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Information Society and Sustainable Development—Selected Papers from the 6th International Conference ISSD 2019

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2019) | Viewed by 57075

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Prof. Dr. Marian ZAHARIA

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Faculty of Economic Sciences, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, B-dul Bucuresti, No.39, 100680 Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania
Interests: green econometrics and simulations; sustainable tourism; green informatics; IT&C
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Dr. Isabel Novo-Corti

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Department of Economics, University of A Coruna, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
Interests: economics; public policies; sustainable development
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Prof. Dr. Walter Filho

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Research and Transfer Centre "Sustainability and Climate Change Management", Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Ulmenliet 20, 21033 Hamburg, Germany
Interests: climate change management; environment and technology; education for sustainable development
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Prof. Dr. Diana-Mihaela Țîrcă

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Department of Management and Business Administration, Faculty of Economics, “Constantin Brâncuși” University of Târgu-Jiu, 210135 Târgu-Jiu, Romania
Interests: sustainable development; regional development; macroeconomics
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Prof. Dr. Magdalena Ziolo

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Department of Sustainable Finance and Capital Markets, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland
Interests: finance and banking; public finance; sustainable finance; sustainable financial systems; sustainable business models; negative externalities; environmental finance; ESG risk
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Prof. Dr. Johannes Casparus PLATJE

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WSB University in Wroclaw, Ul. Fabryczna 29-31, 53-609 Wroclaw, Poland
Interests: institutional determinants of sustainable development; innovation and regional development; campus and business sustainability; sustainable financial systems; sustainable energy and food supply

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Information Society and Sustainable Development represent dominant characteristics in the evolution of contemporary economies. To a great extent, they shape the future of human society. Both elements have been imposed as specific paradigms in achieving a functional and highly competitive model for an economy.

This Special Issue will consist of selected papers from the International Scientific Conference “Information Society and Sustainable Development” (ISSD 2019), which will be held in Targu-Jiu, Gorj County, Romania, during 10–11 May 2019.

The international conference “Information Society and Sustainable Development” (ISSD) is organized by the Center of Fundamental and Applied Economic Studies (CSEFA) within the Faculty of Economics, "Constantin Brancusi" University of Târgu-Jiu, Romania, in partnership with:

Romanian American University, Bucharest, Romania;
Center for Resources and Research in Tourism – CERC Tourism, University “Ștefan cel Mare” of Suceava, Romania;
Research Center in Innovative and Regional Tourism, University of Craiova, Romania;
Research and Transfer Centre “Applications of Life Sciences”, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, RCE Hamburg and Region, Germany;
Economic Development and Social Sustainability Research Group (EDaSS), University of A Coruña, Faculty of Economy and Business, Department of Economic Analysis and Business Administration, Spain;
Institute of Sustainable Financial Systems, University of Szczecin, Poland;
Research Institute of University of Economics – Varna, Bulgaria;
Wyższa Szkoła Bankowa University in Wroclaw, Poland;
Institute for Economic Research, Torun, Poland.

The main aim of the conference is to encourage and facilitate the dissemination of interdisciplinary research from a broader perspective, from scientists, professionals, and academia, in the field of sustainable development. Primarily, selected papers from the International Scientific Conference “Information Society and Sustainable Development” (ISSD 2019) will be considered for publication. The papers submitted and selected for this Special Issue should neither have been previously published nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere, and are subject to a very rigorous peer review process.

Prof. Dr. Marian ZAHARIA
Prof. Dr. Isabel NOVO-CORTI
Prof. Dr. Walter LEAL
Prof. Dr. Diana-Mihaela ȚÎRCĂ
Prof. Dr. Magdalena ZIOŁO
Dr. Johannes Casparus PLATJE
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

tourism, services, and sustainable development
industry and its impact on sustainable development
green statistics and economics
business and E-activities in the Information society
financing for sustainable development
environmental management

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Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 684 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) for Measuring the Efficiency of the Hotel Industry in Ecuador

by Angel Higuerey, Christian Viñan-Merecí, Zulema Malo-Montoya and Valentín-Alejandro Martínez-Fernández

Sustainability 2020, 12(4), 1590; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041590 - 20 Feb 2020

