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Effect of Economic, Institutional and Cultural Factors on the Implementation of EU Energy Policies

Author(s): Vasile Dinu,Leonina Emilia Baciu,Maria Mortan,Vincentiu Veres / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: Renewable energy; economic factors; institutional factors; Hofstede cultural values; hierarchical clustering;

This study assesses the effect of economic, institutional, and cultural factors on green energy production. The present research considers only sources for which the European Union cofinances investment in production capacity; thus, we exclude hydroelectric power. The economic determinants are internal consumption and national income, the institutional ones are the Worldwide Governance Indicators, and the cultural ones are the national cultural indicators of Hofstede. Data comprise the European Union countries for the 2007-2015 period, the longest time period in which the structure of the Union has remained mostly unchanged. We employ random effects panel data models and hierarchical clustering. Our main results emphasise the significant impact of internal energy consumption per capita, government effectiveness, rule of law, control of corruption, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance. The multidimensional hierarchical clustering points out three behavioural groups based on these variables. Two of them are quite homogeneous with respect to the geographical distribution of the countries on the European continent.

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Market Changes in the Energy and Green Energy Sector During the COVID-19 Crisis: A Global Perspective

Author(s): Cristian Valeriu Păun,Radu Cristian Mușetescu,Valentin Cojanu,Radu Șimandan / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: COVID-19 crisis; global economy; energy; green energy; sustainable development;

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the energy and electricity industry, with a particular focus on green energy sources such as wind and solar energy. The analysis provided a global perspective, based on a panel of 45 countries that represent more than 90% of the world’s GDP. The analysis was structured in two steps: a counterfactual analysis based on the mean and variance of the country data sample for the 14 indicators and the 45 countries in the panel and a counterfactual analysis that looked at the statistical significance of the difference of mean between the data sets referring to the time of the pandemic and before the time of the pandemic using the t-student test of 2 samples assuming unequal variances between samples. For the pandemic time, the analysis took into consideration two years (2020 and 2021), and the benchmark year was 2019. The counterfactual analysis included a short-term perspective based on a comparative analysis with the dynamic of the year before the crisis (2019/2018 dynamic) and a long-term perspective based on a comparative analysis with the multiannual average dynamic (2019/2015 – 5 years). The study results indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a decline in global energy and electricity production, a partial reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions, a partial improvement in the global trade balance with energy and electricity, a decrease in global energy and electricity consumption, and a partial increase in global green energy and electricity production and intensity.

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Renewables and Decarbonization: Implications for Energy Policy in the European Union

Author(s): Dan Gabriel Dumitrescu,Alexandra Horobet,Cristiana Tudor,Lucian Belașcu / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: Energy policy; European Union; decarbonisation; low-carbon electricity; renewable energy; system-GMM;

The study examines the contribution of low-carbon and fossil electricity sources to environmental degradation in the European Union countries, modelled by economic development and globalisation. We ensure the robustness of the results by exploring the concurrent and individual effects of the alternative electricity sources on GHG emissions. Consistent GMM estimators indicate that all low-carbon sources have a mitigating effect on environmental degradation in the EU, in a context of persistent pollution fuelled by fossilfuels-based electricity. Hydropower and wind emerge as the most efficient electricity generation sources in the fight against climate change. Countries’ development level, globalisation and population were not found to significantly impact pollution in EU countries. Our results have important implications for energy policy, suggesting that replacing fossil fuels in electricity generation with low-carbon sources, in particular wind and hydro, is a beneficial path to achieve decarbonisation while also decreasing the EU’s reliance on foreign oil and gas.

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The Analysis of the Impact of Energy and Environmental Policies of the European Union on the Economic Performance of Companies. Case Study in the Transport Sector

Author(s): Monica Aureliana Petcu,Eduard Dinu,Irina Daniela Cişmaşu,Raluca-Andreea Popescu-Predulescu / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: gross operating rate; energy efficiency; energy dependence; renewable energy; CO2 emissions;

The macroeconomic reason and objectives, in a normative framework, reside to a large extent in the support, catalysis, and efficiency of activities at the microeconomic level, the gear through which they are built. Responsible behaviour at the macro and microeconomic level involves the dynamic revelation of dysfunctions and conflicts, generated within each sphere, in their relationship, as well as in the involved normative framework, in order to establish effective mechanisms for balance and development. The purpose of this approach is to analyse the micromacroeconomic convergence from the perspective of the link between economic performance and energy consumption from the point of view of ensuring the necessary resources and the efficiency of their use, with impact on the environment. The study covers the transport sector at the level of the member countries of the European Union in the period 2011-2020, the collected data being processed with the regression method. The growth in energy efficiency and energy dependence are, against the background of the increase in the volume of activity, factors that lead to an increase in the gross operating rate. From the analysis, it emerges that the use of renewable energy to a greater extent, as a result of sustainable development, does not constitute a significant factor for improving the economic performance of companies in the transport sector. The contributions of the two-dimensional approach conducted consist of mediating the conflict between the objectives of economic profitability and the environmental constraints, targeting both the microeconomic level, through the analysis of the gross operating rate in correlation with energy consumption and CO2 emissions, as well as the macroeconomic level, constituting a benchmark in policies substantiation.

