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Since 2020 the modern world has been witnessing a complex crisis, which is essentially a medical crisis (the COVID-19 pandemic) within a structural economic crisis. In addition to the current nexus of risk stressors, such as anthropogenic climate crisis, biodiversity loss, financialization and income inequality, all global and cross-cutting by their very nature, in the last period biorisk has been growing dramatically. The COVID-19 pandemic is a devastating and tragic moment which is rapidly becoming a matter of primary public concern. Social distancing, as the most effective anti-pandemic measure, has pushed the economy into sleep mode. Hibernation provokes a truly systemic economic downturn. The current crisis is particularly deepening structural imbalances of the neoliberal model of capitalism. Core policies responses, such as liquidity infusion and fiscal stimulus, are massive and permanent. Increasing moral hazard and irrational exuberance, such policies are destroying capital markets,as a brain of the market economy. But every crisis is also a chance to change. By tackling the neoliberal capitalism’ fault lines in a more effective way, it may actually accelerate the pace to the future we had in mind. A quick restart (or recovery) of the economy and a later rebound require systemic and concerted action in order to mitigate the negative effects of both medical and economic crisis. In managing a complex crisis such as this one, guided by the vision o fa sustainable, inclusive and prosperous economy, governments all around the world should take radical reform steps. It means, at least, two things at once. First, dealing with the pandemic as a macroeconomic variable. Second, implementing core economic policies (monetary and fiscal) in a structural way. To do so, the transition from shareholder capitalism to stakeholder capitalism is imminent. An emerging system will combine two institutional choices,the “visible hand” of state (impact investments based on structural or industrial policies)and the “invisible hand” of market forces. It’s time to give the government a stronger voice in the economy. To create value instead of redistributing value, the major part of impact investments will be in circular and regenerative economy, health care, infrastructure (physical and conceptual), science, and education. The objective of this paper is twofold. First, to fill the present conceptual vacuum created by the neoliberal doctrine economics rules with the aim of identifying key components of Serbia’s economy revival based on its macroeconomic specifics and catalytic impact of new economics rules during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.Second, to highlight the relevance of key components of stakeholder capitalism, including the regenerative and circular model of growth and heterodox economic policy platform for the Great Reset, or recovery and rebound respectively.
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The virus has impacted the economy through the following key channels: containment measures,and the supply and demand side problems caused by the disease. Lockdowns, cessation of certain services and public life, problems in organizing work-processes, problems in logistics and value chains at large, increased uncertainty, increased unemployment, and many others caused a simultaneous crunch on both the supply and the demand side of the economy.As a result of the simultaneous shock to both sides, the impact has been very strong, causing an endogenous spiral and resulting in a much higher overall impact than initially expected.The purpose of this paper is to present the impact of the virus-related crisis on the economies,with the focus on the European economy and Slovenia, relying on most recent available statistical resources. First, a brief theoretical background is provided, explaining more in detail how the virus impacted the economy. This is followed by an overview of the macroeconomic data, including a reflection to the financial and economic crisis 10 years ago. A sectoral perspective is provided next. The paper concludes with a selection of forecasts for the future.While the crisis has had a negative impact on the overall macroeconomic performance, significant sectoral as well as cross-country differences can be observed. Forecasting the future and overall impacts of the virus is at the moment very risky, however, the forecasts are unanimous in the evaluation that the crisis in 2020 will be significantly deeper than the crisis in 2009. Future effects and development of the crisis depend on a number of factors(1) the duration and type of restrictions, (2) government aid programs, (3) consumer behaviour), (4)timing of medication/vaccine, (5) unemployment rates, and (6) impact on household budgets.Primarily, it is important to understand that these factors could have very different impacts on different industries and countries.