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 5005

Abstract

The level of contribution of the hotel industry depends on different factors of production that they use in the provision of their services The way they use these factors of production will allow them to act efficiently, in order to improve profitability and market position. Ecuador, in recent years, has directed public policies betting on the development of this industry. In this sense, this research seeks to measure the efficiency and productivity of the Ecuadorian hotel industry. For this purpose, a significant sample has been selected; it consists of 147 businesses that provided hotel services during the period 2013–2017. These businesses are classified according to their quality and geographic location. This information has been useful to make a balanced panel data with one output (Revenue) and three inputs (Total_personnel, the non-current assets, and Consumption) by using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The results, which proved to be solid and accurate, indicate that the most efficient businesses are the ones in the third class, whereas those hotels located in zones with tourist attractions and activities have a better optimization of those resources. This situation has an effect on the significant improvement of their productivity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information Society and Sustainable Development—Selected Papers from the 6th International Conference ISSD 2019)

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26 pages, 2129 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Biocapacity—Premise of Sustainable Development in the European Space

by Rodica-Manuela Gogonea, Simona Ioana Ghita and Andreea Simona Saseanu

Sustainability 2020, 12(3), 1037; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12031037 - 1 Feb 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4343

Abstract

The contemporary lifestyle, based on unsustainable consumption patterns, leads to an orientation of the society towards the development and application of sustainable development strategies and policies. The comparative analysis of the ecological footprint and biocapacity allows one to study the interaction between human activities and environment, through the biocapacity reserve or deficit. In this context, this article carries out a complex analysis of the biocapacity reserve/deficit, as a latent variable that quantifies sustainability, viewed through a selection of determinants, from which three main components have been extracted: A component of education and social exclusion, a component of economic development, innovation, and environment, and a demographic component. These were transformed—through a multiple linear regression model—into exogenous variables with high explanatory power over the variation of the biocapacity reserve/deficit and constituted the tools in identifying behavioral patterns of the European countries and a set of measures leading to the sustainability of the ecological reserve. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information Society and Sustainable Development—Selected Papers from the 6th International Conference ISSD 2019)

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16 pages, 692 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessing the Impact of ICT Sector on Sustainable Development in the European Union: An Empirical Analysis Using Panel Data

by Sorin-Iulian Cioacă, Silvia-Elena Cristache, Mariana Vuță, Erika Marin and Mihai Vuță

Sustainability 2020, 12(2), 592; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020592 - 13 Jan 2020

Cited by 35 | Viewed by 5538

Abstract

Information and communication technologies (ICT) play a central role at the European level because it fosters innovation and increases productivity through an enlarged access to information. As such, the main objective of this work was to assess the impact of various ICT core indicators at the European Union level on two of their sustainable development goals: economic growth and reduction of inequality. To this purpose, we used panel data models based on data collected from the Eurostat database. We proposed two panel data regression models, according to which we found a positive statistically significant relationship between the variable measuring level of internet access and change in GDP per capita. We also found a negative relationship between the transition towards a digital society and the dependent variable INEQ_INC, namely an increase of 1% of ICT sector share in GDP will lead to a decrease of 0.27% of income inequality distribution. This result showed that the progress made in implementing a digital society may decrease societal income inequality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information Society and Sustainable Development—Selected Papers from the 6th International Conference ISSD 2019)

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19 pages, 913 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Remittances, Migration and Gross Domestic Product from Romania’s Perspective

by Anca Mehedintu, Georgeta Soava and Mihaela Sterpu

Sustainability 2020, 12(1), 212; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12010212 - 25 Dec 2019

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 5936

Abstract

This study analyzes the evolution and trends of the share of remittances in gross domestic product (GDP) and the influence of migration on remittances in Romania. The analysis on data from Eurostat over 2008–2017 has three components: a statistical analysis, an estimation of evolution of indicators, and an estimation of impact of migration on remittances, using polynomial-time regression and difference equation models, respectively. The results showed that GDP and GDP/capita had a permanent increase, meaning an improvement in the standard of living in Romania, while the other indicators had an evolution with a period of sharp decline triggered by the global crisis, followed by a slow growth. We may conclude that the remittances represented and still represent a relatively stable financial resource for Romania as for the other emerging countries in Europe, affecting in a positive way the standard of living of the citizens, although their value has a tendency to decrease. At the same time, the negative effects of remittances, dependence on money received from migrants and the exodus of “brains” and skilled workers, must be considered, implying the necessity of government policies for a better use of remittances, i.e., mainly for investments and less for consumption. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information Society and Sustainable Development—Selected Papers from the 6th International Conference ISSD 2019)

