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Aspects of Independent Romania's Economic History with Particular Reference to Transition for EU Accession book cover

1st Edition

Aspects of Independent Romania's Economic History with Particular Reference to Transition for EU Accession

By David Turnock Copyright 2007
    320 Pages
    by Routledge

    320 Pages
    by Routledge

    After fifteen years of transition in the former communist states of Central and Eastern Europe it has become clear that for a substantial number the objective of reform and restructuring process is a market system in line with membership of the EU. In this study the long term economic transformation of Romania is studied, offering a detailed narrative and thematic account of events from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. From the first steps towards large scale industrialisation begun prior to the First World War, through the accelerated pace set by the communist regime after 1945 and the uncertainty following its subsequent collapse in 1989, the book addresses a wide range of pertinent issues that have shaped Romania's economic development. The study also offers an interpretation of a distinctive phase in the modernisation of post-communist Romania, supported by economic-historical surveys of the proceeding century as a context for recent restructuring on the eve of EU accession. This is linked with trends in the region as a whole so that a broad perspective is maintained throughout the book. By highlighting Romania's position as one of more backward accession states and considering in what ways its experience during transition differs from the more developed states of the region, this study offers a valuable insight into both the history of Romania, and its future prospects. Furthermore it provides a valuable case study that can be compared and contrasted with other countries who are likewise still grappling with the legacy of a centralised economy, and in the process of adopting a more market orientated approach in order to gain EU membership. As such this study will be of interest not only to historians and economists, but anyone with an interest in the expansion of the European Union.

    Contents: Series editor's preface; Foreword; The Romanian state and its economic development to 1918; Modernisation in Greater Romania 1918-1945: increasing the role of the state; The Communist era of state monopoly: central planning with a descent to sultanism; The political context of post-Communist economic restructuring: the EU and NATO; Post-Communist economic reform: a chronological approach; Problems of industrial restructuring and environment with reference to the chemical industry; Building materials and textiles, clothing and leather: contrasts in the nature of foreign penetration; Agriculture: overcoming the subsistence rationale; Transport: seeking capital to reconnect with the West; Settlement patterns: urban planning and development; Postscript; Bibliography; Index.

    Biography

    David Turnock is Emeritus Professor of Human Geography at the University of Leicester, UK.

    ’This book traces Romania's economic and social transformation over almost three centuries and ,given its ambitious scope, could have been undertaken only by someone with extensive scholarship in Eastern European economic history and regional development. For David Turnock, Emeritus Professor of Human Geography at the University of Leicester, UK, this study is a crowning achievement of over twenty years of research and analysis focused primarily upon Romania's modernization efforts.’ EH.NET ’Romania’s accession to EU membership in January 2007 flags our interest in this volume. Not only timely, it also works in the regretfully neglected discipline of economic geography to combine a century-long perspective on Romanian economic history with a detailed survey of the halting but eventually successful path to EU accession over the past decade.’ Economic History Review
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