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The introduction of new customs duties represents a serious challenge for the organisation of global value chains and current patterns of the international division of production Such measures have further weakened the already fragile fundamentals of the post 2nd World War Bretton-Wood’s multilateral system. In the last couple of years, the appeal for a reorganization of the World Trade Organization has intensified. In this paper, we aim to study trade implications of the US-China trade war from a perspective of supply chain trade and the organisation of global value chains (GVCs). We first present the development of the tariff rates in the US and China over the course of the trade war and sum up early evidence on the US-China trade war effects from stock price volatility. Next, we discuss the differences in tariff impacts on traditional and supply chain trade. We continue with characterizing the US and China’s GVC position and resulting pressure for supply chain restructuring. Finally, we look at trade effects for the EU in different categories of goods. The involvement of the EU-28in GVCs is characterized in general with a more upstream position in trade with China, while backward participation strongly prevails in the EU-28 trade with the US, with notable differences among EU member states. Trade data for the two most recent years shows a certain degree of EU trade reorientation towards both the US and China, where an increased share of exports to the US has been driven by intermediate goods, while in exports to China consumer goods showed the strongest growth. The evidence on the adjustment of GVCs in wake of the US-China trade war suggests that an increase in trade costs has important implications for the organisation and location of GVC activities. We may expect that such a trend will be further strengthened in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic situation. Trade is likely to fall more steeply in sectors characterized by complex value chain linkages. Restructuring,shortening, and reorientation of GVCs will, expectedly, be even more pronounced since the COVID-19 crisis involves lockdown and social distancing causing major labour supply shocks and GVC disruptions.
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The current COVID-19 pandemic, as a powerful information weapon, is well on its way, if not already, to take the character of a religion. According to us, it is a false religion, because everything has become very pragmatic and prosaic. If the matter ended like that, it would be a kind of “biblical flood”. It is possible that the “supreme” has decided to exterminate a part of the world’s population by flood, certainly not all, but the question is, why is it so complicated and why does everything take so long. Has any “new” Noah already prepared the raft, and how much space is there on it! The objective question is, for how long, where,and to whom does this “rotten” humanism, which manifests itself in a couple of free “needle”stings, work? State donation!On the other hand, the uncertainty that comes with the time of an increasingly intense digital future produces different interpretations of where we are and what will happen. And while usually only a small number in an organization can clearly recognize a “burning platform”,for others it is, at best, just a little bit of smoke on the horizon.In this paper, given the many unknowns related to the corona crisis, we discuss more than we actually offer solutions on how to start the development spiral of the economies of less developed countries. As can be seen from the title of the paper, our starting position indicates that it is possible, but on a new paradigmatic basis, to trigger the momentum of digital transformation.The initial question is whether there is any hope that these economies, squeezed by the “yoke” of globalization, will turn the accumulated crisis into a real opportunity for their own economic revival that will deliberately, continuously and realistically increase GDP, living and working standards. For now, apparently, we have not predicted that the old Chinese curse “may we live in interesting times” will reach us.
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The coronavirus pandemic represents a major shock for the global and EU economies and is expected to bear unpredictable, yet severe and long-lasting socio-economic consequences.Health crises provoked economic contagion and is now, it seems, spreading as fast as the disease itself. During the crisis, national economies found themselves in a free fall with different velocities. In general, it is expected that COVID-19 will take much higher toll in terms of GDP if compared with three main crises in past 100 years: the great depression in 1930s, first OPEC oil crises in the 1970s and the recent financial crises in the period of 2007-2009. Global GDP is projected to contract by about 4.4 percent in 2020, which is a sharper downturn than during the Global Financial Crisis in 2008-2009. It is then expected to rebound by 5.2percent in 2021, implying that global output should recover above it 2019 level but remain well below the level projected in the autumn 2019 forecast.The health and economic crisis has led to a significant job crisis that will increase the inequality and widen the gap in social structures. This paper presents the role of business and societal resilience. At the policy and societal level, the COVID-19 crisis has brought about a will to question the current functioning of economy and society with citizens’ initiatives. The economic system supporting the increasing share of precariat workers due to gig economy and deterioration of workers’ bargaining power, eroding the public institutions by austerity measures and siphoning value out of the economy by rewarding shareholders through stockbuyback schemes, rather than supporting investment in research and development, wages,and worker training, has proven to be ineffective to combat serious exogenous shocks. The current crisis calls for a new policy approach, based on theoretical foundations of (i) the developmental state, (ii) legal institutionalism and (iii) the entrepreneurial state.During the recent COVID crisis the switch in policy paradigm will improve the resilience of the companies in order to be capable of managing future disruptions and handling the most important challenges we need to solve like climate change, inequalities or financial crises, by reaping the synergies between collaboration, digitalization and sustainability.
