Regional Development Disparities and the Provision of Services of General Interest. A Case Study on the Health Care Services Availability in the North-East Region of Romania

Abstract

This paper proposes an inquiry into the issue of availability of services of general interest, offering as case study the health care services in the North-East region of Romania. The interregional and intraregional (within North-East region) disparities in terms of health care services provision are examined in relation to the overall regional development disparities, confirming that the concern with providing a minimum level of social SGI to all citizens has conducted to health care service disparities lower than those in terms of GDP per inhabitant. The paper also provides relevant evidence on the impact of demography, especially in terms of population density on the availability of health care services.

Keywords

• services of general interest
• health car e services
• availability
• North - East region
• Romania