USING QUANTITATIVE TOOLS TO UNDERSTAND POLITICAL ISSUES

This study focuses on understanding what the Americans think about the groups of people that collaborating among themselves would make it possible to solve the thorny political issues that brought the events of January 6th, 2021. A Mind Genomics experiment is designed to collect and analyze the collected data. A four X four experiment is used; for each pillar/category four potential answers are provided to cover the entire response spectrum. Thus, the four considered categories are Ordinary People, Leaders, The political world, and Personages. The main issue with this study is to analyze and understand the following question: What will happen when these people work together to solve this problem: Insurrection - People who want to overthrow the government. The study shows higher impact values of the answers for category "The Political World" that could solve complex social and political issues the USA is facing today. The higher impact values for the vital performing elements in the teens tell us that we have selected groups of respondents with similar points of view, with these strong points of view not being diluted.

Petraq PAPAJORGJI - Moore Albania Sh.P.K., petraq@gmail.com, ORCID: 0000-0002-3833-5215

Ardita TODRI - Associate. Professor, Finance and Accounting Department, University of Elbasan "Aleksandër Xhuvani", Albania, ardita.todri@gmail.com, ORCID: 0000-0002-3825-0780

P10, P20, R50

CLUSTERS AS ENGINES OF SUSTAINABLE EMPLOYMENT GROWTH IN ROMANIA

The imperative for sustainable growth has elevated clusters as pivotal tools for economic and social inclusion, fostering job creation, equitable income distribution, and regional competitiveness. A cluster comprises interrelated companies and institutions in close geographical proximity, establishing expertise and a robust network of suppliers and skills. Clusters enhance productivity and catalyze development by concentrating enterprises and labor within a unified framework, surpassing isolated firms in regional impact. This study aims to examine whether clusters act as accelerators of employment growth over time and space. Using Simple Linear Regression (SLR) to analyze data from the Romanian Association of Clusters (CLUSTERO) and the National Institute of Statistics (Tempo INS) for 2013, 2015, 2019, and 2022, we investigate the research question: Do firms within clusters, as defined by European Policy criteria, contribute to accelerating employment creation? Specifically, we assess whether the ratio of employment in clustered firms relative to total employment shows a positive trend over time. Findings reveal that clusters contribute significantly to employment growth, validating their function as a strategic asset in enhancing workforce specialization, economic development, and regional resilience. Policy recommendations underscore the need for inclusive growth strategies that incorporate sustainability to maximize cluster impact on social and economic objectives.

Cristina LINCARU - Dr, FeRSA, Department of Labour Market, National Scientific Research Institute for Labour and Social Protection, Bucharest, Romania. cristina.lincaru@yahoo.de, ORCID: 0000-0001-6596-1820

Gabriela TUDOSE - CS II, Dr., National Scientific Research Institute for Labour and Social Protection, INCSMPS, Romania; gabriela_tudose@yahoo.com, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-3540-9987

Daniel COSNITA - President, drd. Romanian Cluster Association, dc@inpulse.ro

Speranța PIRCIOG - Dr General Director, National Scientific Research Institute for Labour and Social Protection, Bucharest, Romania, pirciog@incsmps.ro, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0215-038X

Adriana GRIGORESCU - Dr., Full Professor in Management, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA), Bucharest, Romania/Full Member Academy of Romanian Scientists (AOSR)/ Associate Senior Researcher/ National Institute for Economic Research ”Costin C. Kiritescu” (INCE) – Romanian Academy, adriana.grigorescu@snspa.ro, ORCID ID: 0000-0003- 4212-6974

Vasilica CIUCA - Dr., National Scientific Research Institute for Labour and Social Protection, INCSMPS, Romania; vasilica.ciuca@incsmps.ro, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4687-6377

L52, R11, O18, Q56, J23

INVESTMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY IN THE AGRO-INDUSTRIAL SECTOR: A CASE STUDY

The productivity of a sector, an important determinant of competitiveness, depends, among other factors, on the investment made. In this context, the main aim of this work is to explore the relation between investment and productivity trends, based on the amounts of investment made in the agri-food industry in Northern Portugal (NUT II), as well as the asymmetries at sub-regional level, during the last two EU support frameworks, namely QREN (2007-13) and Portugal 2020 (2014-2020). This study will start by gathering information from organizations that manage EU funds related to the beverage and food industries. This data will be categorized by subsectors and regions to estimate access. The research will then analyse productivity trends in these sectors and the impact of investment on productivity using statistical analysis techniques. The results show that there is a positive and significant relation between gross fixed capital formation and the productivity of both industries: food and beverage. In what refers, specifically to the beverage industry, we obtain significant results in the elasticity model. The findings show that it possible to gauge the effectiveness of policies to support investment, namely by identifying the most dynamic sectors in terms of attracting funds and with the greatest impact in terms of productivity, i.e. assessing the return on investment that is essentially private and supported with public funds, as well as identifying strategic sectors and promoting transparency and accountability in the management of public resources.

Teresa SEQUEIRA - Assistant Professor, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal. Researcher at the Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies (CETRAD). E-mail: tsequeir@utad.pt (corresponding author)

Conceicao REGO - Assistant Professor, University of Évora, Portugal. Researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies in Management and Economics (CEFAGE). E-mail: mcpr@uevora.pt

Andreia DIONISIO - Associate Professor with Aggregation, University of Évora, Portugal. Researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies in Management and Economics (CEFAGE). E-mail: andreia@uevora.pt

R12, R58

A COMBINED GRAPH THEORETIC AND TRANSPORT PLANNING FRAMEWORK FOR THE ECONOMIC AND FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF LARGE-SCALE ROAD NETWORKS

Road networks are the backbone of our society and a built capital enabling the movement of people and transportation of goods. Their design should comply with both traffic and technical requirements and economic demand, to ensure efficient connectivity, accessibility, optimum resource allocation, and long- term sustainability. Poised on the intersection of this bi-dimensional context, this paper develops a methodological framework incorporating these two dimensions in road network analysis to evaluate both functional and economic aspects of the network. Within this framework, we incorporate functional and economic information into an interurban road graph model constructed on empirical data from Greece, and we afterward evaluate the level of determination and the model’s applicability and usefulness in transportation planning. Overall, our findings reveal the proposed approach capable of evaluating potential interventions in the network and estimating traffic volumes, especially in data- constrained situations. In empirical terms, they indicate that the socio-economic performance of the national road network is satisfactory, albeit not fully optimized.

Maria STAVARA - Researcher, Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece mstavara@uth.gr

Dimitrios TSIOTAS - Assistant Professor, Department of Regional and Economic Development, School of Applied Economics and Social Sciences, Agricultural University of Athens, Amfissa, Greece tsiotas@aua.gr (Corresponding Author)

R41, R42