Laura Cismas | West University of Timisoara (original) (raw)

Papers by Laura Cismas

Sustainability, 2014

This paper applies the pressure-state-response (PSR) model to establish environmental quality ind... more This paper applies the pressure-state-response (PSR) model to establish environmental quality indices for 30 administrative regions in China from 2003 to 2011 and employs panel data analysis to study the relationships among the urbanization rate, economic development and environmental change. The results reveal a remarkable inverted-U-shaped relationship between the urbanization rate and changes in regional environmental quality; the "turning point" generally appears near an urbanization rate of 60%. In addition, the degree and mode of economic development have significant, but anisotropic effects on the regional environment. Generally, at a higher degree of economic development, the environment will tend to improve, but an extensive economic growth program that simply aims to increase GDP has a clear negative impact on the environment. Overall, the results of this paper not only further confirm the "environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis", but also expand it in a manner. The analysis in this paper implies that the inverted-U-shaped evolving relationship between environmental quality and economic growth (urbanization) is universally applicable.

European J. of International Management

Eastern European Economics, 2022

The cohesion policy of European Union is actually its strategic investments’ policy. The Union’s ... more The cohesion policy of European Union is actually its strategic investments’ policy. The Union’s values are freedom, equality, the rule of law, respect for human dignity, non-discrimination regarding persons belonging to minorities, non-discrimination, including here gender equality. One of the main objectives of the European Union is aimed at the sustainable development of Europe, by achieving high employment levels and social progress along with economic growth. Therefore, social cohesion is an important part of the cohesion policy. In the last decade, the European Union was faced with threats; some continue to be present, such as the last major financial and economic crisis, followed by the sovereign debts’ crisis and a social crisis with effects that are still reverberating, including the security issues due to the instability in the neighborhood areas, but also in some key member states. In this paper, we present a framework of social cohesion in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Bu...

Contemporary Issues in Social Science, 2021

Introduction: Climate change and the limiting nature of fossil natural resources are compelling e... more Introduction: Climate change and the limiting nature of fossil natural resources are compelling elements that have driven the search for environmentally friendly alternatives to the traditional economy. In this context, as the main pillar of bioeconomy, biomass can contribute to energy sustainability, temper effects of climate change, and make the use of natural resources more efficiently. Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have a relatively common economic history of agriculture playing a pivotal role in the former centralized economy. Purpose: This chapter analyzed the importance of biomass produced from residues of crops in CEE countries. This analysis is regarded as incentive to take a deeper look at biomass in CEE countries with acknowledged agricultural potential. CEE countries have been part of the former European socialist bloc, with agriculture being a core component of the centralized economy. Even though their economies have been undergoing a lengthy transition process to the market economy, this sector of activity still holds a significant share. Therefore, CEE countries provide a suitable ground for our analysis. Methodology: The authors selected characteristics of the agricultural sectors and development, and assess their relationship with biomass production in the CEE countries, using an Ordinary Least Squares method. Then, the authors investigate the environmental implications of crop biomass production in a similar framework. Findings: The results reveal that the agricultural biomass sector contributes to economic development, and it does not have negative implications for environmental indicators. These results show that biomass production is a sustainable target to be pursued.

Economic Computation and Economic Cybernetics Studies and Research, 2019

In this paper, we test whether competitiveness matters for economic growth and regional convergen... more In this paper, we test whether competitiveness matters for economic growth and regional convergence in the context of the European Union. We employ the Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI), the 2013 version, computed by the European Commission as a proxy for competitiveness and data on regional GDP per capita, for the period 2000-2013.We test several cross-section spatial models, controlling for the beta-convergence and we estimate the relationship for the 247 NUTS2 European regions and separately for 189 UE15 regions and 56 CEE regions. We control for spatial autocorrelation by employing either a spatial error model (SEM) or spatial lag model (SLM). When both beta-convergence and spatial dependence is accounted for, the relationship between RCI and growth becomes highly significant. When separate models are estimated for CEE and EU15, no relation is found in the case of EU15 regions. In the case of CEE regions, RCI is significant for growth (at a 10% level), when a beta-convergence...

