Entrepreneurs bring an enormous contribution to a country’s economic growth. Developing individual’s interest into new venture creation represents an important asset, especially for less developed countries where entrepreneurial activities are fundamental in enhancing economic growth. The recent economic crisis turned the attention of European policymakers towards entrepreneurship as a driving force for the creation of new job opportunities, regional/national competitiveness and growth. The aim of this article is to verify what relations are between locus of control, need for achievement and entrepreneurial intention of youth, following a cognitive approach and how much entrepreneurial education consolidates entrepreneurial skills and informs the young that entrepreneurship is a career option. To analyse entrepreneurial intentions, locus of control, need for achievement and entrepreneurial education in the context of Romania, this research used a quantitative design based on the answers to the questionnaire conducted during March 2017 to October 2017 on a sample of 270 students from two important Romanian universities. From the methodological point of view, several hypotheses have been developed and tested using multivariate logistic regression estimates, frequency analysis, internal consistency reliability of the constructs and moderating effects. The results illustrate that locus of control, need for achievement and entrepreneurial education proved to be important determinants for venture creation among young students, both independently and under the action of control variables. Also, respondents’ gender had a significant influence on one’s intention of opening a business in the future, with males being more inclined to become entrepreneurs than females.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher educational institutions worldwide switched to emergency distance learning in early 2020. The less structured environment of distance learning forced students to regulate their learning and motivation more independently. According to self-determination theory (SDT), satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and social relatedness affects intrinsic motivation, which in turn relates to more active or passive learning behavior. As the social context plays a major role for basic need satisfaction, distance learning may impair basic need satisfaction and thus intrinsic motivation and learning behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between basic need satisfaction and procrastination and persistence in the context of emergency distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in a cross-sectional study. We also investigated the mediating role of intrinsic motivation in this relationship. Furthermore, to test the universal importance of SDT for intrinsic motivation and learning behavior under these circumstances in different countries, we collected data in Europe, Asia and North America. A total of N = 15,462 participants from Albania, Austria, China, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Kosovo, Lithuania, Poland, Malta, North Macedonia, Romania, Sweden, and the US answered questions regarding perceived competence, autonomy, social relatedness, intrinsic motivation, procrastination, persistence, and sociodemographic background. Our results support SDT’s claim of universality regarding the relation between basic psychological need fulfilment, intrinsic motivation, procrastination, and persistence. However, whereas perceived competence had the highest direct effect on procrastination and persistence, social relatedness was mainly influential via intrinsic motivation.

The objective of this study involves identifying the influence of different perceptual attributes on the likelihood of engaging in early-stage entrepreneurial activities (TEA). The study correspondingly applies individual data based on the statistics gathered from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Adult Population Survey database for 18 European Countries in 2007 and 2014. We performed several logistic regression analyses in order to test the influence of some entrepreneurial attributes on the propensity to engage in TEA. We identified four perceptual determinants: Capability to identify opportunity; having the skills, knowledge and experience to start up a business; fear of failure; and knowing other entrepreneurs. We tested their effect along with some control variables and interaction effects. The results confirm the importance of these factors in explaining entrepreneurial activities across different economies.

Expenditure and financing aspects in the healthcare system in general, and in cancer care in particular, are subjects of increasing concern to the medical community. Nowadays, it is imperative for the healthcare system to respond to the challenge of universal access to quality healthcare, by measuring the financial resources within the healthcare sector. The purpose of this review is to highlight the major gaps in the healthcare expenditures for all types of care, as well as on cancer and anti-cancer drugs across 28 European Union member states. The indicators taken into account are divided into two major groups: (1) healthcare expenditures for all types of care, and (2) healthcare expenditures on cancer and anti-cancer drugs. The programs used for our analysis are SPSS Statistics V20.0 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA) and Stat World Explorer. The overall picture confirms that there are considerable disparities between the 28 countries in relation to their expenditures on health. The trend in public expenditures for all types of care, compared to the share of healthcare expenditures as a percentage of the GDP, shows the increase of health expenses between 2010 and 2014, but a lower rise compared to the total GDP increase. Healthcare expenditure on cancer (%THE) is rather low, despite the high cost associated with anti-cancer drugs. New treatments and drugs development will be increasingly difficult to achieve if the share devoted to cancer does not increase, and the lack of funds may act as a barrier in receiving high-quality care.

After the recent global financial and economic crises, unemployment, especially among young people have become a particularly serious problem. Fostering young entrepreneurship represent not only a tool to combat young unemployment and social exclusion but also a way to encourage innovation and a country's economic growth. Education and training can contribute in building an entrepreneurial society and may shape individuals attitudes versus risk-taking. Risk taken ability is an important personality factor who have an influence in process decision making or in entrepreneurial intention. Our main objectives are directed towards identifying whether there is a significant relationship between willingness to take risks, entrepreneurship education and students intention towards entrepreneurship. The present study tested two hypotheses on a sample of 115 university students using a questionnaire-based survey. The response scales use anchors such as 5-point Likert scale (1, strongly disagree to 5, strongly agree) and semantic differentials metrics. Tests and modelling were performed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software, SPSS 21.0. According to our research objective and developed hypotheses, several data analysis have been used: Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and OLS regression models. Our findings reveal that both Risks taken Ability and Entrepreneurial Education significantly influence the entrepreneurial intentions of Technical University students.

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Business education has been currently challenged by the fast introduction of online learning platforms for students enrolled in higher education who had been previously used only face-to-face interaction, raising questions about the sustainability of online education. This new learning environment creates a different path for students managing their knowledge, who, due to the influence of online experiences, could develop different skills with different outcomes for their chances of employment. This study analyses knowledge management of business students in an online education setting to discover its influence on students’ perception of both their general employment chances, and specifically in online businesses. To conduct the study, we opted for a quantitative research design based on a questionnaire applied between November and December of 2020, which resulted in valid responses from 256 Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree students. In line with the research hypotheses, correlation, reliability tests and logistic regression were used to perform data analysis. The results clearly indicate that students’ perception of their employment chances depend on the increasing score of knowledge acquisition, knowledge revision, conceptual change and knowledge application, independently and under the action of control variables. Additionally, knowledge application proved to be an important determinant for students’ perception of their employment chances in online businesses.

Digital literacy is among the mandatory abilities to any higher education level and represents a fundamental ingredient in successful professionalization. Considering the deep penetration of digital technologies in everyday life, digital literacy offers a set of transversal skills that could improve a whole area of activities, from banking operations to civic participation. However, these skills are diverse and vary according to the development of technologies and society. This study fills an important academic gap on digital literacy by placing it in a specific and well-defined context, analyzing different perspectives that involve such learning, such as predictors of digital literacy in different types of students. In addition, research increases its importance as it is being developed during the pandemic, a period characterized by accelerated technological use and sudden changes. This research used a quantitative design based on the answers to a questionnaire conducted from March 2021 to May 2021. From a methodological perspective, we tested several hypotheses using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) within the structural equation model (SEM). The results show that communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, and technical digital skills are more present in the case of students enrolled in economics and social sciences, while other digital skills (i.e., creativity and information) are more prevalent in the case of humanities students. Moreover, the results showed that, except for creativity and problem-solving-related digital skills, all of the digital skills were significantly influenced by students’ different levels of education.