Education and sustainable development in Romania and the European Union countries

The sustainable development supposes a development strategy that would ensure the interdependence and complementarily of objectives from the social, economic and environmental fields. The degree of priority established for the three dimensions of sustainable development differs from one country to another, a fact that confers a national and local meaning to this issue. For the Central and Eastern European countries, balanced economic development represents one of the fundamental objectives of the reforms started in 1990. Education represents a priority of any country＇s economic development and an extremely important element of economic growth. This paper presents the characteristics of the Romanian educational system while achieving a comparative analysis regarding different countries of the European Union, both from a quantitative viewpoint （using the main indicators in the education field） and a qualitative viewpoint （using student performances in international evaluations）. In the end, we present some proposals for the improvement of the present state of the Romanian educational system.     

Tests of technical trading strategies in the emerging equity markets of Latin America and Asia

This study examines the potential profit of ten Variable Length Moving Average (VMA) technical trading rules in ten emerging equity markets in Latin America and Asia from January 1982 through April 1995. The average difference in buy − sell returns after trading costs for each rule and country are compared to a buy and hold strategy. Taiwan, Thailand and Mexico emerge as markets where technical trading strategies may be profitable. We find no strong evidence of profitability for the other markets. However, we find that 82 out of the 100 country–trading rule combinations tested in ten emerging markets, disregarding their statistical significance, correctly predict the direction of changes in the return series. These findings may provide investors with important asset allocation information.     

Education for sustainable development: current discourses and practices and their relevance to technology education

Technology education is a well-established field of knowledge whose applications have many ramifications. For example, technology education may be used as a tool in meeting the challenges of sustainable development. However, the usefulness of technology education to the sustainability debate as a whole and to education for sustainable development in particular, has largely been overlooked in the past. Indeed, there is a paucity of academic studies which examine the contribution technology education may provide to education for sustainable development. On the basis of the need to address this knowledge gap, this paper reviews the state of affairs in relation to education for sustainable development and considers its links and appropriateness to technology education. A further objective of this paper is to present examples of initiatives and existing practices around the world, drawing partly from the results of the 1st European Conference on Education for Sustainable Development held in Greece in October 2007, as well as from other initiatives undertaken in Europe and North America. Finally, some measures that may be adopted in order to enhance the contribution of technology education to education for sustainable development are outlined.     

How far from harmonization are sanitary,phytosanitary and quality-related standards? An exporter’s perception approach

Harmonization of trade regulations and standards is perhaps the most contentious issue regarding export markets due to the impacts that it can have on trade. We determine the extent of harmonization as perceived by exporters with respect to the major Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPSs) and quality measures which Chile faces in 16 international fresh fruit markets. The methodology combined qualitative and quantitative techniques. First, the most relevant safety and quality standards and regulations were identified and ranked. Second, a representative sample of exporters was interviewed to assess their perceptions regarding the level of stringency across markets and time for selected regulations. Perceptions were ranked on a likert scale and based on this scale a stringency index was constructed. The results show that Chile faces regulations which can be grouped into the following categories: (i) phytosanitary measures; (ii) tolerance limits for pesticide residues and contaminants; (iii) hygiene requirements; (iv) labeling, marking and packaging; (v) product and process standards; and (vi) registration procedures and other import requirements. The number of regulations varied among countries, ranging from 13 to 3 out of the 14 considered in the study. The most stringent country among the sample as perceived by exporters was México, whereas the least stringent was Saudi Arabia. Additionally, exporters agreed that stringency has increased over time with an average of 15% between 2005 and 2009.     

Response Strategies and Learning in Discrete Choice Experiments

This study explores ordering effects and response strategies in repeated binary discrete choice experiments. Mechanism design theory and empirical evidence suggest that repeated choice tasks per respondent induce strategic behaviour. We find evidence that strategic opportunities provided by the order in which choice sets are presented to respondents affect choice decisions (strategic response). The results suggest, however, that respondents may solely respond to high cost rather than low cost inconsistencies. That is, respondents are more cost sensitive, and thus have a lower willingness to pay (WTP), if the same or a similar level of provision was offered in a previous choice set at a lower cost than if it was not. Yet, the cost sensitivity, and thus WTP, remains unaffected if the same or a similar level of provision was offered in a previous choice set at a higher cost. Our findings further indicate that cost sensitivity increases (and thus WTP decreases), when respondents progress through the choice task, with this increase (decrease) lessening as more choice questions are answered. Possible explanations are value learning and strategic learning.     

