TERRITORIAL DISCREPANCIES CONCERNING SMEs PERFORMANCES IN ROMANIA

In Romania, as in many other Central and East European countries, two significant processes took place: the transfer of the ownership from the state to private law persons and the founding of new, independent enterprises, as a result of the private initiative. The first consequence of the two processes was the increase of the private sector’ share in the national production, contribution of about 70% of the total GDP in the present. A second major consequence influenced the labor force market. While privatization led, as a rule, to the reduction in the number of jobs and amplified unemployment, the new private sector, the sector of SMEs, generated the majority of the new jobs. Next to the merit of the contribution to the creation of a stronger private sector, many of the new enterprises are characterized by a special flexibility and a power to adapt to the new, to the demands and trends of the market.