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This study investigates the agri-food sector, food trade, and food availability (as a component of food security) within the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), emphasizing the critical importance of agriculture across its member states. This significance is particularly pronounced in less industrialized countries such as Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Afghanistan. The rationale behind this research stems from the observation that food trade and food security issues in the ECO region remain insufficiently addressed in the academic literature. Given the strategic geographical position of ECO countries—at the intersection of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East—these states possess considerable potential to function as vital trade hubs. The present study addresses this research gap by offering conceptual insights and empirical data relevant to the region’s policymakers, traders, and other stakeholders. Methodologically, the research integrates both qualitative and quantitative approaches. On the qualitative side, it includes historical and documentary analysis concerning ECO’s evolution and its agri-food sector’s development. Quantitatively, the study employs a regression model to examine the moderating effect of food imports on the relationship between food exports and food availability across member states. The results indicate a significant interaction effect: food imports moderate the negative association between exports and domestic food availability. Drawing on these findings, the paper formulates a set of policy recommendations to enhance agricultural trade strategies and strengthen food security in ECO countries.

The paper investigates the role of digitalization in strengthening the sustainability of supply chains in the Romanian restaurant sector. The starting point is the intersection between the pressures for digital transformation and the integration of sustainability principles. Digitalization, through advanced digital solutions, can strengthen traceability, reduce waste, and optimize resources, strengthening responsibility for economic efficiency and the environment. However, the implementation of these solutions in HoReCa remains disproportionate and faces barriers such as lack of digital skills, high costs, and resistance to change. The authors conducted a quantitative research study among restaurant managers in Romania. The research was complemented with two Principal Component Analyses (PCA) and a TwoStep Cluster Analysis. The role of the TwoStep Cluster Analysis was to identify a typology of restaurants according to managerial behaviors related to digitalization from a sustainable perspective. The results showed that digitalization is applied predominantly in inventory management, but less in the relationship with consumers and supply chain, where it would bring considerable benefits for sustainability. The study provides theoretical and practical contributions, highlighting the role digitalization has as a facilitator of sustainability and indicating recommendations for managers and decision-makers regarding professional training and financial support policies dedicated to sustainable digitalization.

This study investigates the perceptions of economics students from Romania’s Central Region regarding the global phenomena of globalization, localization, and slowbalization (GLS), analyzed through the lens of environmental, economic, and educational sustainability. The research highlights a high level of awareness and understanding of globalization and localization, while the concept of slowbalization remains relatively unfamiliar and often perceived with uncertainty or neutrality. Most respondents view globalization as the most sustainable model for long-term economic development, emphasizing its contributions to international trade, market expansion, investment flows, and access to global education and research. At the same time, localization is recognized for its role in preserving cultural identity, strengthening local economies, and addressing pressing environmental issues through low-carbon solutions. Regarding educational sustainability, students support a hybrid model that balances global exposure with the appreciation of local knowledge and traditions—a glocal approach particularly endorsed by master’s students. The study also reveals statistically significant differences between undergraduate and graduate respondents, indicating more mature perspectives among those in advanced studies. The paper could help in course design and lesson engagement and concludes by recommending curricular reforms in economic education and proposing future interdisciplinary, comparative, and qualitative research to deepen understanding of GLS dynamics, particularly in the context of emerging global trends and technological transformations.

The paper provides a detailed analysis of SMEs’ interest in collaborative action for sustainability as a way of responding to the challenges posed by recent crises. This study attempts to bridge the research gap on how managers of small and medium-sized enterprises manage business sustainability, providing complex insights into the application of collaborative practices for sustainability and the collaborative advantages that can support the competitiveness of these enterprises in the marketplace. The research design is quantitative and targeted 672 SMEs in Romania. A moderated moderation analysis is also carried out, and the model tests the relationship between the age of the analysed SMEs and the impact felt after recent crises, a relationship moderated by sustainable cooperation, and a moderator moderated by possible changes felt from the application of collaborative practices. Finally, this regression function is statistically significant and was shown to be a significant moderated moderation. The research results showed the major impact of recent crises on the activity of SMEs, indicating that the interest of these companies in collaborative actions and the level of results expected from collaboration for sustainability decreases the greater the impact of crises on their business.