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Ayoub and Malika Amrani are husband and wife, former farm workerswho, for many years, came to France on OMI contracts to do seasonal work for a farmer in the Bouches-du-Rhône area. In the early 1970s, the young woman’s father and uncle, fellahs2from the Moroccan Prerif who had emigrated to the city, found a contract in the city of Grans, on the Crau plain, and gradually “sponsored” the next generation of migrants. In 1990, when Malika was recruited to join them, there were about ten family members already working on the farm. Though she was formally employed as a farm worker, she actually worked as a “servant” for the farmer and his family. Against the advice of her employer, who wanted nothing to distract her from her work, she got married and held a big wedding in Fez, to which her employer was invited. Ayoub, her husband, was recruited to work in the orchards. As a newlywed, Malika had more and more trouble accepting the abuse and bullying her parents had endured until then. She became increasingly opposed to her employer. 2000 marked a breaking point, when Ayoub fell from an apple tree and was seriously injured. His pelvis was fractured. Their employer was reluctant to report it as a work-related accident. The couple stood up to him, and the following year, none of the family’s contracts were renewed. It was a form of retaliation. It was a collective punishment, as if to remind the migrants that they were bound to their employer by the same duty of loyalty. This incident would have lasting consequences on Malika’s relationship with her family, who accused her of being selfish. In the meantime, Malika became a prominent figure in the movement to defend seasonal migrants’ rights, almost in spite of herself. Her story was the subject of several articles in the media and was taken up by the Collectif de défense des travailleurs agricoles saisonniers (Collective for the Defense of Seasonal Agricultural Workers) (CODETRAS).
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Tourism has as its legal basis the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union of December 2009, a relatively recent date, given the importance of this area. Although it does not have a separate budget in the multiannual financial framework (MFF), it contributes significantly to the European Union's Gross Domestic Product and remains a good job seeker. The special measures at EU level, which have been taken in the field of tourism, concern: the interest of travelers and/or tourists, the interest of the tourism sector and regions. This area remains the most affected by the COVID Pandemic 19.
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The trans-border online purchase of medicines has been growing in the last decades. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the relevant case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The Luxembourg Court has addressed the issue of online sale of medicinal products on several occasions primarily from an internal market perspective. From its first judgments in cases Doc Morris, Ker-Optika and Pierre Fabre the Court tried to find the delicate balance between the freedom of goods within the European Union and the principle of protection of the public health. On the one hand, the Court tries to keep in line with the development of the internal market, including medicinal products sold online and on the other hand the public interest has been always observed, in particular the protection of public health. The article pays attention to one of the legislative initiatives of the European Commission in this field as well as to the newest judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
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Purpose: The purpose of this chapter is to identify the initial responses of municipalities to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: The research questions posed were: What types of budgetary instruments were used by municipalities during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland? What was the scale of the loss of their current revenues and what was the amount of expenditures related to countering COVID-19? What were the sources of funding for these expenditures? Findings: Municipalities were, by necessity, on the front line of the fight against the effects of the pandemic. They used the available budgetary instruments (local taxes and fees, property revenues, budgetary expenditures) to limit the spread of the virus and reduce its negative consequences. These actions were not coordinated. The study revealed that revenue losses and expenditure increases due to COVID-19 were not as large as expected. Originality and value: The research in this chapter demonstrates that municipalities in Poland used different approaches to develop and implement policies to counteract the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigate its effects. The research shows that Polish municipalities played a leading role in the rapid response to the pandemic, although their actions varied and were uncoordinated.
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Purpose: The purpose of the chapter is to examine the evolution of the budget deficit and the sovereign public debt in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: The research question presented is: What is the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the amount of state budget deficit and state public debt in Poland? The method of critical analysis of the literature on the subject was applied. Statistical data obtained from the Central Statistical Office and the Ministry of Finance were also presented. Findings: In 2020, the state budget deficit reached an unprecedented amount of 85 billion zloty, which is directly linked to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the draft budget assumed no state budget deficit. Consequently, in 2020–2021 (Q1) there was a dynamic increase in public debt. Originality and value: The state budget result and the size of the public finance sector debt were lower than they should have been, because the vast majority of anti-crisis measures were financed from off-budget sources. Increased public spending increased the deficit and debt, but calculated using the Brussels method. The collected secondary data leads to the conclusion that the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is also a decrease in the transparency of public finance in Poland.