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Drivers for Renewable Energy Consumption in European Union Countries. A Panel Data Insight

Author(s): Iulia Lupu,Gheorghe Hurduzeu,Radu Lupu,Maria-Floriana Popescu,Camelia Gavrilescu / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: renewable energy; energy policy; European Union; panel data;

Renewable energy sources play an essential role in the broader context of environmental protection and the fight against the effects of climate change. At the European level, the need to increase the proportion of energy generated by renewable resources is formalised through the Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC), which was updated in 2018 and became legally mandatory starting from June 2021. The European Green Deal, adopted in 2019, highlights the role of energy generated from renewable sources in fulfilling more complex objectives recognised at the international level. Within this context, in this study, we investigate the link between renewable energy consumption by sector and other critical indicators in the energy sector, representing energy productivity, intensity, efficiency, import dependency, research and development (R&D) allocations, and energy-related tax revenues, for the period 2004-2020. We employed a panel data approach for European Union member states, Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe countries separately. The empirical results confirm the different conditions for the two groups of countries, suggesting the possibility of designing specific energy policies. We emphasise the positive role of R&D in both categories of member states.

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The Strategic Repositioning of the European Union Consumers in the Context of the Energy Paradigm Change. From the Traditional Supplier-User Relationship to the Emergence of the Prosumers

Author(s): Dumitru Miron,Vlad Epurescu,Elisabeta Andreea Budacia / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: Prosumers; renewable energy; photovoltaic energy; prosumption; energy suppliers;

The entire contemporary societal landscape, including the business environment, faces a complex kaleidoscope of challenges, fuelled by a greater than ever level of turbulence manifesting itself on all levels. In the new circumstances, opportunities and threats follow and multiply, interfere, and require a proactive approach and placed in synergistic logic. We are witnessing the emergence of times in which the most frequently used term is resilience. At the level of the European Union, resilience can be attached to all strategic or tactical vectors, the most interesting areas of manifestation of the need for resilience being those related to digitisation and the energy sector. Starting from the hypothesis that most of the geopolitical and geoeconomic conditions are changing at a very high speed, the authors of this article proposed to emphasise aspects related to the rediscovery of the advantages of energy autonomy. Aggregating the production curves for dispatchable photovoltaic energy in 2021, at the national level, the authors also highlighted a production model for prosumers. In this context, using the Cobb-Douglas production function, an attempt was made to diagnose the conditions in which the consumer can have a versatile role and become, in turn, an energy producer, contributing to the climate agenda.

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Energy Poverty: Macroeconomic Insight on Romania, Bulgaria and the Vișegrad Group within the European Context

Author(s): Rozalia Kicsi,Aurel Burciu,Ionel Bostan,Raluca C. Zoltan,Simona Buta / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: fuel poverty; vulnerability; disparities; thermal comfort; financial burden;

Recent studies suggest a core-periphery pattern of energy poverty in the European Union. The energy vulnerability of Romania, Bulgaria, and the economies of the Visegrad Group as "peripheral" countries is frequently attributed to the legacy of the centrally planned economy and post-communist economic transformations towards a market economy. The aim of the paper is to investigate the potential occurrence of a core-periphery pattern and the relative situation of Romania, Bulgaria and the V4 countries in this pattern by employing a model that integrates three energy poverty thresholds, namely physical, technological, and economic. The research findings reveal some disparities among the selected countries following each of these thresholds and suggest the emergence of two clusters that are describable by a core-periphery pattern but, in our opinion, with some different meanings from those stated by classical economic development theory. The evidence provided by our study would prove its value and usefulness, on the one hand, by opening up new research directions and, on the other hand, by describing a state of affairs that calls for increasing attention from macroeconomic decision-makers, all the more so as the contextual factors that have shaped the socioeconomic environment in recent years (the Coronavirus pandemic, the military conflict in Ukraine) add even more value to research in this thematic registry, since not only energy security but also the achievement of sustainable development goals are seriously questioned.