Does preschool education attendance matter? Evidence from a natural experiment in Spain

The non-compulsory and non-free of charge character of preschool education level before 3 years old in Spain raises some doubts about the exogenous nature of this variable. This article provides new evidence about the impact of preschool years on educational outcomes by exploiting a peculiar Spanish database that supplies information on two classrooms at fourth grade in primary schools where students were randomly allocated into each group. Using an identification strategy that reproduces a natural experiment, we find that belonging to the group with more average years of preschool education significantly and positively impacts on fourth-grade students’ average outcomes. Particularly, an increase of one standard deviation in the difference in years of preschool attendance results in an increase of 0.16 (0.13) standard deviations in the group achievement for mathematics (reading). In view of the importance of preschool education and considering that preschool attendance before 3 years old is related with socio-economic variables, we conclude that extending free preschool education to the 2-year-old age group in Spain should be considered especially for students in families with less favourable backgrounds.     

RAROC AT BANK OF AMERICA: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

In 1993, Bank of America's Risk and Capital Analysis Group was charged with the task of developing and instituting a single corporate-wide system to allocate capital to all the bank's activities. Since 1994, that system has been providing quarterly reports of risk-adjusted returns on capital (RAROC) for each of the bank's 37 major business units. By 1995, B of A had also developed the capability to calculate RAROC down to the level of individual products, transactions, and customer relationships. RAROC systems allocate capital for two basic reasons: (1) risk management and (2) performance evaluation. For risk management purposes, the overriding goal of allocating capital to individual business units is to determine the bank's optimal capital structure–the proportion of equity to assets that minimizes the bank's overall cost of funding. This process involves estimating how much the risk (or volatility) of each business unit contributes to the total risk of the bank, and hence to the bank's overall capital requirements. For performance evaluation purposes, RAROC systems assign capital to business units as part of a process of determining the risk-adjusted rate of return and, ultimately, the “economic profit” of each business unit. The objective in this case is to measure a business unit's contribution to shareholder value, and thus to provide a basis for effective planning, capital budgeting, and incentive compensation at the business unit level. Concerns about capital adequacy, along with the Basel risk-based capital requirements, have played some role in the growth of RAROC among commercial banks. But the most powerful impetus to bankers' use of more systematic risk measures is coming from increasingly activist institutional investors. Besides giving senior management an economic basis for evaluating the bank as a portfolio of businesses and for making resource allocation decisions that improve the bank's risk/reward profile, RAROC systems are also expected to produce better performance by holding managers accountable for the amount of investor capital they are putting at risk.     

The preferences of tourists in their expectations of chateau gardens: a Central and Eastern European perspective

As most of the chateau gardens and parks in Central and Eastern Europe have been neglected or misused, there is a strong need for their transformation. This transformation has become even more important now due to the growing competition in the tourist destination market. The chateau gardens are at the crossroads of choosing the variant of their future development. Tourism of this kind is able to maintain its original features and it can also find new commercial uses. The aim of this paper is to identify the demand segments and to assess the relation of the visitors to the elements that form the character of a chateau park. We have succeeded in identifying three motivating factors for tourists in the making their choice. While some types of use are mutually complementary (knowledge and relaxation), other types are not used as much (amusement). The introduction of an entrance fee implies that there will be a change in the preference for those parks with the presence of peacocks and ducks, as well as the outdoor collections of plants including both French and English style gardens and they are equipped with detailed information board.     

The effect of monetary and fiscal credibility on public debt: empirical evidence from the Brazilian economy

This study relates to the literature regarding credibility effect on public debt for developing economies under inflation targeting. The novelty is the investigation of effects of both monetary and fiscal credibility on public debt and its management. The main idea is that high credibility might improve public debt management. With this purpose, this paper addresses empirical evidence based on the Brazilian experience. The findings denote that credibility is an important instrument to improve the public debt management under inflation targeting.     

The reform of the EU budget: Finding new own resources

The following paper addresses the ongoing debate on the questions of the composition and fi nancing of the European Union’s common budget. The authors argue in favour of a significant enlargement of the budget, together with a profound reform of its composition and financing.