Sustainability

The bioeconomy is a complex and increasingly relevant field, and agriculture represents an essent... more The bioeconomy is a complex and increasingly relevant field, and agriculture represents an essential sector for its development. The bioeconomy presents an opportunity for sustainable agriculture that is beneficial for the environment and public health, both globally and particularly for nations with centralized agricultural systems, such as the former socialist Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs). This article takes a novel approach to investigate the bioeconomic indicators in CEECs’ agriculture. It combines the hierarchical grouping method with an index based on socioeconomic indicators specific to the bioeconomy. It aims to find how the selected countries performed in terms of agriculture indicators. The socioeconomic indicator analysis showed that some countries had more linear evolutions than others, while some of them clearly outperformed the average of the region. The cluster analysis divided the countries into three relevant groups. The findings revealed patterns ...

Sustainability

The present study empirically investigates the effect of corporate governance on the value of cas... more The present study empirically investigates the effect of corporate governance on the value of cash holding, usage of excess cash, and firm performance in concentrated and competitive industries in the context of less developed countries. The empirical analysis was conducted in the panel data setting using Pakistan as a case study. Our findings suggest a strong relationship between the value of cash holding and corporate governance, and the complementary effect of product market competition for corporate governance. This suggests that the external market discipline is also needed, in addition to good governance, to resolve agency problems in less developed countries. This is because less developed countries are usually characterized by lower competition, poor mechanisms for shareholder protection, and weak legal systems. Consequently, agency problems are greater in less developed countries compared to developed countries. Our findings also indicate that firms with good governance dis...

Journal of Green Economy and Low-Carbon Development

Timisoara Journal of Economics and Business

The bioeconomy is an area that encompasses more economic activities and is environmentally friend... more The bioeconomy is an area that encompasses more economic activities and is environmentally friendly and sustainable. Bioeconomy contributes to the economic development of a state by creating new jobs, expanding the business environment and making activities more efficient. In this context, the bioeconomy is an element of economic development that helps the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) to bridge the gap with the other countries in the west of the continent. The article aims to analyze the grouping of CEECs based on indicators specific to the bioeconomy, to highlight similarities or discrepancies between them. Moreover, we conduct this study in order to identify Romania’s position among CEECs in terms of specific bioeconomy indicators. The study is based on the European Commission’s Joint Research Center database for the bioeconomy indexes for these particular regions. We employed a hierarchical cluster method using SPSS software. The sample consisted of the 11 CEEC ...

Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja

Proceedings of the International Conference on Economics and Social Sciences

The Romanian agricultural sector has had a difficult history over the past 100 years. Economic an... more The Romanian agricultural sector has had a difficult history over the past 100 years. Economic and social issues in the sector have influenced significantly Romanian economic development, and continue to represent a huge challenge in the current changing economic and social context fraught with risks from climate and demographic change, to change triggered by geopolitical and geo-economic realignments inside and outside the European Union. The financial-economic crisis, the austerity, the subsequent pandemic and now the conflictual circumstances imply identifying resilient and smart solutions for all sectors, but especially for ensuring sustainable agricultural growth at the EU and each member-state's level. In difficult periods, mobilizing stakeholders from the public and private sector to ensure financing through investments and subsidies, should focus on public-private partnerships as a tool and not an objective for developing a resilient and sustainable agricultural sector at the country and the EU-27 level. The present paper shows some of the issues and main objectives that should guide this type of partnership in agriculture aimed at innovation and delivering viable solutions for Romania's rural area. Some good practice examples are analysed, and proposals are made regarding general framework solutions for actually operationalizing the potential of innovation and sustainable, smart growth in agriculture. By considering the public-private partnership as a systemic innovation policy tool, we aim to identify the best improvements that, from a holistic perspective, could give answers to most pressing challenges regarding financing, avoiding negative demographic change, and strengthening the competitiveness of the Romanian agricultural sector. The main issue to tackle is the institutional economic, and stakeholders' framework, for which the strength and weaknesses are identified, and policy improvements suggested. The results show that Romania has potential to strengthen an innovative, smart, and green national agricultural sector if the right measures are taken and public-private partnerships in the sector are approached flexibly.