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Additional to the three main trends influencing social dialogue at the organizational level - de-centralization, up-scaling, de-institutionalization and representation – the COVID-19 pandemic rules brought a new influence that impacts the Unions, forcing it to adapt its internal communication. This paper is centred upon the way the Unions members in Romania get access to information in the new labour landscape, characterized by the work from home and physical distancing. The research focuses on a collective case-study of three strong Union Federations that developed internal communication with unions’ members that fits the pandemic context. The research focuses on the internal communication repertoire elements used by the Unions. The research method assesses the qualitative information gathered by interviewing key Unions representatives. The main areas of interest are the key topics addressed in the communication with the members, the tools and media mix used, the frequency of the formal communication with the trade unions members, the accountable and the responsible persons with the internal communication, and the management of the feedback from the members, all in the context of what is different vs. 2019. The conclusions are enriched with some recommendations for future development of communication with union members, supporting the social dialog.
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Cyberbullying is a negative social phenomenon that takes place online. It consists of harassing technology users through various means and various platforms. Frequent exposure to this phenomenon can cause emotional, mental and social problems for victims, witnesses and aggressors.In the current pandemic context, when education has shifted to the online environment, and students spend a significant amount of time using different devices and online platforms, the number of cyberbullying cases is constantly increasing. There is currently little research describing how this phenomenon influenced online aggression.In preventing and eliminating this phenomenon, teachers play an important role, due to the time they spend with students and the impact they can have on them.In order to identify teachers' perceptions of this phenomenon during the pandemic and how they manage it in the classroom, we conducted a qualitative research on 10 teachers from primary and secondary schools. The results of the research were interesting and offered a new perspective on this phenomenon during Covid-19 crisis.
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Natural capital is the collective term both for the products of the natural assets of our planet and for the ecosystemic services that result from the interaction of these assets, services that support life on our planet. In fact, the ecosystemic services resulting from the activity of the Natural Capital constitute the fundament of the entire activity of the socio-economic system and include food, water, energy, climate security and other services essential for all. Unfortunately, often, the value of the natural capital was forgotten in the traditional methods used for measuring economic performance. This non-recognition of the importance of the natural capital has, in the end, a damaging effect on the ecosystems, biodiversity and natural environments in general and can trigger a loss of the essential services of the ecosystems. The value of the natural capital becomes acknowledged increasingly more as critical for economic success and economic sustainability. Many decision-makers and organizations have begun to focus on the way value can be attributed with precision to the natural capital and in connection to economic policies. The result hoped for is a better decision-making to manage, preserve and improve our natural environments. Moreover, the identification and quantification of the natural capital and of the ecosystemic goods and services offers a supplementary economic justification for the efficient management of the natural resources. As the scientific research has noticed and supports increasingly more, the attribution of value to the natural capital and to the ecosystemic services can be a positive step in the prevention of their exhaustion by promoting a better understanding of the true economic value of the ecosystemic services and by providing economic tools able to consider this value adequately.
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Motivation has the potential to make a difference in terms of results both individually and organizationally. Motivation based on classical processes, such as the theory of hope, the theory of goal setting and the theory of equity. In the social context of governmental organizations, public values have the potential to infuse the value structures of organizations and individuals, leading to forms of prosocial motivation that focus on supporting the public interest and helping citizens. The management of human resources has evolved considerably since this function was named the Personnel Administration. Currently, organizations do not only manage resources, but focus in particular on the proper management of human capital. There are many aspects of human resources management, all of which are just as important for the development of an organization.
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The European Commission (EC) has established through European regulations that at each Member State an independent body, generically called the Audit Authority (AA), who will ensure the external public audit function for each operational program financed by the European grants. Each Member State was free to set up its audit authority, subject to the above-mentioned conditions.The Romanian Audit Authority was set up at the level of the Romanian Court of Accounts, being established by national law as a body without juridical personality, operationally independent from the rest of the public audit activity. This audit body performs the external audit function for all operational programs financed by the European grants.The present article aims to present the Romanian Audit Authority, its institutional and organizational capacity to fulfil the legal requirements of the European legislation and the extent to which its results can provide a reasonable assurance to the European Commission that the management and control system (MCS) functions in way to prevent, detect and correct deficiencies and financial sanctions. One of the challenges of the audit is whether its recommendations can prevent malfunctions in the MCS, and in the event of irregularities, the managing authority (MA) and the certifying authority (CA) can correct them in time before the European Commission is declared expenditure. It will also present the procedure established by the legal framework on how audit recommendations are implemented by the other entities within the management and control system.Although it is part of the Court of Auditors, the Audit Authority has its own working procedures, which must reflect the requirements of European regulations and guidelines, and the results of its verifications are communicated to the European Institutions. The manner in which the EC uses the audit reports will also be the subject of this article.
