Abstract
The development level of each Romanian county may be understood as a response to almost 20 years of available EU funding and structural policies that were enabled so to push Romania to socio-economic convergence and competitiveness with other European Union members. In this context, the following study aims at providing a comprehensive analysis, based on several socio-economic indicators measured since Romania’s EU accession, that clusters the 41 counties and Bucharest region by level of development. While other studies on this topic analyse composite indices as one-point-in-time, this data-driven, longitudinal study overviews three CAP programming periods dynamically. The main results point out four types of cluseters based on development level. The most important result is, however, how much Bucharest-Ilfov region has differentiated itself from the other counties since 2007, while other counties remain at almost the same level of development as 20 years ago.
Cuvinte cheie
regional development
socio-economic indicators
clustering analysis
convergence
divergence.
Istoric articol
Publicat
31.08.2026
Informații autori
Citare recomandată
Maria Claudia Diaconeasa, Ionuț Laurențiu Petre (2026). Convergence or Divergence? Socio-Economic Development in Romanian Counties Since 2007. Constantin Brâncuși University of Târgu Jiu Economics Series, 2(1), 200–210. https://doi.org/10.65631/jes.4.2026.19
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