Energies

The primary objective of this research was to determine the impact of renewable energy, alternati... more The primary objective of this research was to determine the impact of renewable energy, alternative and nuclear energy, urbanization, energy use, and fossil fuel energy consumption on Romanian economic development. To investigate the relation between variables, we employed the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique in conjunction with FMOLS (Fully Modified Least Squares) and CCR (Canonical Cointegrating Regression). Long-run and short-run findings suggest that alternative and nuclear energy, as well as fossil fuel consumption, has a positive association with economic growth, but renewable energy, urbanization, and energy usage have an adversative relationship with economic growth. Similarly, FMOLS and CCR statistics indicate that alternative and nuclear energy and fossil fuel consumption have a favorable impact on economic development. Renewable energy consumption, urbanization, and energy use, on the other hand, revealed a negative connection with economic progress. Conser...

Journal of Cleaner Production

Sustainability

The key aim of the current analysis was to examine the impact of electricity production from vari... more The key aim of the current analysis was to examine the impact of electricity production from various sources (oil, nuclear, natural gas and coal) on CO2 emission in Pakistan by utilizing the annual data series varies from 1975–2020. The study employed the two unit root tests for the purpose of stationarity, while an asymmetric Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) technique was applied to expose the influence of electrical energy on CO2 emission via long-run and short-run dynamics. Findings show that via long-run and short-run the variable electricity production from oil and coal sources has a positive impact on CO2 emission in Pakistan via positive and negative shocks. Electricity production from nuclear sources exposed the adverse impact on CO2 emissions. Similarly, electricity production from natural gas demonstrates the positive and adversative linkage with CO2 emission through positive and negative shocks. There is no doubt that Pakistan is still dealing with an elec...

Sustainability

The primary goal of this analysis was to determine the impact of inflation, poverty, unemployment... more The primary goal of this analysis was to determine the impact of inflation, poverty, unemployment, and population growth on economic growth in Pakistan using time series data from 1986 to 2020. The stationarity for the variables was tested through unit root testing, while the asymmetric (NARDL) technique was applied to expose the association amid the variables via short-run and long-run dynamics. The outcomes show that (1) variable inflation and poverty have adversative linkages to economic growth, (2) unemployment has a positive association with economic growth, and (3) variable population growth showed a negative association via short-run and long-run dynamics. Inflation, poverty and unemployment are now emerging issues in the Pakistan. The Pakistani economy has been determined to have a strong and negative link between inflation and economic growth. After a certain point, generalized inflation seems to be harmful to economic growth in the country. New governmental strategies and ...

Sustainability

Reducing inequalities within and among countries is one of the main tenets of the sustainable dev... more Reducing inequalities within and among countries is one of the main tenets of the sustainable development paradigm and has become an important pillar at the European Union level. By adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, EU countries have committed themselves to meet targets against which progress in reducing inequalities can be measured. Through the present research, we aim to analyze and assess the extent to which EU countries will achieve the specific SDG 10 targets. Based on data published by Eurostat for the period 2010–2020, we forecast the trends of the indicators until the year 2030, using a model based on the AAA (Holt–Winters) version of exponential smoothing (ETS), to assess the degree to which the assumed targets will be reached. For more detailed information, we used dynamic indices to analyze the dynamics of the progress achieved. The results showed that it is difficult to clearly distinguish one or more countries as part of a group of high or low perfor...

Sustainability, 2014

This paper applies the pressure-state-response (PSR) model to establish environmental quality ind... more This paper applies the pressure-state-response (PSR) model to establish environmental quality indices for 30 administrative regions in China from 2003 to 2011 and employs panel data analysis to study the relationships among the urbanization rate, economic development and environmental change. The results reveal a remarkable inverted-U-shaped relationship between the urbanization rate and changes in regional environmental quality; the "turning point" generally appears near an urbanization rate of 60%. In addition, the degree and mode of economic development have significant, but anisotropic effects on the regional environment. Generally, at a higher degree of economic development, the environment will tend to improve, but an extensive economic growth program that simply aims to increase GDP has a clear negative impact on the environment. Overall, the results of this paper not only further confirm the "environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis", but also expand it in a manner. The analysis in this paper implies that the inverted-U-shaped evolving relationship between environmental quality and economic growth (urbanization) is universally applicable.

