Empirical Evidences from Romania vs Ue

Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence

This paper sets out to investigate the impact of the VUCA world (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complex... more This paper sets out to investigate the impact of the VUCA world (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) on the vulnerability and resilience of incoming migrants in Romania, as well as on their integration patterns. Vulnerability and resilience are conceptualized through the four elements of the VUCA world. Data was collected through 35 semi-structured, psycho-social interviews, and 4 focus groups carried out between January 2020 and November 2021 with young migrants (aged 18 to 29). Participants came from two ethnic backgrounds: young migrants of Arab and Moldovan origins. Results show that much of VUCA is generated by the lack of employment opportunities and by the bureaucratic public administration. At the same time, the challenges raised by the VUCA world for migrants can be reduced through the improvement of destination language skills and through the development of social networks.

Recent Immigration from the Republic of Moldova and Arab Countries to Romania. A Stakeholders’ Perspective on Local Integration

Migration Letters

Romania, a net emigration country, has witnessed a significant increase in immigration over the l... more Romania, a net emigration country, has witnessed a significant increase in immigration over the last decade. The objective of this paper is to highlight the facilitators and barriers to local integration faced by recent immigrants to Romania, as expressed by relevant stakeholders. Their often neglected views hold particular relevance for improving the well-being and integration of migrants in Romania. We focus on young immigrants from the Republic of Moldova and from Arab countries, relying on the data from 13 interviews conducted in 2021 with various stakeholders. The results of the paper reveal different integration mechanisms for the two groups. Some barriers are similar, being mainly related to document validation and lack of family support. Other factors act differently for the two groups of migrants. For Moldovan youth, language and cultural familiarity facilitate their access to the labour market and education, whereas asylum seekers from Arab countries need longer for achiev...

Social Sciences

This comparative study focuses on the barriers to social and economic inclusion, as well as the i... more This comparative study focuses on the barriers to social and economic inclusion, as well as the integration and coping strategies of Arab and Moldovan migrants in Romania. We explored the integration barriers they face, the main individual and societal aspects that lead to their resilience, and their self-perception of vulnerability, by carrying out 35 psychosocial interviews and four focus groups with young migrants (aged 18 to 29), belonging to the two different subgroups (of Arab and Moldovan origins, respectively). The comparative analysis revealed that migrants from Arab countries face harsher integration barriers compared to Moldovan migrants, they have a more severe self-perceived vulnerability, and their integration may be a longer and more complex process. Results showed that mastery of the language and the network of acquaintances play an indispensable role in inclusion. Moldovans integrate more easily than Arabs, thanks to their fluency in Romanian, the native language sh...

www.amfiteatrueconomic.ro

Our daily lives are unimaginable without energy. Producing it, however, may be harmful to the env... more Our daily lives are unimaginable without energy. Producing it, however, may be harmful to the environment depending on the energy source. The Paris Agreement brought a key question to the fore: with or without coal? The Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) members, including the European Union, have committed to the phasing out of coal by 2030. Several Member States of the European Union have recently closed almost 130 coal-fired power plants. The closure of these plants, in addition to impacting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, also exerts influence on the financial position of power plant owners. This study seeks to answer the question of how the profitability of the company groups that operate (and have closed) coal-fired power plants in the European Union has evolved. Is there a relationship between decarbonisation and profitability trends, and are there any patterns in the environmental and financial performance of individual company groups? The main added value of our research is highlighting that different groups of companies have responded differently to the EU's decarbonisation targets, and these reactions have also been reflected in their financial performance. The study included 21 company groups that cover more than 70% of CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants in the EU. The profitability indicators were calculated based on the publicly available consolidated annual reports of the companies for 2016 and 2020. Following a reliability test of the indicators, a cluster analysis was carried out. The different reactions allowed us to classify the energy groups into different clusters. The analysed companies were classified into four homogeneous groups: Frontrunner, Up-and-coming, Sacrifice makers, and Stagnating companies. Although a significant relationship could not be found between the change in GHG emissions and the change in profitability position, a multidirectional relationship was identified between the environmental and financial performance of companies.

Az európai népesség elöregedése jól ismert folyamat, amely miatt bizonyos európai országok nyugdí... more Az európai népesség elöregedése jól ismert folyamat, amely miatt bizonyos európai országok nyugdíjrendszereire egyre nagyobb nyomás nehezedik. A nemzetközi migráció hozzájárul a népesség átalakulásához mind a küldő, mind a célországban, könnyítve vagy kiélezve a demográfiai problémákat. Köztudott, hogy Európában az egyre növekvő migrációs hullám nem elegendő az elöregedő társadalomban végbemenő folyamatok és negatív hatásainak kompenzálásához. Egy, az összes EU-tagállam makrogazdasági mutatóit tartalmazó adatbázis alapján, panelelemzések segítségével bemutatjuk néhány társadalmi-gazdasági mutató hatását a nyugdíjrendszerekre, kiválasztott európai országokban, különös tekintettel a nemzetközi mobilitásra. Az elemzés arra a korábbi kutatásra épül, amely az EU/EFTA-országokat a migrációs áramlás iránya szerint küldő vagy periféria- és befogadó vagy centrumországokra bontja. A tanulmány fő hipotézise szerint a nyugdíjrendszerre jelentős hatást gyakorol a nemzetközi migráció (a nettó mig...