A detailed analysis of non-financial and sustainability reporting may indicate companies' attention to and responsibility regarding environmental, social, and economic aspects. This article investigates the correlation between environmental performance as a non-financial metric and financial performance. Simultaneously, it identifies the categories of environmental information provided by companies and the implicit responsibility with which they address environmental protection issues. Data were collected from the sustainability reports of 668 companies in Romania for the 2019-2021 period. The study uses, on the one hand, a diagnostic analysis method (the grid method) to determine the environmental performance (environmental score) of the companies. On the other hand, it uses a linear regression model to test the correlation between environmental performance and financial performance (including a tolerance analysis to identify multicollinearity, forward variable selection, backward variable selection, and the Durbin-Watson test). The study's findings underscore a positive correlation between environmental non-financial performance and financial performance. In particular, high turnover and advanced age of the company are associated with high non-financial performance.

This research aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the entrepreneurial experience of students who have received non-reimbursable funding through a project co-funded by the European Union to set up and develop their businesses, and to identify practical solutions to promote student entrepreneurship. To achieve the research objectives, the authors used qualitative research based on the focus group method and the semidirective in-depth individual interview. The results of the research highlighted the factors that encouraged the entrepreneurial intention of the students participating in the study, the advantages they considered they had by participating in the project, as well as the difficulties they faced in the implementation stage of the business. Concrete solutions for promoting entrepreneurial opportunities for students were identified based on the results obtained. The research provides a better understanding of the pathway experienced by student entrepreneurs in the process of business implementation and is useful for current and potential young entrepreneurs who want to access non-reimbursable funds to start a new business, as well as for university management and professors in charge of entrepreneurial training of students who can use the research results to think of new ways to promote entrepreneurial opportunities among students.

This paper aims to conduct an in-depth analysis of how recent crises have been experienced by Romanian start-ups from the perspective of their managers, through quantitative research. The authors also aimed to investigate the interest of entrepreneurs in sustainably developing their businesses and the actions they aim to take in this direction. Data were collected from a sample of 216 respondents, managers of start-ups operating in the Center and South-West Oltenia Regions. The results indicate that the COVID-19 health crisis and the international financial crisis, followed by the energy crisis, have had the greatest impact on the activity of start-ups and identify response measures that can be solutions to increase their resilience in times of crisis. The research can help managers of start-ups maintain business stability in complicated times and incorporate sustainability practices into their business strategy. Governmental, regional and local authorities, as well as entrepreneurship education providers, can also use the research results to initiate measures to support start-ups in their efforts to cope with current challenges and develop sustainably.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on many industries and sectors around the world. Education was no exception, having suffered a lot during this period. The changes in the Romanian education system have affected all environmental participants/ stakeholders in this field: students, teachers, businesses, public authorities, and the government. Perhaps one of the most provocative changes during the emergency was the shift to online education, which affected all students and teachers around the world. The purpose of the research is to perform an analysis of the problems and challenges in Romanian higher education.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on many industries and sectors around the world. Education was no exception, having suffered a lot during this period. The changes in the Romanian education system have affected all environmental participants/ stakeholders in this field: students, teachers, business, public authorities, government. Perhaps one of the most provocative changes during the emergency was the shift to online education, which affected all students and teachers around the world. The purpose of the research is to perform an analysis on the problems and challenges in the Romanian higher education.

This paper examines corruption from the perspective of business ethics. It is known that corruption negatively affects the development of countries in several ways: it reduces growth, chases away foreign investors and channels investments, loans and aid funds, the so-called White Elephant Projects. Corruption has a very high price for the poorest, who are denied access to basic goods and services, and this paper shows that the poor suffer the most from corruption. Based on the annual index provided by Transparency International, it can be observed that, in general, some of the richest countries in the world (like: Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Canada, Iceland, Singapore and Sweden) consistently record a low level of corruption.