An analysis of rurality index in romanian countryside by a quantitative approach

Abstract

Romanian rural areas have suffered a significant emigration in particular in the early 1990s. The transition from a centralised economy to an open one and the enlargement of the European Union in 2007 has been the most important factors influencing the rural depopulation. The aim of this paper was to asses by a quantitative approach an index of rurality able to estimate which variables have impacted on the socio-economic growth in Romanian rural areas. The method of investigation has used the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) able to assess in depth the cause-effect relationships among different socio-economic variables towards the rurality in Romania since 1994 to 2016. Results have pointed out a positive role of parameters correlated to the rurality such as financial subsidies allocated by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and by the second pillar of the CAP aimed at stimulating the rural diversification in Romanian farms. In conclusion, for the future it is important to foster financial subsidies to Romanian farms and in particular stimulating by financial initiatives and measures farmers in stayed behind rural areas which need supports in order to lessen partially the out-emigration and socio-economic marginalization in rural territories.

Keywords

• Common Agricultural Policy
• emigration
• rural areas
• rural development
• Structural Equation Modelling