European J. of International Management

Eastern European Economics, 2022

The cohesion policy of European Union is actually its strategic investments’ policy. The Union’s ... more The cohesion policy of European Union is actually its strategic investments’ policy. The Union’s values are freedom, equality, the rule of law, respect for human dignity, non-discrimination regarding persons belonging to minorities, non-discrimination, including here gender equality. One of the main objectives of the European Union is aimed at the sustainable development of Europe, by achieving high employment levels and social progress along with economic growth. Therefore, social cohesion is an important part of the cohesion policy. In the last decade, the European Union was faced with threats; some continue to be present, such as the last major financial and economic crisis, followed by the sovereign debts’ crisis and a social crisis with effects that are still reverberating, including the security issues due to the instability in the neighborhood areas, but also in some key member states. In this paper, we present a framework of social cohesion in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Bu...

Contemporary Issues in Social Science, 2021

Introduction: Climate change and the limiting nature of fossil natural resources are compelling e... more Introduction: Climate change and the limiting nature of fossil natural resources are compelling elements that have driven the search for environmentally friendly alternatives to the traditional economy. In this context, as the main pillar of bioeconomy, biomass can contribute to energy sustainability, temper effects of climate change, and make the use of natural resources more efficiently. Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have a relatively common economic history of agriculture playing a pivotal role in the former centralized economy. Purpose: This chapter analyzed the importance of biomass produced from residues of crops in CEE countries. This analysis is regarded as incentive to take a deeper look at biomass in CEE countries with acknowledged agricultural potential. CEE countries have been part of the former European socialist bloc, with agriculture being a core component of the centralized economy. Even though their economies have been undergoing a lengthy transition process to the market economy, this sector of activity still holds a significant share. Therefore, CEE countries provide a suitable ground for our analysis. Methodology: The authors selected characteristics of the agricultural sectors and development, and assess their relationship with biomass production in the CEE countries, using an Ordinary Least Squares method. Then, the authors investigate the environmental implications of crop biomass production in a similar framework. Findings: The results reveal that the agricultural biomass sector contributes to economic development, and it does not have negative implications for environmental indicators. These results show that biomass production is a sustainable target to be pursued.

Economic Computation and Economic Cybernetics Studies and Research, 2019

In this paper, we test whether competitiveness matters for economic growth and regional convergen... more In this paper, we test whether competitiveness matters for economic growth and regional convergence in the context of the European Union. We employ the Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI), the 2013 version, computed by the European Commission as a proxy for competitiveness and data on regional GDP per capita, for the period 2000-2013.We test several cross-section spatial models, controlling for the beta-convergence and we estimate the relationship for the 247 NUTS2 European regions and separately for 189 UE15 regions and 56 CEE regions. We control for spatial autocorrelation by employing either a spatial error model (SEM) or spatial lag model (SLM). When both beta-convergence and spatial dependence is accounted for, the relationship between RCI and growth becomes highly significant. When separate models are estimated for CEE and EU15, no relation is found in the case of EU15 regions. In the case of CEE regions, RCI is significant for growth (at a 10% level), when a beta-convergence...

Sustainability

The bioeconomy is a complex and increasingly relevant field, and agriculture represents an essent... more The bioeconomy is a complex and increasingly relevant field, and agriculture represents an essential sector for its development. The bioeconomy presents an opportunity for sustainable agriculture that is beneficial for the environment and public health, both globally and particularly for nations with centralized agricultural systems, such as the former socialist Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs). This article takes a novel approach to investigate the bioeconomic indicators in CEECs’ agriculture. It combines the hierarchical grouping method with an index based on socioeconomic indicators specific to the bioeconomy. It aims to find how the selected countries performed in terms of agriculture indicators. The socioeconomic indicator analysis showed that some countries had more linear evolutions than others, while some of them clearly outperformed the average of the region. The cluster analysis divided the countries into three relevant groups. The findings revealed patterns ...