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Currently, one of the main factors that shows us a picture of Europe's decline is that of demographic change. This process of decline of the West is marked by more than five decades of several indicators and evolutions that show us that although the time of Western civilization is beginning to run out, a new one appears, namely that of the East. This process of decline in which there is an extreme and unprecedented form of capitalism appears more pronounced in Europe compared to the United States and is characterized by: corruption, alienation of peoples from their roots, religion, history, low birth rates, massive flows of migrants and refugees, the totalitarian tendency of governments. Although the signs of decline are numerous, in this paper we will analyze certain demographic developments observed mainly in Europe and which we consider from several points of view dangerous. In addition to these developments, which we consider quite dangerous, globalization is the most important. The paper is structured in four parts, in the first part being presented the basic trends and variations from the population's perspective. In the second and third part are presented the main causes and effects of these variations of the populations and in the fourth part the conclusions of this study.Most of the interpretive analysis of this unwanted stagnation process is based on demographic erosion, population aging, low middle class rates, the invasion of migrants and refugees that change the cultures of the host nations.
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Sustainable development approaches the concept of quality of life in all its complexity, from an economic, social and environmental point of view, promoting the idea of the balance between economic development, social equity, efficient use and conservation of the environment.By its very nature, sustainable development represents the need for responsibility and education for environmental protection, and this aspect is reflected in the evolution of community policy in recent years, a policy marked by the transition from an approach based on constraint and sanction, to a more flexible, based one on incentives. Thus, it is acting in the direction of a voluntary approach, in order to promote this environmental responsibility and to encourage the use of environmental management systems.The environmental policy does not act independently, but reflects the interest of civil society in this direction, manifested by the creation of numerous environmental movements and organizations. Moreover, in some countries the creation and development of "green" political parties has been achieved, with real success in the political arena. However, resistance - or, more properly, the restraint and inertia that manifests itself, should not be forgotten, when environmental objectives seem to limit industrial competitiveness and economic growth; but this aspect only emphasizes once again the need for a concerted approach at European level and the need for an active and integrated environmental policy, capable of responding to the challenges that appear economically.The European environmental policy is based on the principles of precaution, prevention, correction of pollution at source and "polluter pays". The precautionary principle is a risk management tool that can be invoked if there is scientific uncertainty about a possible risk to human health or the environment, arising from a particular action or policy.
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The use of information technology in the activity and professional development by the teachers represents an extinguished necessity of the current stage. The new technologies come to the aid of the teacher, in the exercise of his profession. Using them makes the teacher's work more efficient, it helps him save time and space in making the necessary documents for carrying out, in good conditions, the activity. The development of information technologies has boosted the professional training of teachers for the use of TIC tools. Traditional teaching methods are not replaced by technology, but this can improve both the course material and the relationship between students and the teacher. Educational institutions must take advantage of the opportunities offered by technology and create programs, special software to offer the student an interactive, rich and varied learning experience. Technology is everywhere around us, and this must determine us, those responsible for the educational act in schools, to change the way students assimilate information during class hours.
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The Romanian teacher is in a permanent change, which is why education is required to go beyond this context. Therefore, the school, in addition to the educational preparation of the student, must consider its education in non-formal and informal environments. In order to be able to carry out and implement such activities, the Ministry of National Education has elaborated the Methodology for organizing the "School after School" Program, through OMECTS no. 5349 / 07.09.2011, an official document, which presents the legislative framework in order to be successful. With the help of local authorities, these programs are much more flexible. They are carried out under the guise of educational projects and help the student both in the preparation of the subjects, as well as in various recreational activities, depending on his skills. An efficient partnership between the three factors involved in the educational process, the school and local authorities on the one hand, and the family on the other, implies mutual respect and trust, but also efficient communication and collaboration. All these concerns have as main objective to find the methods by which the students acquire the necessary knowledge to be able to cope with the daily changes of the society. As the learning must be carried out permanently, not only within the formal framework of the school, the local authority comes to support the family and the school so that the learning environment does not suffer and offers the student comfort.
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