Florian Marcel Nuţă

Purpose of the article: The paper analyzes modern employee motivation strategies in the context of hybrid work, aiming to identify mechanisms through which organizations can maintain employee engagement, satisfaction, and productivity in a flexible work environment. The focus is placed on concrete examples from the Republic of Moldova, particularly in the IT, banking, and telecommunications industries. Methodology: The study employs an analytical-comparative approach, grounded in specialized literature on motivation theories (Maslow, Herzberg, Deci and Ryan) and the analysis of organizational practices adopted by companies in the Republic of Moldova. Conclusions: The results show that modern motivation strategies in hybrid work settings go beyond the financial dimension, integrating aspects such as autonomy, performance recognition, well-being programs, and empathetic leadership. Examples from the Republic of Moldova confirm that the success of these policies depends on their adaptation to the local cultural and socio-economic context. Originality: The paper provides a practical perspective, combining the international theoretical framework with the concrete realities of the labor market in the Republic of Moldova.

Europe’s decarbonization calls for an increase in the resources used to ensure a fairer transition. The objective of this study is to evaluate the role of public finance in the decarbonization process, considering the context of various uncertainties. Data from 1995 to 2023 for selected European countries were analyzed in this sense. We used the cross-sectional dependence–consistent Driscoll–Kraay estimator as the main econometric approach and Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) as a robustness test. The results revealed a positive impact of public debt, world uncertainty, and gross domestic product on renewable energy usage in European countries. Additionally, general fiscal pressure is shown to have a negative impact on the renewable energy used during the analyzed period. The results showcase the importance of public finance tools adjustments in supporting the race to zero breakthroughs and dawdling climate change. Several policy recommendations were made in this regard.

In the context of Sustainable Development Goals, declining poverty (Goal 1), achieving gender equality (Goal 5), and ensuring access to clean and affordable energy (SDG7) are still behind track, and the gaps are not yet ready to be rapidly fulfilled. As part of Goal 7, energy consumption-related targets still lack the potential to be targeted. Considering these elements, this study aims to determine the impact of poverty and gender equality on the energy consumption of households in several European countries. Using data from 2010 to 2022 and the moments’ quantile regression method combined with a pooled OLS based on Driskoll-Kraay estimators, we found statistically significant results regarding the impact of poverty and gender on household energy consumption. These findings’ significance will direct policy design towards those meaningful tools that will increase energy efficiency, address energy poverty, and ensure energy just transition, leaving no one behind. Based on the main findings, the policymakers can understand that a mix of policies is significantly more efficient. In such circumstances, social and economic inequalities will not successfully address development issues without including key environmental priorities, such as emissions mitigation and energy consumption patterns.

Purpose of the article: In the context of Sustainable Development Goals, declining poverty (Goal 1) and achieving gender equality (Goal 5) are still behind the track, and the gaps are not yet ready to be rapidly fulfilled. As part of Goal 7, energy consumption-related targets still lack the potential to be targeted. Considering these elements, this study aims to determine the impact of poverty and gender equality on the energy consumption of households in several European countries. Using data from 2010 to 2022 and a pooled OLS based on DriskollKraay estimators, we found statistically significant results regarding the impact of poverty (a negative sign) and gender (a negative sign) on household energy consumption. Accordingly, various stakeholder recommendations are presented based on the study results.

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of structural transformation in the energy sector to accelerate the decarbonization process in the world’s top five green leaders, Germany, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, and Poland. To test this empirically, we collected annual data from a panel of the top five green leaders from 2000–2023. A key contribution of our study lies in assessing multiple critical metrics, including CO₂ emissions, carbon intensity, carbon intensity of electricity, production-based carbon emissions, and consumption-based carbon emissions, to capture holistic progress towards carbon neutrality. We applied the augmented mean group (AMG) model to estimate the long-term results. The Dumitrescu–Hurlin test is used to test the causal relationship among the modeled variables. The findings of the AMG model reveal that renewable energy production and consumption significantly reduce CO₂ emissions, production-based CO₂ emissions, consumption-based CO₂ emissions, carbon intensity, and the carbon intensity of electricity. Conversely, fossil-fuel-derived energy exacerbates these metrics. However, the impact of these energy sources varies by country in terms of their magnitude. The outcomes of the Dumitrescu–Hurlin test indicate that a bidirectional causality exists between renewable energy production and CO₂ emissions and between renewable energy consumption and carbon intensity. However, a unidirectional causality exists between fossil fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions and between renewable energy consumption and the carbon intensity of electricity. Our results indicate the detrimental impacts of continued fossil fuel use and conclude that a structural transformation in the energy sector is critical to decarbonization. Based on our results, we suggest that policy efforts should prioritize structural reforms in the energy sector by emphasizing a shift towards renewable energy sources. Such reforms are essential for achieving net-zero carbon emissions and mitigating broader environmental degradation.