Sorin Gabriel Anton

Determinant Factors of Firm Leverage: An Empirical Analysis at Iasi County Level☆

Abstract The paper investigates the determinants of capital structure of micro- and small enterprises based in the county of Iasi in Romania. Our study employed debt ratio as the dependent variable and five factors (profitability, tangibility, liquidity, size, and growth opportunity) as determinants of capital structure. We have found that leverage is negatively related to tangibility, profitability and liquidity. The size of the firm and the growth opportunities can also have a negative impact on the leverage, but to a lower extent.

The Impact Of Leverage On Firm Growth. Empirical Evidence From Romanian Listed Firms

Abstract The aim of the paper is to assess the impact of leverage on firm growth in periods of economic growth and economic uncertainty. We employ a sample of Romanian listed firms over the period 2001-2011 and several alternative measures for firm growth (i.e. sales growth, assets growth, and employment growth). The results of fixed effects regression model show that the leverage has a positive effect on firm growth. Furthermore, profitability was found to positively influence the firm growth, while older firms saw a faster increase in assets and sales. Within this particular sample, firm size appears to constrain growth.

Application of biomedical technologies - issues in modern bioethics

The substantial increase of the medical needs in society triggered the development of various medical domains which generated a wide field for the applicability of biomedical technologies, and thus facilitated new perspectives in the worldwide management of important health issues. Biomedical technologies are a useful segment of contemporary medicine and an omnipresent component of modern society, while they also provide enough reasons in support of the assertion that their implementation in current health care should not be an exception. However, scientific progress maintained by application of biomedical technologies in research, treatment and prevention is challenged by several ethical and moral issues. Therefore, within the framework of ethical discussions regarding the impact of biomedical technologies, the emphasis placed on the moral qualities of technological interventions is equivalent with the interest to evaluate quantifiable medical consequencest.

Competitiveness and Investment Promotion in Bulgaria and Romania

After the onset of the 2007 financial crisis, Bulgaria and Romania employed a large set of fiscal and investment incentives in order to attract FDI flows. The chapter provides a comparative analysis of the investment promotion strategies of the two countries. The Bulgarian investment promotion agency provides services to foreign investors through every step of the investment process and has a well-organized website, which provides comprehensive information. In the case of Romania, however, a clear strategy to attract FDI to specific sectors of the economy is missing. The analysis highlights that Romania failed to make the relevant business information easily available to potential investors, as so many changes in the promotion agency affected its ability to provide quality information.

Is profitability driven by working capital management? Evidence for high-growth firms from emerging Europe

Despite the importance of high-growth firms (HGFs) for job creation, innovation, and economic development in transition economies, current knowledge on the role of financial decisions in explaining their profitability is limited. The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between working capital management and firm profitability. Using a panel data set on HGFs from Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe during the time span 2006–2015, we found an inverted U-shape relationship between working capital level and firm profitability. Our findings indicate that HGFs should find and maintain the optimal working capital level that maximizes their profitability. Our results proved to be robust when we employ different methodology (quantile regression), different sub-samples as well as alternative measures of profitability and working capital management. The study highlights the importance of short-term financial decisions in enhancing HGFs’ profitability, with significant implications for academics and practitioners. We contribute to the extant literature by providing empirical evidence on the existence a concave relationship between working capital level and firm profitability for a cross-country sample of firms.

Foreign Direct Investment Flows and IMF Lending Programs. New Empirical Evidence from CESEE Countries

Abstract The aim of the paper it to assess the “catalytic effect” of IMF lending programs on foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to Central, Eastern and South-Eastern European (CESEE) countries during and after the latest global financial crisis. This paper provides new empirical evidence on this catalytic effect while controlling for banking stability. Our results show that IMF lending programs had a negative catalytic effect on FDI flows to emerging economies from CESEE over the period 1999-2013. Other key determinants of FDI flows to these countries are inflation, current account balance, level of education, and infrastructure.

Time-varying betas in Central and Eastern European markets: a bivariate BEKK GARCH approach

In this paper, we analyse country risk of eight Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries by calculating time-varying betas. We have used daily closing prices of indices from 3 June 2002 through 2 December 2011, resulting in 2021 observations. The time-varying betas where calculated by applying multivariate GARCH BEKK models under multivariate normal distribution of errors. Results indicate that BEKK models are appropriate on estimating time-varying beta for Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Russia, except for Latvia. Moreover, the behaviour of time-varying betas during the crisis differs between CEE markets. Countries with flat exchange rates seem to eliminate some of the country risk. For Romania and Hungary, time-varying beta increase was eliminated due to assistance of the International Monetary Fund during the crisis.