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14 pages, 506 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wine Routes in Vojvodina Province, Northern Serbia: A Tool for Sustainable Tourism Development

by Igor Trišić, Snežana Štetić, Donatella Privitera and Adrian Nedelcu

Sustainability 2020, 12(1), 82; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12010082 - 20 Dec 2019

Cited by 37 | Viewed by 7153

Abstract

Sustainable tourism development of the northern part of Serbia in Autonomous Province of Vojvodina aims to achieve ecological, sociocultural, and economic benefits. This means that all entities should be included in the planning and implementation of tourism, such as the local community, tourists, and state entities, while tourism activity should be focused on improving ecological principles and sociocultural conception in a destination. One of the models of this development is seen in specific products that can play a significant role in tourism development. Such an authentic product is wine, which has a very important role in the promotion of tourism. The aim of this paper is to explore Vojvodina—the region of Serbia—as a valuable wine tourism destination in the country, especially the experiences of the wine routes. We use descriptive statistics techniques to summarize and present the data and adopt a correlation analysis technique to describe respondents’ preference on the importance of the wine routes. In the empirical survey, the main conclusion is a positive correlation that by developing wine tourism in Vojvodina, we can influence economic development of the region. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information Society and Sustainable Development—Selected Papers from the 6th International Conference ISSD 2019)

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18 pages, 858 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Environmental and Economic Concerns in Residents’ Attitudes in Punta del Este (Uruguay)

by María Dolores Sánchez-Fernández, Daniel Álvarez-Bassi and José Ramón-Cardona

Sustainability 2019, 11(24), 7246; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11247246 - 17 Dec 2019

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3318

Abstract

The objective of this article is to determine the importance of environmental concern on residents’ perceptions and attitudes in the case of the Maldonado-Punta del Este conurbation. To relativize the importance of this concern, economic concern was introduced into the model. Punta del Este is located next to the city of Maldonado, capital of the homonymous department, and is the most important sun and beach destination in Uruguay. For this analysis, a sample of 420 residents from the Maldonado-Punta del Este conurbation was used. The questionnaire contained several items using a5-point Likert scale and a section including socio-demographic questions. Analysis of the data was carried out through Partial Least Squares (PLS) SEM regression. The results suggest that residents form their attitudes towards tourism based on tourism’s economic benefits and socio-cultural costs. Residents of Punta del Este show concern for the environment but not for the economy. This concern is mainly related to the perception of environmental costs, but the causal relationship could be the opposite. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information Society and Sustainable Development—Selected Papers from the 6th International Conference ISSD 2019)

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14 pages, 782 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Inefficiency of the Neoclassical Paradigm in the Promotion of Subjective Well-Being and Socioeconomic, and Environmental Sustainability: An Empirical Test for the Spanish Case

by Matías Membiela-Pollán, María Alló-Pazos, Carlos Pateiro-Rodríguez and Félix Blázquez-Lozano

Sustainability 2019, 11(24), 7102; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11247102 - 11 Dec 2019

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3732

Abstract

The recent literature developed in the field of happiness economics highlights the overvaluation of income and material prosperity as determinants of happiness, and calls into question many of the assumptions of traditional economic theory linked to “rationality” and the “non-satiety” of the consumer. This article aimed to study which factors explain individual subjective well-being, paying special attention to the role of income and the incidence of social variables and focusing on the case of Spain. As a novelty, this research introduces variables such as trust or the perception of justice, among others. Based on the analysis of the European Social Survey and through the estimation of an ordered logit, we find that, in line with the theory of happiness economics, the material aspects do not play a relevant role as explanatory of subjective well-being, unlike social aspects, such as sociability and trust in people (social capital). In addition, our results indicate that in the case of Spain, the most materialistic people are associated with a lower level of happiness. Thus, it seems that the excess of concern for material and economic issues in the pursuit of happiness undermines socioeconomic and environmental sustainability by causing the “wealth destruction effect”. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information Society and Sustainable Development—Selected Papers from the 6th International Conference ISSD 2019)

