Romania between the challenges of competitiveness and regional cohesion

Botezatu, Elena (2007): Romania between the challenges of competitiveness and regional cohesion. Forthcoming in:

Abstract

Even if Romania succeeded to become a member of the European Union, the development gaps between its regions and those in the other member states continue to be significant. The paper will focus on analyzing the regional disparities in Romania, in terms of GDP/capita, FDI and possibly state interventions, with the view of creating a so-called typology of “winners and losers”. After determining the winners and losers, a brief description will follow, underlining the key aspects that differentiate them from the other regions. Next, the paper will discuss some aspects related to the future perspectives for regional development in Romania, taking into account the perspective of reform at European level and discussions that are currently developing, related to trade-off between equity and efficiency, between cohesion and competitiveness. The last part of the paper will focus on providing a possible answer for the future of regional development, by analyzing the investment in research and innovation and the impact it could have in Romania.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Institution: European Institute of Romania
• Language: English
• Keywords: regional development; cohesion; catching up; regional disparities
• Subjects: R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R11 - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

References

[1] A. Inotai, Reflections on the future of the EU budget, with special reference to the position of the net beneficiary countries, Romanian Journal of European Affairs, october 2007 [2] Communication from the Commission, The Growth and Jobs Strategy and the Reform of European cohesion policy, Fourth progress report on cohesion [3] J.Abrhám, Regional Differentiation of the New Member States of the European Union, EU-China European Studies Centres Programme, 2007 [4] The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, “Changing Regions - Structural Changes in the EU regions” [5] European Parliament, Regional Disparities and Cohesion: What Strategies for the Future?, May 2007 [6] Copenhagen Economics, Study on FDI and regional development, December 2006 [7] Economist Intelligence Unit, ViewsWire June 25th 2007 [8] Romanian Statistical Yearbook [9] L.Voinea, L. Simionescu, Annual Survey Report on Research, Development, Innovation and Competitiveness in the Romanian Industry, 2005