Sustainability

The present study empirically investigates the effect of corporate governance on the value of cas... more The present study empirically investigates the effect of corporate governance on the value of cash holding, usage of excess cash, and firm performance in concentrated and competitive industries in the context of less developed countries. The empirical analysis was conducted in the panel data setting using Pakistan as a case study. Our findings suggest a strong relationship between the value of cash holding and corporate governance, and the complementary effect of product market competition for corporate governance. This suggests that the external market discipline is also needed, in addition to good governance, to resolve agency problems in less developed countries. This is because less developed countries are usually characterized by lower competition, poor mechanisms for shareholder protection, and weak legal systems. Consequently, agency problems are greater in less developed countries compared to developed countries. Our findings also indicate that firms with good governance dis...

Journal of Green Economy and Low-Carbon Development

Timisoara Journal of Economics and Business

The bioeconomy is an area that encompasses more economic activities and is environmentally friend... more The bioeconomy is an area that encompasses more economic activities and is environmentally friendly and sustainable. Bioeconomy contributes to the economic development of a state by creating new jobs, expanding the business environment and making activities more efficient. In this context, the bioeconomy is an element of economic development that helps the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) to bridge the gap with the other countries in the west of the continent. The article aims to analyze the grouping of CEECs based on indicators specific to the bioeconomy, to highlight similarities or discrepancies between them. Moreover, we conduct this study in order to identify Romania’s position among CEECs in terms of specific bioeconomy indicators. The study is based on the European Commission’s Joint Research Center database for the bioeconomy indexes for these particular regions. We employed a hierarchical cluster method using SPSS software. The sample consisted of the 11 CEEC ...

Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja

Proceedings of the International Conference on Economics and Social Sciences

The Romanian agricultural sector has had a difficult history over the past 100 years. Economic an... more The Romanian agricultural sector has had a difficult history over the past 100 years. Economic and social issues in the sector have influenced significantly Romanian economic development, and continue to represent a huge challenge in the current changing economic and social context fraught with risks from climate and demographic change, to change triggered by geopolitical and geo-economic realignments inside and outside the European Union. The financial-economic crisis, the austerity, the subsequent pandemic and now the conflictual circumstances imply identifying resilient and smart solutions for all sectors, but especially for ensuring sustainable agricultural growth at the EU and each member-state's level. In difficult periods, mobilizing stakeholders from the public and private sector to ensure financing through investments and subsidies, should focus on public-private partnerships as a tool and not an objective for developing a resilient and sustainable agricultural sector at the country and the EU-27 level. The present paper shows some of the issues and main objectives that should guide this type of partnership in agriculture aimed at innovation and delivering viable solutions for Romania's rural area. Some good practice examples are analysed, and proposals are made regarding general framework solutions for actually operationalizing the potential of innovation and sustainable, smart growth in agriculture. By considering the public-private partnership as a systemic innovation policy tool, we aim to identify the best improvements that, from a holistic perspective, could give answers to most pressing challenges regarding financing, avoiding negative demographic change, and strengthening the competitiveness of the Romanian agricultural sector. The main issue to tackle is the institutional economic, and stakeholders' framework, for which the strength and weaknesses are identified, and policy improvements suggested. The results show that Romania has potential to strengthen an innovative, smart, and green national agricultural sector if the right measures are taken and public-private partnerships in the sector are approached flexibly.

Energies

The primary objective of this research was to determine the impact of renewable energy, alternati... more The primary objective of this research was to determine the impact of renewable energy, alternative and nuclear energy, urbanization, energy use, and fossil fuel energy consumption on Romanian economic development. To investigate the relation between variables, we employed the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique in conjunction with FMOLS (Fully Modified Least Squares) and CCR (Canonical Cointegrating Regression). Long-run and short-run findings suggest that alternative and nuclear energy, as well as fossil fuel consumption, has a positive association with economic growth, but renewable energy, urbanization, and energy usage have an adversative relationship with economic growth. Similarly, FMOLS and CCR statistics indicate that alternative and nuclear energy and fossil fuel consumption have a favorable impact on economic development. Renewable energy consumption, urbanization, and energy use, on the other hand, revealed a negative connection with economic progress. Conser...

