Revista de Economie Mondiala/ Journal of Global Economics

14-25

Authors: George-Cornel Dumitrescu

In the current economic context, marked by the Covid-19 pandemic and the related uncertainty, decision-makers worldwide are looking for viable post-crisis solutions, being aware that the problems we are facing require an exhaustive and sustainable approach. The circular economy is getting more and more attention, especially at the European Union (EU) level, as an alternative to the linear economic model that prevailed until now. Using the latest technologies, methods and techniques to recycle and produce secondary raw materials is paramount for the transition to the circular economy. Consequently, our paper analyses if at the EU level there is a statistically significant correlation between the number of patents related to recycling and secondary raw materials and the persons with tertiary education and employed in science and technology. To this end, we rely on the Eurostat database and the tools of statistical analysis, and conclude that there is a trend synergy between the analysed variables, useful în the context of promoting the circular economy.

40-48

Authors: Dorina Clichici

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented economic shock globally, affecting entire sectors, such as transport, travel and tourism, small and medium-sized enterprises, and other economic sectors. The situation of the Russian Federation in the context of the pandemic crisis is aggravated by two great vulnerabilities, i.e., the unstable pace of its economic growth in recent years and the dependence of this growth on the oil and natural gas exploitation industry. The paper aims to analyse the vulnerabilities of the Russian economy under the impact of the pandemic crisis. In order to achieve this goal, the paper emphasises the main sources of dependence of the Russian economy, and identifies the measures taken to mitigate the negative economic effects of the pandemic. It also presents the possible scenarios for the evolution of the economy in the period 2020-2022. The analysis highights that the disruptive effects of the pandemic are going to undermine the basic source of the Russian Federation's income and its ability to cope with the adverse economic consequences of this crisis.