As transparency has become the new paradigm of economic activities, we set out to analyse the extent to which the EU real estate companies legitimise their role in society through the sustainable development goals (SDGs) while meeting stakeholders’ information needs. Applying the content analysis, the sustainability reports and the annual reports of the entities from the real estate sector, from 2016 to 2018, were studied in order to highlight the priority SDGs of the field and the extent to which they are integrated in their business models. In addition, we evaluated, based on a quality score, the depth with which the entities report their sustainability commitments. The results of the study show that although more and more real estate entities are expressing their interest for sustainable development, there is still a large gap between the assumed intentions and the real actions undertaken by the companies. Most of them do not have the strategy, culture and tools needed to turn sustainability commitments into concrete actions. According to the average quality score (2.99 out of 5), the entities present their sustainability aspirations mostly qualitatively and report few quantitative key performance indicators (KPIs) to reveal the degree of achievement of the priority SDGs, such as: SDG 11—Sustainable cities and communities, SDG 13—Climate action and SDG 8—Decent work and economic growth.

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The article aims to present a thorough research on the perceptions and opinions of the Romanian managers of small and medium enterprises in applied biotechnology on the importance of intellectual capital and the application of knowledge management principles to create and maintain competitive advantages. At the basis of the development of bio-economics, there is a successful implementation not only of top biotechnologies but also of new economic models that engage the economic agents in complex exchanges. Biotechnology companies are a true "engine" that helps the development of bio-economy basic mechanisms, optimization of their work having longterm repercussions. Companies that develop a sustainable knowledge management system that they integrate into their marketing strategy have the most prominent position on the market and gain multiple competitive advantages. The research, based on the qualitative research methodology in the form of an in-depth interview, highlights that the strategic decision regarding the implementation of a knowledge management system and the intelligent use of intellectual capital resources are correlated with variables such as: the managers' level of education in the field, corelating managers' activity to organizational culture. Knowledge, for new business models, is a good asset that can be capitalized; from this perspective, the implications at the level of marketing strategies are in the same time diverse and complex. Biotechnology SMEs will adapt to requirements by developing competitive advantages as a result of establishing relationships and developing exchanges within strategic alliances and less according to a classical model based on attributes that aims positioning of products or services above those of the competition.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the financial performance of Romanian banks involved in M&A activities, as target banks, over a period of 10 years (1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008). Performance is analyzed in terms of profitability by using traditional accounting measures: ROE, ROA and NIM. Post-M&A performance for a 3-year period is compared with the aggregate ratios from all Romanian banks. The findings are mixed. On one hand, bank M&A in Romania does not result in improved ROE or ROA in the post M&A 3-year period under review. On the other hand, merged banks report media NIM above industry.

This study investigates the dynamic relationship between economic growth, energy consumption, financial development, and CO2 emissions at macro level in the case of 49 countries from Europe and Central Asia over a two-year period. The research focuses exclusively on country-level characteristics and uses a heteroscedasticity-consistent standard error estimator (HC3) to analyze the aforementioned relationship. The proposed econometric models test whether: i) the level of development of financial markets, the extent of energy consumption, and the degree of economic freedom of a nation are environmentally beneficial, and ii) the economic development is influenced by the governmental and corporate engagement towards sustainability, growth of financial markets and environmental performance. Results of the first test support the view that emission intensity is positively linked with the high level of functioning of the money market and capital market, the extent of energy consumption by companies and individuals and the high degree of eco-efficiency. Results of the second test show that the commitment of nations to sustainability and corporate commitment to sustainability reporting positively influence economic growth, while financial development and environmental performance are detrimental to economic development.