Emilia Titan

Socio-economic Convergence in the EU at National and Regional Level

Abstract Problem Statement. There are concerns that convergence in the EU is mostly economic, which may lead to increased inequality and social disparities. Also, research shows that mild divergence can be observed at regional level, which questions the effectiveness of the EU cohesion policy. Purpose of Study. This paper explores whether socio-economic convergence occurs at both national and regional level, and whether the EU cohesion policy is effective. Methods. Using Eurostat data since 2000, we use coefficients of variation to analyze convergence for disposable income, unemployment rates, proportion of people living in households with low work intensity, and migration. Findings and Results. Convergence and divergence are faster at country level, and trends at national level are mostly different than those at regional level in terms of direction and magnitude. For unemployment rates and work intensity, regional data shows more volatility, indicating higher within-country volatility, while between-country volatility is higher for incomes and net migration. Except for unemployment, the Great Recession has not induced an erosion on the convergence observed in the pre-crisis period; in particular, low work intensity holds steady. Greater volatility in internal migration is unexpected given the convergence in income and unemployment rate. Conclusions and Recommendations. Most findings point out that the EU cohesion policy is effective in reducing socio-economic disparities before 2008, and containing them doing the Great Depression. However, this is mostly due to increased between-country convergence. Divergence in internal migration is unexpected and requires further research.

Does Aging Influence Migration in Romania? A Comprehensive Analysis☆

An integrated analysis of the impact of population ageing on migration is done for Romania. The effects of aging are examined with respect to emigration and immigration. Results show that there is a significant relationship between emigration flows and the dependency ratio for Romania and the EU, but that dependency ratio does not act as a pull factor in the case of Romania. There is no significant link between aging and immigration to Romania. Knowing these relationships will help to better model the impact of migration on mitigating the effects of ageing, determine how migration will evolve given the age structure of the population, and how these influences can be incorporated into standard migration analyses.

Trends among native- and foreign-origin workers in U.S. computer industries

The share of foreign-born workers in the U.S. information technology (IT) industry is much higher than their share of the labor force. In fact, foreign-born workers hold more than half the creative IT jobs located in metropolitan areas where IT innovation clusters are located. Nevertheless, except for in Silicon Valley, U.S.-born workers and workers born abroad to American parents still hold the highest proportion of creative IT jobs.

Students’ Perspective on Romanian Higher Education Quality: A Statistical Approach☆

Abstract A recent survey (made by Universitas 21), which took into account 50 countries worldwide, has ranked Romania 42nd in the world, in a ranking of the best university systems, managing to exceed only 3 countries from the European Union. By comparing with previous years, the rank has slightly lowered. The present study attempts to conduct an overview on the state of the higher education national system with the purpose of making improvements to it. Firstly, the paper consists of presenting the general data of the context in which the Romanian higher education is situated. The SWOT analysis conducted in various universities from Romania, are summarized, following with the broad shaping of the elements that define the quality of higher education. Secondly, the study aims to conduct a statistical survey among Romanian students for the assessment of general trends in their opinion upon the discussed topic.As the actual beneficiaries of the services offered by the Romanian universities, the students have a significant importance and thus, based on the answers, we prepare from their perspective a SWOT analysis of the Romanian higher education quality.The results establish in an easy and precise manner the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the educational system, after which measures can be taken in order to improve, or better said, to optimize the processes of universities in the country.