Leonida Correia (p), Patrícia Martins

José Pedro Pontes

'see extended abstract'

José Pedro Pontes (p), Patrícia Melo

Leonida Correia

The empirical literature on the relationship between labor productivity and urbanization economies has considered the presence of variable returns to density, but it has not investigated the existence of a heterogeneous relationship according to country size. This paper proposes a theoretical model which can explain why the relationship between regional labor productivity and population density may differ in strength between small and large countries. To test the proposed theory, we carry out an empirical regression analysis using NUTS2-level data on GDP per capita and population density for the EU28 countries. The results from the empirical analysis corroborate the theoretical model and indicate the relationship is linear and stronger for regions in small countries compared to large countries.

Anca Florentina Gavriluta (Vatamanu) , Mihaela Onofrei , Elena Cigu (p)

Veselina Georgieva

Efforts to decentralize financially democratically elected local governments is a common theme across Europe because the particularities of each country determine a certain type of fiscal decentralization based on multiple criteria, including fiscal capacity. Over the last 20 years, some Western European countries have succeeded in establishing a form of balanced central government decision and fiscal decentralization that can help to reduce disparities between their own regions. Furthermore, European policies are geared towards reducing disparities both between countries and within the country, especially in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which face major disparities, as is the case of Romania. In this paper, we analyse regional-level fiscal disparities in Romania with fiscal and economic data over the period 2004–2015, by using Gini index to measure the dispersion of local fiscal capacity and a panel data approach to determine the extent to which decentralization involves inequality and the impact of fiscal decentralization on income inequality. The results of the analyses show that fiscal policy does very little reduce inequality and poverty overall, finding a certain inequality in the distribution of revenues and an alarm signal regarding the "healing" nature of transfers from the state budget.

Veselina Georgieva (p)

Elena Cigu

Bulgaria has joined the European Union in 2007 with considerable socioeconomic disparities in comparison to more advanced EU member-states and their territories. In addition, the NUTS II regions within the country face also severe challenges as regards overcoming the differences among each other related to territorial, economic and social development. This is mainly due to the country's geographical location and its proximity to the seas of outmost importance for the local economy, i.e. Aegean, Thracian Seas and the Sea of Marmora, resulting in more developed South and lagging behind North of Bulgaria. All these are conditions that the EU Cohesion policy should address in a coherent and consistent manner so that disparities within the EU member states' regions as well as those among the member states themselves should be diminished.

Therefore, the purpose of the paper is to analyse the effects of the EU Cohesion policy implication on national and regional level in Bulgaria for the period 2007-2013 in terms of programming and applying policy instruments. This is the main tool for surmounting the disparities with other EU countries and regions and achieving sustainable and coherent development of the NUTS II regions in Bulgaria. The study will evaluate the consistency and the complementarity of various policy instruments for sustainable spatial development on national level for the period 2007-2013 and their influence on the development of the NUTS II regions' territory and socioeconomic characteristics. Comparison with the policy instruments for the period 2014-2020 also will be made in order to identify the positive and negative aspects of transposing the EU Cohesion policy on national and regional level in the country.

The paper concludes on how EU cohesion policy in the period 2007-2013 has addressed the challenges of Bulgaria's regions related to socioeconomic disparities and sustainable development and has influenced the development of its territory towards social and economic cohesion. Examples of best practices and challenges also took place related to the needs and objectives of the NUTS II regions in Bulgaria for the period 2014-2020. On the basis of the analysis, an overall conclusion is drawn on whether the EU Cohesion policy has been successfully programmed on national level and applied locally so that to utilize the socioeconomic disparities of Bulgaria in relation to other EU members and also within the country's NUTS II regions.