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19 pages, 1081 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Development of Mountain Hotels through the Implementation of International Management Standards: The Romanian Case

by Daniela Firoiu, George H. Ionescu, Roxana Bădîrcea, Luminița Vochița and Maria Enescu

Sustainability 2019, 11(22), 6487; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226487 - 18 Nov 2019

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3788

Abstract

This paper aims to identify the current level of implementation of the principles of sustainable development among hotels in the mountain area of Romania, how these standards influence the occupancy rate with the help of communication strategies, and to what extent the implementation of international management standards leads to an increase in the profitability rate. The research was carried out on the basis of questionnaires addressed to the hotels in the mountain areas of Romania, with information being collected from a number of 77 hotels, rated between 2 and 5 stars. The results obtained from the research highlighted the existence of positive correlations, both between the use of a communication strategy on the sustainable development objectives and the occupancy rate, as well as between the implementation of international management standards and the increase of the profitability rate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information Society and Sustainable Development—Selected Papers from the 6th International Conference ISSD 2019)

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11 pages, 667 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Military’s Links with Local Communities in the Context of Sustainable Development

by Stanisław Sirko, Jarosław Kozuba and Marzena Piotrowska-Trybull

Sustainability 2019, 11(16), 4427; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11164427 - 16 Aug 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3708

Abstract

This article focuses on the analysis of the military links with local communities in the context of sustainable development, in particular the social and economic aspects of development. The aim of the article is to identify and characterize the links between military units and entities in the local environment on the example of selected municipalities in Poland and to assess these links in the opinion of residents, local authorities, and soldiers. Between military units and local communities, there are relations of different nature and intensity, conditioned by internal and external factors. The military stationed on the territory of individual municipalities makes a direct and indirect contribution to building the social and economic potential of these places, as well as providing public goods in the form of the national defence. The links between the military and local communities are discussed in the source literature with reference to examples from different countries. While the scale and scope of these links vary, these impacts follow similar patterns. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information Society and Sustainable Development—Selected Papers from the 6th International Conference ISSD 2019)

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35 pages, 1159 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Finance, Sustainability and Negative Externalities. An Overview of the European Context

by Magdalena Ziolo, Beata Zofia Filipiak, Iwona Bąk, Katarzyna Cheba, Diana Mihaela Tîrca and Isabel Novo-Corti

Sustainability 2019, 11(15), 4249; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154249 - 6 Aug 2019

Cited by 40 | Viewed by 13523

Abstract

The goal of the paper is to examine the relation between finance and sustainability, with a special emphasis on the impact of negative externalities. Sustainable development as a concept aims to mitigate negative externalities. Conventional finance offers no room for the environment and society. Therefore, three-dimensional sustainable finance has appeared. This paper is the first original attempt to examine the relationship between: financial, economic, environmental and social development indicators from the sustainability perspective, with a special focus on externalities. To study the disparities between the European Union (EU) countries belonging to the OECD in the field of sustainable development and sustainable finance, the multi-criteria taxonomy was used. The basis of the analyses was the indicators transformed according to the relative taxonomy method. The database, based on Eurostat, contains indicators describing pillars of sustainable development such as: economic (12 indicators), social (28), environmental (7) and sustainable finance (16). The study analyses the sample of 23 countries in 2007, 2013 and 2016. The results confirm a positive relationship among the analysed indicators. On the basis of 62 statistical features selected according to the statistical methods, 7 groups of countries were obtained in 2007 and 2013 and 8 groups in 2016. In the case of Scandinavian countries, one can observe a permanent separation of economic growth from its negative impact on the natural environment. Such dependencies are no longer so obvious in the case of other EU countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Therefore, attention should be paid to the most economically developed countries in Western Europe, i.e., Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, whose high rankings in the case of economic, social and very often also financial results correspond to much worse results in the case of environmental development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information Society and Sustainable Development—Selected Papers from the 6th International Conference ISSD 2019)

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