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Energy Transition and Sustainable Development at the Level of the European Union

Author(s): Daniela Vîrjan,Claudia Popescu,Iuliana Pop,Delia Popescu / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: energy transition; greenhouse gas emissions; green energy; sustainable development; European Union;

The energy transition is a priority for the European Union, both in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing its dependence on imported fossil fuels. The European Union is at the forefront of the fight against climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions. This article presents the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and the main factors that directly affect the growth of greenhouse gas emissions, such as GDP per capita or greenhouse gas emissions per capita in the previous period (t-1). To conduct this study, a panel data model was used with statistical data provided by EUROSTAT for the 27 Member States of the European Union for the period 2005-2020. Data processing was performed using the econometric program Eviews 8. The research results show that in developed countries, where GDP per capita is high, greenhouse gas emissions are also high. Therefore, the energy transition is a necessity, especially since these countries also have the financial resources to support it.

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The Mix of Resources, Security and Sustainability of the Energy Complex in Romania in the European Context

Author(s): Carmen Valentina Radulescu,Ioan I. Gâf-Deac,Florina Bran,Cătălin Octavian Mănescu,Dumitru-Alexandru Bodislav,Sorin Burlacu / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: Security; mix of energy resources; adaptive energy market; open energy autonomy;

This article presents the results of the research on energy activities in Romania by highlighting the variants of the mix of energy resources, the mix of production alternatives, and ways of energy consumption. The uneven distribution of resource ownership in EU member states is a comparative advantage for Romania, which has significant primary energy resources. The impact of the energy crisis on the new economy is described, and the concept of transitional recession is launched, emphasising the reduction of risks associated with the lack of energy resources in Romania and the EU until 2030. Trends in the production of energy resources are highlighted. The security and environmental problems related to energy consumption under conditions of overlapping crises in the EU and Romania are associated with solutions resulting from the conceptualisation of the adaptive energy market. Aspects of managerial applications in the field of predictable/unpredictable events in the field of energy in Romania are reported. Therefore, the foundations are laid for a formalisation model of the security and safety conditions and the premises for the independence of Romania's energy. On this basis, the maximisation of the output of the security and safety states model is pursued and the premises for Romania’s energy independence, respectively, the minimisation of environmental effects, are systematised. Based on the calculations and evaluations of three scenarios, a variant of the electricity/energy production mix results that meets the objectives pursued. In fact, a block scheme of approach is proposed, from the vision to the roadmap for the energy field in Romania, the idea of open energy autonomy being launched, considered appropriate with the ecoeconomic, productive-industrial behaviour of Romania.

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Hybridising Neurofuzzy Model the Seasonal Autoregressive Models for Electricity Price Forecasting on Germany’s Spot Market

Author(s): Dorel Mihai Paraschiv,Narciz Bălășoiu,Souhir Ben-Amor,Raul Cristian Bag / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: electricity price forecasting; Seasonal Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA); NeuroFuzzy-Local Linear Wavelet Neural Network (LLWNN); univariate hybrid model; German electricity market;

Electricity price forecasting has become an area of increasing relevance in recent years. Despite the growing interest in predictive algorithms, the challenges are difficult to overcome given the restricted access to relevant data series and the lack of accurate metrics. Multiple models have been developed and proven to work in the area of EPF. This paper proposes a new univariate hybrid model, trained, and tested on German electricity market data, based on the Seasonal Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) and the NeuroFuzzyLocal Linear Wavelet Neural Network (LLWNN). Although a series of complex challenges create difficulties in refining the model, the proposed algorithm significantly narrows the gap between predictions and actual prices. The ability to predict the dynamics of the price of electricity on the spot market is an important asset for both suppliers and consumers, with a view on prophylactic calibration of supply-demand ratios. The model can be extended and applied to any energy market with a stable structure.

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Implementation of Energy Efficiency Improvement Measures in Romania and the Role of Professional Accountants

Author(s): Daniela Artemisa Calu,Adriana Ana Maria Davidescu,Alina Mihaela Irimescu,Corina-Graziella Bâtcă Dumitru,Viorel Avram / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: Energy efficiency; energy efficiency improvement measures (EEIMs); professional accountants; European Union; Romania;

