scholarly journals Using Neural Networks in Order to Analyze Telework Adaptability across the European Union Countries: A Case Study of the Most Relevant Scenarios to Occur in Romania

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (20) ◽  
pp. 10586
Author(s):  
Ana Maria Mihaela Iordache ◽  
Codruța Cornelia Dura ◽  
Cristina Coculescu ◽  
Claudia Isac ◽  
Ana Preda
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Working From Home ◽  
Level Of Satisfaction ◽  
Final Layer ◽  
Degree Of Satisfaction ◽  
Input Variables

Our study addresses the issue of telework adoption by countries in the European Union and draws up a few feasible scenarios aimed at improving telework’s degree of adaptability in Romania. We employed the dataset from the 2020 Eurofound survey on Living, Working and COVID-19 (Round 2) in order to extract ten relevant determinants of teleworking on the basis of 24,123 valid answers provided by respondents aged 18 and over: the availability of work equipment; the degree of satisfaction with the experience of working from home; the risks related to potential contamination with SARS-CoV-2 virus; the employees’ openness to adhering to working-from-home patterns; the possibility of maintaining work–life balance objectives while teleworking; the level of satisfaction on the amount and the quality of work submitted, etc. Our methodology entailed the employment of SAS Enterprise Guide software to perform a cluster analysis resulting in a preliminary classification of the EU countries with respect to the degree that they have been able to adapt to telework. Further on, in order to refine this taxonomy, a multilayer perceptron neural network with ten input variables in the initial layer, six neurons in the intermediate layer, and three neurons in the final layer was successfully trained. The results of our research demonstrate the existence of significant disparities in terms of telework adaptability, such as: low to moderate levels of adaptability (detected in countries such as Greece, Croatia, Portugal, Spain, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Italy); fair levels of adaptability (encountered in France, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, or Romania); and high levels of adaptability (exhibited by intensely digitalized economies such Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, etc.).

scholarly journals What Do Public Policies Teach us About Rural Depopulation: The Case Study of Spain

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 330-351
Author(s):  
Vicente Pinilla ◽  
Luis Antonio Sáez
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
European Union ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
The European Union ◽  
New Governance ◽  
Governance Framework ◽  
Incorrect Diagnosis ◽  
Rural Depopulation

Abstract This study evaluates the policies developed in Spain to address depopulation and explains the reasons for their low effectiveness. We consider that the low impact of these policies is due to an incorrect diagnosis and design in terms of their content and governance. Therefore, we propose that depopulation policies should have the objective of enabling citizens to reside where they wish and obtain the best possible quality of life. These policies should be implemented within a new governance framework in which the foundations on which they are based and the way in which they are implemented are renewed. With the support of the European Union, such action could be carried out more efficiently and could constitute a reference of successful territorial cohesion contributing to erasing the populist opinion in places that believe that they do not matter.

scholarly journals Utilizing Open Data: A Primer for Public Procurement Research

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-36
Author(s):  
Csaba Csáki ◽  
Clifford P. McCue ◽  
Eric Prier
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Open Data ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Quality Of Data ◽  
Expenditure Data ◽  
Data Program ◽  
Accountability Gap

Numerous open data initiatives by governments around the globe ostensibly promote better transparency and accountability, yet questions have arisen regarding the immediate usability of these datasets. This research reports on an attempt to utilize purchasing data published under the open data program of the European Union, which provides all expenditure data over certain thresholds from 33 European countries. However, the data and its informational quality as it has been published in CSV format leaves holes in trying to close that accountability gap across countries. This case study offers a recursive model which clearly conceptualizes the quality of data and information, and the research serves as a functional primer warning for users of the experientially-based issues of utilizing this and other open data. Key findings illuminate potential issues when working with open data and provide eight specific caveats on how to navigate the open data initiatives by governments.

scholarly journals International Insertion Quality: the European Union (EU-27) Case

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Eduardo Terán-Yépez ◽  
Andrea Guerrero-Mora
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The Other ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The One ◽  
Technological Intensity ◽  
By Products ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Qualitative Changes

.This research has a double aim. On the one hand, to introduce the International Insertion Quality (IIQ) construct. On the other hand, to present a classification of the European Union (EU-27) countries to establish which of them have a better IIQ. For this purpose, first, the IIQ construct is presented. Second, the evolution of the exports technological intensity degree of the EU-27 countries between the periods 2001-2003 and 2015-2017 is analyzed. Then, the evolution of the exports' diversification degree, both, by products and by destination markets in the same periods, is studied. This allows to observe in perspective the qualitative changes that have taken place between the two reference periods. In addition, a classification matrix of countries according to their quality of insertion in international trade is presented. The results allow arguing that Germany and France are the countries that have a higher IIQ. Also, there are nations that have a high technological content, but moderate markets diversification and/or products concentration; and other countries that have geographical and/or goods diversification, despite the fact that their exports contain a medium-low-level of technological intensity. This research allows concluding which EU-27 countries should work on their commercial policies to encourage the diversification of their exports and/or the development of products with greater technological content.

scholarly journals Tourism Sector in the European Union: Job Satisfaction of Employees in Hotels and Restaurants

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 173-183
Author(s):  
Virginia Navajas Romero ◽  
Juan Antonio Jimber del Río ◽  
José Carlos Casas-Rosal
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Dynamic Model ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Bivariate Analysis ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Level Of Satisfaction ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
Degree Of Satisfaction ◽  
Two Phases

