ESTIMATING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL REGIONAL DISPARITIES IN ROMANIA

The economic differences between European Union regions in general, and of the member-countries in particular, represent a constant concern both for politics and for economic research. The persistence of regional disparities hampers the capacity of a country to promote economic growth and social cohesion, while regional development might be regarded as a key-factor of economic development and improving living standard. In Romania, just as in all other regions of the European Union, the process of attenuating regional economic and social disparities was interrupted by the recent financial and economic crisis. Unemployment, poverty and exclusion increased swiftly almost everywhere within the EU. The paper presents a brief analysis of the level and dynamics of some regional disparities from Romania. In order to estimate the evolution of regional disparities, various methodologies were used such as, for instance, the variation coefficient, the Gini coefficient and the Theil index, etc. The obtained outcomes confirm the negative trends regarding the increase in regional development disparities from Romania and allow for highlighting their determinant factors, especially the flow of foreign direct investments, population ageing and migration.