Energy efficiency is one of the main objectives of the European Union's policy. Organisations are trying to implement various measures to improve energy efficiency to optimise their business models. Professional accountants prepare the financial and nonfinancial information of the organisations. In this context, the objectives of the document are: (i) to assess progress in the implementation of energy efficiency improvement measures (EEIMs) within some Romanian organisations and (ii) to assess the usefulness of energy efficiency improvement measures and the perceived impact of these measures on the organisation. In this regard, exploratory research was carried out based on a questionnaire to which 445 professional accountants from Romania responded. The research results indicate that the most frequently implemented measure to increase energy efficiency for organisations in Romania is the purchase of equipment/computers with a lower energy consumption. Furthermore, there are differences in the implementation of each measure, depending on the size of the organisation and the activity sector. The implementation of all energy efficiency improvement measures, evaluated based on an original composite indicator, is achieved at an average level, and it is more frequent in the trade sector (except the construction products sector), services sector (except the architecture sector, consultancy in construction, engineering) and manufacturing sector, as well as in micro, medium, and large entities. Furthermore, professional accountants believe that the most useful measure of improving energy efficiency that an organisation could implement is the use of assets that belong to the highest class of energy efficiency. Our research helps identify the most practical measures that the state can adopt and that organisations can implement to improve energy efficiency.

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How Family Character Affect the Financing of Environmental Protection Strategies and Energy-Saving Measures

Author(s): Cristina López-Cózar-Navarro,Tiziana Priede-Bergamini,Sonia Benito-Hernández / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: Family business; environmental; energy saving; financial sources;

Family firms have been consolidating for years as a very important asset in most economies in the European Union. Developing from the influence of the family on the core objectives, these firms show specific features on how internal processes are developed. These differences may also be reflected in their attitude towards corporate social responsibility and environmental policies. The present paper focusses on their behaviour on environmental responsibility, specifically referring to the energy-saving issue. Empirical results, based on a sample of 1,771 Spanish manufacturing firms, show that the family character has a positive effect on the proactive environmental strategy. Moreover, different sources of finance may alter this main effect in various ways. Unpredictably, self-financing weakens the positive effect of family ownership on environmental protection and energy saving, whereas indebtedness is not a barrier, and public support strengthens the positive relationship. Our findings contribute to better understanding the involvement of family firms in responsible behaviour and the impact of different financial sources to promote the challenge of energy for the European Union.

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EU Decarbonisation: Do EU Electricity Costs Harm Export Competitiveness?

Author(s): Stanislav Zábojník,Dušan Steinhauser,Viktória Peštová / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: Decarbonisation; electricity prices; export competitiveness; energy intensive industries; energy costs;

The EU has become a leading protagonist of decarbonisation in the era of challenging international competitiveness. This research aims to investigate a relationship between energy costs pushed by decarbonisation (case of electricity) and the export competitiveness of EU countries. Within panel regression, the authors used unit energy costs (UEC) for electricity and analysed export competitiveness via domestic value added in gross export from the TiVA database. The research proved the negative effect of increasing unit energy costs for electricity on export competitiveness, but only at the entire industry level. The even stronger negative effect of increasing energy costs was found among EU13 countries (new members and industry-based countries). The original and most important findings bring UEC data for the EU countries, prove different effects of decarbonisation on export competitiveness within the EU27, and investigate selected decarbonisation effects on energyintensive industries. The results related to the potentially harmful and diversified effects of decarbonisation commitments on export competitiveness are essential for further “green” reforms policies of the EU.

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Involvement’s Barriers of Micro and Small Firms into EU Energy Transition

Author(s): Tomasz Bernat,Aleksandra Gąsior,Renata Lisowska,Katarzyna Szymańska,Răzvan Zaharia / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: micro and small firms; energy transition; barriers for companies; involvements of companies in energy transition process;

One of the greatest challenges for modern companies is finding a balance between achieving environmental goals and being competitive on the market. The current situation forces companies to overcome various challenges that contribute to reducing energy consumption. The aim of the article is to try to answer the following question: What problems can be identified for the smallest business entities in the implementation of environmental standards imposed by legislation? In search of an answer to this question, the structure of this article was assigned, in which the following was described: the main issues related to energy transformation in the EU, the SME sector was characterised against the background of the economy and energy challenges, the methodology, results, and results of the research conducted on Polish enterprises were presented. The research, based on a structured and standardized survey questionnaire, was conducted with the use of the CATI technique between April and May 2022 among owners of micro and small enterprises operating in Poland. As research has shown, there are various barriers that limit the participation of the surveyed companies in energy transformation.

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Evolution of Fiscal Decentralisation in OECD Countries: A Club Convergence Analysis

Author(s): Francisco J. Delgado,Maria J. Presno / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: Decentralisation; club convergence; OECD; Great Recession;

We study the fiscal decentralisation patterns in OECD countries through a club convergence approach. Our analysis covers 30 countries spanning 1995 to 2018 and considers the noncentral expenditure and revenue sides with two perspectives, as percentage of GDP and as percentage of the total government expenditure and revenue. The results show differences between the expenditure and revenue sides, but with five and six clubs on both sides for the GDP and total government perspectives, respectively. These results allow one to establish a typology based on the four dimensions analysed. In addition, our results suggest a divergent impact of the Great Recession at the overall level of countries and under the expenditure and revenue perspectives; however, simultaneously, that economic downturn seems to have reinforced the process of convergence within clubs under the expenditure perspective. We also study the dynamics of convergence over time using a rolling window estimation, for all countries and the clubs.