Journal of Cleaner Production

Sustainability

The key aim of the current analysis was to examine the impact of electricity production from vari... more The key aim of the current analysis was to examine the impact of electricity production from various sources (oil, nuclear, natural gas and coal) on CO2 emission in Pakistan by utilizing the annual data series varies from 1975–2020. The study employed the two unit root tests for the purpose of stationarity, while an asymmetric Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) technique was applied to expose the influence of electrical energy on CO2 emission via long-run and short-run dynamics. Findings show that via long-run and short-run the variable electricity production from oil and coal sources has a positive impact on CO2 emission in Pakistan via positive and negative shocks. Electricity production from nuclear sources exposed the adverse impact on CO2 emissions. Similarly, electricity production from natural gas demonstrates the positive and adversative linkage with CO2 emission through positive and negative shocks. There is no doubt that Pakistan is still dealing with an elec...

Sustainability

The primary goal of this analysis was to determine the impact of inflation, poverty, unemployment... more The primary goal of this analysis was to determine the impact of inflation, poverty, unemployment, and population growth on economic growth in Pakistan using time series data from 1986 to 2020. The stationarity for the variables was tested through unit root testing, while the asymmetric (NARDL) technique was applied to expose the association amid the variables via short-run and long-run dynamics. The outcomes show that (1) variable inflation and poverty have adversative linkages to economic growth, (2) unemployment has a positive association with economic growth, and (3) variable population growth showed a negative association via short-run and long-run dynamics. Inflation, poverty and unemployment are now emerging issues in the Pakistan. The Pakistani economy has been determined to have a strong and negative link between inflation and economic growth. After a certain point, generalized inflation seems to be harmful to economic growth in the country. New governmental strategies and ...

Sustainability

Reducing inequalities within and among countries is one of the main tenets of the sustainable dev... more Reducing inequalities within and among countries is one of the main tenets of the sustainable development paradigm and has become an important pillar at the European Union level. By adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, EU countries have committed themselves to meet targets against which progress in reducing inequalities can be measured. Through the present research, we aim to analyze and assess the extent to which EU countries will achieve the specific SDG 10 targets. Based on data published by Eurostat for the period 2010–2020, we forecast the trends of the indicators until the year 2030, using a model based on the AAA (Holt–Winters) version of exponential smoothing (ETS), to assess the degree to which the assumed targets will be reached. For more detailed information, we used dynamic indices to analyze the dynamics of the progress achieved. The results showed that it is difficult to clearly distinguish one or more countries as part of a group of high or low perfor...

PROCEEDINGS OF THE 1ST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES.CHALLENGES AND TRENDS IN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SCIENCES RESEARCH, 2018

The Romanian labor market had a difficult “maturation” process reflected in the fluidity and inst... more The Romanian labor market had a difficult “maturation” process reflected in the fluidity and instability shown by many of the relevant economic and social institutions during the transition period. Moreover, both the transition period, and the post-transition one have augmented several issues on this market, from among which we mention: labor force migration associated with accelerated demographic ageing; mismatch between educational supply and labor market demand; increasingly marked and hard to remedy disparities between the regions of development; excessive urban-urban, urban-rural, rural-rural polarization, and wider gaps between the various groups of population represented or representative for the labor market in Romania. It is obvious that for the labor market and its outcomes the question about the existence or non-existence of path dependency becomes relevant, in order to identify some objectives and tools that are efficient from a labor market perspective in diminishing the existing types of disjunctions and speeding-up the process in view of achieving the convergence and cohesion objectives at European level. The paper aims to realize a general empirical analysis based on the data provided by various national and European statistics regarding the evolution registered by the main wage, unemployment and active labor market policies as they all provide for useful and relevant information about the relevance and impact of path dependence, but also for possible path ‘divergence’, ‘disengagement’ or ‘shift’, particularly for the crisis and post-crisis period.