Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth

Abstract

«How to approach the sustainable spatial development in South-East region of Romania? »
is the main question to which this research-paper tries to find answers. New development trajectories
are needed in order to tackle the current challenges posed by the rapid dynamics of the labour market,
in a globalized, increasingly digitized economy, and in the context of technological, climate and
demographic changes. This paper analysis the internal socio-economic inequalities that South-East
region of Romania experiences, highlighting the main challenges of territorial development. The
internal development capability of South-East region of Romania is presented by an inventory of needs
and resources during the 2010-2016 period, using the most recent statistical data available on the
website of Romanian National Institute of Statistics. This region is confronted with multiple
vulnerabilities such as mass unemployment (due to the lower wages and the territorial proximity with
capital-region: Bucharest-Ilfov), insufficient public income transfers, out-migration (causing high
social costs and also constituting a barrier to regional adjustment) and if these trends persist in longrun,
at the extreme, possibly desertification. Moreover, in absence of some basic preconditions for
regional development, in terms of infrastructure, accessibility, basic public services, growth could be a
dream and not a reality. The paper concludes by proposing suggestions on how to respond to the specific
and particular challenges that the South-East region of Romania is now facing, on the basis of the
previous conceptual and empirical evidence.