<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>In nowadays European context the challenges started from the severe disparities among countries, regions and socio-economic groups are increasing the pressure on both national and EU level authorities, leading to the conclusion that the current socio-economic systems have reached their limits. Thus, the social market economy (SME), “third path” which mixes the purely liberal market economy with the social economic model might be one viable solution. Historically, the model corresponds to the real economic policy of the German Federal Republic after the 1950s, thus it is sometimes called Rhine capitalism. Such a model might be both the solution for national-level European economies and for the entire Union and thus, for a successful implementation a two-step approach should be considered appropriate. Thereby, in the first stage an SME might be implemented at national level in as many as possible EU member states and in the second phase a SME might be created at the level of EU by aggregating the smaller national SMEs. Due to the fact that in a SME the weaker geographical regions and industries are encouraged so that “fair” distribution of wellbeing is reached, it is highly probable that such a socio-economic model might be the appropriate alternative to fuel a sustainable growth of the Romanian economy. Using county level data, from the National Institute of Statistics and from the National Office of the Trade Register, for the year 2015, and an aggregated index, we show that the Romanian economy is highly polarized with a few growth poles (islands) and a large number of underdeveloped units. Thus, it becomes obvious that these important disparities will hinder a future sustainable development and by consequence a clear “road-map” represented by the SME model might prove to be a viable solution for the Romanian economy.</p></abstract>

In nowadays European context the challenges started from the severe disparities among countries, regions and socio-economic groups are increasing the pressure on both national and EU level authorities, leading to the conclusion that the current socio-economic systems have reached their limits. Thus, the social market economy (SME), “third path” which mixes the purely liberal market economy with the social economic model might be one viable solution. Historically, the model corresponds to the real economic policy of the German Federal Republic after the 1950s, thus it is sometimes called Rhine capitalism. Such a model might be both the solution for national-level European economies and for the entire Union and thus, for a successful implementation a two-step approach should be considered appropriate. Thereby, in the first stage an SME might be implemented at national level in as many as possible EU member states and in the second phase a SME might be created at the level of EU by aggregating the smaller national SMEs. Due to the fact that in a SME the weaker geographical regions and industries are encouraged so that “fair” distribution of wellbeing is reached, it is highly probable that such a socio-economic model might be the appropriate alternative to fuel a sustainable growth of the Romanian economy. Using county level data, from the National Institute of Statistics and from the National Office of the Trade Register, for the year 2015, and an aggregated index, we show that the Romanian economy is highly polarized with a few growth poles (islands) and a large number of underdeveloped units. Thus, it becomes obvious that these important disparities will hinder a future sustainable development and by consequence a clear “road-map” represented by the SME model might prove to be a viable solution for the Romanian economy.

The growth poles and the lagging regions of Romania – a county level approach for 2015 –

The Bucharest University of Economic Studies

Management & Marketing

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

In nowadays European context the challenges started from the severe disparities among countries, regions and socio-economic groups are increasing the pressure...

The growth poles and the lagging regions of Romania – a county level approach for 2015 –

Published Online: Oct 23, 2017

Page range: 456 - 473

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mmcks-2017-0028

Keywords
socioeconomic model, social market economy, economic development poles, regional disparities, economic development trends

© 2017 Vasile Alecsandru Strat et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The growth poles and the lagging regions of Romania – a county level approach for 2015 –

Published Online: Oct 23, 2017

Page range: 456 - 473

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mmcks-2017-0028

Keywordssocioeconomic model, social market economy, economic development poles, regional disparities, economic development trends

© 2017 Vasile Alecsandru Strat et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
socioeconomic model, social market economy, economic development poles, regional disparities, economic development trends