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Europe, where to?

Author(s): Valeriu Ioan-Franc,Napoleon Pop,Andrei-Marius Diamescu / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: economic growth; economic crisis; energy crisis; public debt; taxation; geopolitics; geoeconomics; inflation; monetary policy;

The authors review the challenges that the Romanian economy and society had to face in the European and global geoeconomic context. Starting from the perspectives advanced by the international economic fora, the risks the European economy will have to answer through counteracting and general resuscitation measures and means are analysed with the rigour due to academic research. In this context, a series of aspects of major interest for Romania are comprised, which we both under the pressure of its objectives registered in PNRR as well as the ones developed as risks in the proximity of the Russian-Ukrainian war, as part of NATO and the EU.

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Assessing the Inbound Tourism Efficiency of European Countries in China: 2006-2019

Author(s): Liudan Wu,Lili Hao,Lingzhi Wu,Ruize Gao,Ji Chen / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: stochastic frontier analysis; gravity model; true fixed effects stochastic frontier analysis gravity model; inbound tourism efficiency;

Assessing inbound tourism efficiency helps to understand the potential levels and constraints of inbound tourism flows. In this study, 35 European countries and China were selected as samples and influencing factors oftourism efficiency were constructed within the gravity model (GM) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). Taking into account individual heterogeneity, a true fixed-effects stochastic frontier gravity model (TFE-SFA-GM) was developed and empirically analysed using data from 2006 to 2019. The results show that (1) the inbound tourism efficiency of European countries in China is jointly affected by many core factors, such as economic scale, geographic distance, and population size on both sides; (2) the inefficiency factors that affect the inbound tourism efficiency of European countries in China are diversified;(3) the inbound tourism efficiency of European countries in China generally shows an upward trend during the sample period, but there are significant differences in the gap between the frontier level of inbound tourism flow in China and the actual inbound tourism flow. These findings imply that to better attract European tourists, China must continue to maintain and strengthen economic and trade relations with European countries, create a favourable security environment for tourism, highlight the integration of international tourism resources with Chinese culture, and continue to promote them in Europe.

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The Internal Audit in The Corporate Governance Context

Author(s): Viorel Avram / Language(s): English / Issue: 63/2023

Keywords: review; Mariana Bunea; The Internal Audit; Corporate Governance;

Review of: Mariana Bunea, 2023. The Internal Audit in The Corporate Governance Context. Amfiteatru Economic, 25(63), pp. 643-647.

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Rejoinder to Dominiak on the necessity of easements

Author(s): Walter E. Block / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2021

Keywords: libertarianism; easements; homesteading; property rights; Blockian proviso; positive rights;

Dominiak (2019) agrees with the Blockian proviso: homesteading in a bagel or donut format is illicit, since it allows the owner to control land (the hole, the territory in the middle) with which he has not mixed his labor. Thus, a person who does so must open up an easement allowing outside home-steaders through his property, and into this so-far virgin land. But, this author claims this proviso of Block’s does not go far enough. It should also be extended further, not only to incorporate the bagel format, but also in justiﬁcation of easements through private property in emergencies, and so as to avoid entrapment. I strongly support Dominiak in his defense of the Blockian proviso against critics (Kinsella, 2007, 2009C) in the ﬁrst part of his excellent paper, but ﬁnd I cannot agree with this second contention of his. In short, Dominiak agrees with Block regarding easements in the bagel case, but wants to extend this concept to when property owners are encircled, and thus trapped. In my view, extending easements to cases other than the bagel is incompatible with libertarianism’s emphasis on the sanctity of private property rights. Certain positive rights (to, in this case, movement) are essential to Dominiak’s argument. And these rights do not exist. Therefore, Dominiak’s argument is unsound.

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Libertarian easements revisited

Author(s): Łukasz M. Dominiak / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2021

Keywords: libertarianism; easements; the Blockian Proviso; absolute rights; conflicts of rights;

In the present paper, I develop further my original argument for extending the Blockian Proviso to landlocked property. I use Walter Block’s newest rejoinder as an opportunity to generalize my case for necessity easements. I argue that in order to attenuate various conﬂicts of rights, libertarianism should interpret its thesis that property rights are absolute in a less demanding way.

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