Abstract The main objective of this article is to analyze the degree of satisfaction of European Union workers, especially those working in the hotel and restaurant sector. The study is based on two phases: the first analyzes the number of workers in the EU between 2006 and 2017; a dynamic model for predicting the number of people working in hotels and restaurants has been created. In order to predict the number of workers in the studied sector, a dynamic model has been created based on a classical series estimation methodology. In the second phase, this study aims to measure the degree of satisfaction of these workers and the causes that affect them. A univariate and bivariate analysis has been used to describe satisfaction among hotel and restaurant workers and the relationship between this satisfaction and their working conditions. From the special characteristics observed in this sector, it can be deduced that the level of satisfaction expressed by the working conditions of the worker is significantly lower in the hotel and restaurant sector.

scholarly journals From Product to Dust: Looking at the Ways to Regenerate Value in Product Life Cycle

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 3321-3330
Author(s):  
Baptiste Menu ◽  
Faucheu Jenny ◽  
Laforest Valérie ◽  
Bassereau Jean-François
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Design Education ◽  
Product Life Cycle ◽  
Sustainable Design ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Product Life ◽  
Do It Yourself

AbstractThe shift from linear to circular patterns is on the way and rise many questions. In the last ten years, reuse and upcycling are gaining more attention. Since reduce and reuse were describe as a priority by the European Union, some leading projects are unveiled in different countries. Scale and quality of those projects push the reuse issue out of the shadow, far from original prejudices who associate waste and reuse to « poverty » and « Do It Yourself ». Although Reuse emerge as a prominent question, the idea and boundaries of « what is reuse » appears to be blur and not clearly understood. This situation lead to general incomprehension, even for professionals. Reuse, repurpose, upcycling and recycling are usually considered to wear the same meaning despite a huge difference on what it implies.In this paper we will examine these different notions through a pedagogical case study. We will draw the different ways to regenerate value at all steps of product life cycle in a precise manner. This allows to better insight the meaning of those issues in the case of student design education. In the same time, it aims to be a tool for teaching sustainable design and waste management.

Determinants and barriers of PV self-consumption in Spain from the perception of the installers for the promotion of distributed energy systems

2020 ◽  
pp. 153-169
Author(s):  
José Ángel Gimeno ◽  
Eva Llera Sastresa ◽  
Sabina Scarpellini
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Distributed Energy ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Transition Scenario

Currently, self-consumption and distributed energy facilities are considered as viable and sustainable solutions in the energy transition scenario within the European Union. In a low carbon society, the exploitation of renewables for self-consumption is closely tied to the energy market at the territorial level, in search of a compromise between competitiveness and the sustainable exploitation of resources. Investments in these facilities are highly sensitive to the existence of favourable conditions at the territorial level, and the energy policies adopted in the European Union have contributed positively to the distributed renewables development and the reduction of their costs in the last decade. However, the number of the installed facilities is uneven in the European Countries and those factors that are more determinant for the investments in self-consumption are still under investigation. In this scenario, this paper presents the main results obtained through the analysis of the determinants in self-consumption investments from a case study in Spain, where the penetration of this type of facilities is being less relevant than in other countries. As a novelty of this study, the main influential drivers and barriers in self-consumption are classified and analysed from the installers' perspective. On the basis of the information obtained from the installers involved in the installation of these facilities, incentives and barriers are analysed within the existing legal framework and the potential specific lines of the promotion for the effective deployment of self-consumption in an energy transition scenario.

scholarly journals Towards Circular Economy—A Comparative Analysis of the Countries of the European Union

Resources ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Ewa Mazur-Wierzbicka
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Spatial Differentiation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
Population Member ◽  
Research Population

There are many studies which implement and assess existing measurement manners and document the progress of entities towards the circular economy (CE) at various levels, or present or propose new possibilities of measurement. The majority of them refer to the micro level. The aim of this paper is to conduct a multidimensional comparative analysis of the implementation of circular economy by EU countries. After an in-depth critical analysis of the literature, CE indicators which were proposed by the European Commission were adopted as a basis. Owing to the research population-Member States of the European Union (EU-28), focusing on the said indicators was declared reasonable in all aspects. The classification of EU countries according to the level of their advancement in the concept of CE was adopted as a main research task. In order to do so, a relevant index of development of circular economy was created (IDCE). This will allow us, inter alia, to trace changes in the spatial differentiation of advancement of the EU countries in implementing CE over the years, to identify CE implementation leaders as well as countries particularly delayed in this regard. The comparative analysis was conducted by means of statistical methods. On the basis of the analyses, it was concluded that among all EU countries, those of the old EU are the most advanced in terms of CE. The analysis confirmed significant rising trends for IDCE only in the case of Belgium and The Netherlands.

scholarly journals Protection possibilities of agricultural minor crops in the European Union: a case study of soybean, lupin and camelina

2019 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Matyjaszczyk
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Active Substance ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Plant Protection Products ◽  
Agricultural Crops ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Minor Crops ◽  
Chemical Products

Abstract In the central part of the European Union soybean, lupin and camelina are minor agricultural crops. The paper presents analysis of plant protection products availability for those crops in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Data from year 2019 show that availability of products is generally insufficient. For camelina in some countries, there are no chemical products available whatsoever. For lupin and soybean, there are not always products available to control some pest groups. However, the products on the market differ significantly among the member states. The results show that in protection of soybean, lupin and camelina, no single active substance is registered for the same crop in all the analysed member states. In very numerous cases, active substance is registered in one out of eight analysed member states only.

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