International Mobility for Work: The Case of Romanian Youth

PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, 2018

Sustainability, 2022

The final destination country for refugees heading to Europe may be a changing one depending on v... more The final destination country for refugees heading to Europe may be a changing one depending on various factors, such as the relocation program at the EU level, their ability to make decisions, geographic factors, finances, available routes, visa options, networks, chance, labor markets, etc., but for many of them their choices are limited. The purpose of this paper is to show how refugees select their destination countries, by looking at similarities across European countries. We aim to explain how country-specific factors may relate to the magnitude of migration flows, employing cluster and network analysis, and connecting meso- and macro-levels. The variables considered in our analysis fall under the four types of factors for host countries described by Van Hear, Bakewell, and Long (2012). Our analysis reveals that host countries in Europe can be grouped into four clusters: (i) Top Destination Economically Performing Countries; (ii) Emergent Destination Countries; (iii) Periphery...

Economic Recovery After COVID-19, 2021

The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, 2017

During the past decade, Europe was confronted with major changes and events offering large opport... more During the past decade, Europe was confronted with major changes and events offering large opportunities for mobility. The EU enlargement process, the EU policies regarding youth, the economic crisis affecting national economies on different levels, political instabilities in some European countries, high rates of unemployment or the increasing number of refugees are only a few of the factors influencing net migration in Europe. Based on a set of socio-economic indicators for EU/EFTA countries and cluster analysis, the paper provides an overview of regional differences across European countries, related to migration magnitude in the identified clusters. The obtained clusters are in accordance with previous studies in migration, and appear stable during the period of 2005-2013, with only some exceptions. The analysis revealed three country clusters: EU/EFTA center-receiving countries, EU/EFTA periphery-sending countries and EU/EFTA outlier countries, the names suggesting not only the...

Factores que afectan a la movilidad de jóvenes rumanos a España

La movilidad de jovenes rumanos a Espana es un fenomeno demografico reciente de alta magnitud que... more La movilidad de jovenes rumanos a Espana es un fenomeno demografico reciente de alta magnitud que afecta de diversas maneras los paises de origen y de destino. Este trabajo, motivado por la participacion de los autores en el proyecto MOVE, tiene el objetivo de analizar los factores que afectan a las tendencias de movilidad de los jovenes rumanos a Espana. Basado en los datos de Eurostat, el analisis describe la constelacion de factores, agrupandolos en tres categorias: economica, social y factores relacionados con el Estado y las instituciones. La estadistica descriptiva muestra que los factores economicos son los mas influyentes en la movilidad de los jovenes rumanos a Espana y, por tanto, cambios importantes en estos factores (tales como el impacto de la crisis financiera) generan asimismo cambios en los patrones de movilidad.

Journal of Social and Economic Statistics, 2020

Youth unemployment is a challenge in many European countries – especially since the financial cri... more Youth unemployment is a challenge in many European countries – especially since the financial crises. Young people face difficulties in the transition from education into employment. This article focuses on young mobile Europeans from six countries (Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Norway, Romania and Spain). The research question is whether and to which extent international mobility has an impact on employability and therefore reduces youth unemployment. By using a cluster analysis of personal adaptability, social and human capital and career identity, the importance of mobility experiences for employability is analysed in a recent dataset of 5,272 young (formerly) mobile respondents. Youth mobility is established as a strong characteristic for the employability cluster. Mobility is however not the long-term aim of most of the mobile young people, since most of the mobiles choose to return to their home countries after one or more stays abroad.

Migration Letters, 2018

A country's mobility pattern is largely influenced by its previous historical development and... more A country's mobility pattern is largely influenced by its previous historical development and current socio-economic situation. Hungary and Romania, due partly to the legacy of their socialist past, share many of their social and economic characteristics, which differ from countries in Western Europe. Such differences are also present when looking at the issue of international youth mobility, which contrast not only by rate but also by type in post-socialist countries when compared to Western Europe. The main objective of the present paper is to analyse the differences and similarities between Eastern and Western European countries with regard to one mobility programme – Erasmus+. The article presents the differences looking at macro data and quantitative questionnaire data.

Transnational Social Review, 2018

Set against the backdrop of socioeconomic and political developments in an Eastern European count... more Set against the backdrop of socioeconomic and political developments in an Eastern European countrypost-socialist Romania, a case in pointthis paper explores the roles of volunteering as a type of international mobility, over the last two decades. By applying qualitative analysis, the study aims to shed light on new developments of Romanian international volunteering. It has the novel goal of explaining the benefits of international volunteering, as perceived by Romanian youth, and as compared to their initial expectations. The findings, supported by 17 in-depth interviews, prove that the main effects noticed by the great majority of Romanian respondents include "eye-opening" and "personal growth." Also, most of the young interviewees have mentioned an increasing sense of altruism, the volunteering experience being generally perceived as a positive one, with benefits beyond the respondents' initial expectations.

The transition to a knowledge based economy is a comprehensive and profound process generating ch... more The transition to a knowledge based economy is a comprehensive and profound process generating changes in all components of economic activities. The aim of the paper is to test the effect of a knowledge based economy on the labour market.