Title:
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE REGIONAL DISPARITIES

Authors:
Mariana Bălan, Ph.D , Carmen Uzlǎu, Ph.D and Geo-Alexandru Spânulescu , Ph.D Student

Abstract:
The socio-economic disparities between the regions of Romania represent a constant concern, both for researchers and for those who develop and implement regional development policies. Although Romania as a whole has a GDP/capita relative to purchasing power parity (PPS) of 62.6% of the 2017 EU average, only one region exceeds this average: Bucharest-Ilfov by 144%, while two of its regions of development, North-East and South-West Oltenia, are among the poorest eleven regions of the European Union. The process of mitigating regional economic and social disparities in Romania, as in all regions of the European Union, has been interrupted by the recent financial and economic crisis. This paper showcases a brief analysis of the level and dynamics of regional inequalities in Romania between 2000-2017. Various statistical methods were used to quantify regional disparities: the relative distances method, the Gini coefficient and the Theil index. The obtained results confirm the negative tendencies regarding the increase of regional development disparities in Romania and allow the highlighting of their determining factors.

Keywords:
disparities, regions, regional development, regional macro-indicators