Regional Specialisation and Industrial Concentration in Romania's Transition Period from an Election Cycle Perspective

In this paper we propose an inquiry into the patterns of regional specialisation and industrial concentration in Romania during its transition to a market economy (1990–2004). Following an econometric modelling-based approach we demonstrate that the changes in these patterns have been influenced to a large extent by election cycles, and more precisely by changes in the economic policy options determined by the ‘colour’ of each corresponding government. These findings have an important significance for the postaccession period, suggesting the need for decisions on economic structures to be carefully monitored when a new election cycle is approaching, in order to avoid possible negative consequences for efficiency and integration in EU structures.