Papers by Remus Dumitrescu
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2014
In this paper we investigate whether there is continuity in the practice of systematic physical a... more In this paper we investigate whether there is continuity in the practice of systematic physical activities by students in high school and then at university, and identify the factors that motivate students at the University of Bucharest to practice such activities. The research has been done on a sample of 210 first year female students. We discovered that the stronger the perceptions of the value of engaging in physical exercises, as positive self-motivation, the more young students will engage in physical and leisure activities in order to achieve relaxation, relieve stress, rest, and enhance their professional performance.
Premises. It is well known that in the non-profile universities the motivation for engaging in ph... more Premises. It is well known that in the non-profile universities the motivation for engaging in physical activities is different from the motivation of the students in the profile universities where physical education is being taught. Objectives. Our research tried to find out if there is a continuity of the physical activities from the pre-university to the university environment, and what would be the factors that could stimulate the students of the 23 Faculties of the University of Bucharest to practice physical activities. Methods. The study was made on a sample of 160 first and second year students. We studied the stimulating factors for practicing physical activities of the students through the use of a questionnaire adapted from the Perceived Stress Scale (developed by Cohen and Williamson in 1988). This is a self-administered questionnaire that measures the level of stress in everyday life. The scale was developed by the authors based on the transactional approach of stress. ...
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
ABSTRACT This paper takes stock of the current state of affairs in constructing overarching well-... more ABSTRACT This paper takes stock of the current state of affairs in constructing overarching well-being and progress indicators, which attempt to replace the traditional GDP-based measures of economic well-being. A critical review of two widely used overarching indicators, the Human Development Index (HDI) and the Happy Planet Index (HPI) is performed by matching relevant key explanatory variables with their actual quantitative explanatory power. Their explanatory power is further examined by matching the existing HDI and HPI country classifications with a classification carried out on the variables that are statistically significant using specific data mining /machine learning tools and measures. Substantial cross-correlations for many explanatory variables with sound theoretical foundations indicate possible redundancies in their concomitant use. A clustering of countries based on selected relevant explanatory variables validates HDI results and confirms the limited explanatory power of HPI.
This paper explores the relevance of the variables that define well-being and human progress and ... more This paper explores the relevance of the variables that define well-being and human progress and makes a quantitative inquiry into the validity of three of the well-known and well-documented composite indicators of well-being: the Human Development Index (HDI), the Legatum Prosperity Index (LPI) and the Happy Planet Index (HPI). After choosing the key variables that describe most of the objective and subjective dimensions of well-being, we perform cluster analysis to come up with an optimal grouping of countries based on their multidimensional performance on well-being. A comparison of the classifications obtained with the three indexes invalidates the HPI, confirms results obtained for the HDI, and validates for the first time the LPI as a reliable measure of well-being. The optimal cluster structure yields robust results, which correct the rank discrepancies between the HDI and LPI for a large number of countries. It also proves that a robust ranking of countries based on multidimensional well-being can be achieved with a relatively small number of variables, which mitigates the risk of including variables that are not reliable and/or not available for a significant number of countries. The fact that cluster analysis generates results based on similarities between observations and not on computed values based on the aggregation of variables helps overcome problems that may occur due to the distribution of variables and increases its value as a validation method. Therefore, validation results achieved through cluster analysis are more robust and help to achieve a good check of the validity and relevance of the composite indexes, provide an objective perspective that can guide policy-makers and the public in making a fair assessment of actual levels of well-being, and avoid unfounded claims that may overstate it and delay or postpone measures to increase it.
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2014
Population migration has two components, domestic and international, those are often analyzed sep... more Population migration has two components, domestic and international, those are often analyzed separately. This paper attempts to seek out what are the theoretical and empirical relationships between them, and lays the foundations of a unified based on the similarities of both migratory phenomena. A review of the contributions that discussed the existing dichotomy between the two types of migration and attempted to carry out an integrated analysis is complemented with a review of the most common research approaches for both types. An empirical analysis of net internal and international migration is carried out for several OECD countries, which validates this approach and assesses both the similarities, and the degree of divergence between them that requires a distinct approach.
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2014
In this paper we investigate whether there is continuity in the practice of systematic physical a... more In this paper we investigate whether there is continuity in the practice of systematic physical activities by students in high school and then at university, and identify the factors that motivate students at the University of Bucharest to practice such activities. The research has been done on a sample of 210 first year female students. We discovered that the stronger the perceptions of the value of engaging in physical exercises, as positive self-motivation, the more young students will engage in physical and leisure activities in order to achieve relaxation, relieve stress, rest, and enhance their professional performance.
The paper attempts to determine regional unemployment rates for NUTS 2 regions based on data avai... more The paper attempts to determine regional unemployment rates for NUTS 2 regions based on data available on a regular basis from Eurostat and ILO. In the first part it is shown how the evolution of regional unemployment rates is determined by national unemployment rates by industry and the regional employment structure by industry, with key relationships between industries being identified. In the second part, a model of predicting regional unemployment rates from national unemployment rates by industry and regional employment structure is proposed, using unbalanced panel regression models. Specific data mining modeling approaches, not currently used in economics research, are employed to produce and validate the predictions. Conclusions point out that reliable predictions of regional unemployment rates can be done using national unemployment rates by industry and regional employment structure, using models that could be built and used by policymakers.
ABSTRACT This paper attempts to come up with a classification of countries that participated in a... more ABSTRACT This paper attempts to come up with a classification of countries that participated in a survey based on the labour-related values prevalent in their societies. Using data from the World Values Survey, wave 4, an attempt is made to create country clusters based on four classes of values that are relevant to labour market behaviour: 1) values important to the society as a whole, 2) societal perceptions, attitudes and behaviours 3) attitudes toward work, and 4) economic and political environment. After using principal component analysis to reduce dimensionality of the data on the last three dimensions, we ran cluster analysis on a mix of variables and factors obtained for highly correlated variables. Our findings are partially consistent to the existing classifications of countries . Some results appear to challenge some of the existing classifications, as we found some less expected associations that appear to be correct, given the fact that they occur for several classes of values. Other findings have little credibility and require either further research, or an assessment of the impact of the shortcomings of cluster analysis.
The paper attempts to determine regional unemployment rates for European regions based on panel d... more The paper attempts to determine regional unemployment rates for European regions based on panel data with a relatively short time-series component. In the first part it is shown how the much of the evolution of regional unemployment rates is determined by national unemployment rates by industry and the regional employment structure. In the second part, a prediction model of regional unemployment rates from national unemployment rates by industry and regional employment structure is proposed, using unbalanced panel regression models with a relatively short time-series component. Specific predictive modeling approach is employed for producing and validating the predictions. Reliable predictions of regional unemployment rates that overcome the hysteresis effect present in the labour market data can be done using national unemployment rates by industry and regional employment structure.
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Papers by Remus Dumitrescu