INVESTMENT STRUCTURE AND EVOLUTION IN THE CONTEXT OF ECONOMIC CRISIS

The scope of this article is the evolution analysis of net investment in Romania between economic growth and international economic crisis. The analysis captures both the evolution of net investment by structure elements (buildings, outfits, other investments) and the structure and evolution of investments by sources of financing. Also there is an analysis of the foreign direct investment (FDI) share in the total net investment and the impact of the economic crisis on this share. The article aims to identify the main factors for the evolution of investments in Romania before the financial crisis and determine how the financial crisis influenced the structure and volume of investments in the national economy. Most previous studies have focused either on a small part of the investments made in Romania (in most cases the FDI have been analyzed) or on the period of economic expansion without capturing the evolution of investment during the economic crisis. Previous research has highlighted especially the FDI influence on macroeconomic indicators of high importance for the economy (unemployment rate, GDP growth rate, etc.) with less focus on the factors influencing these investments and the close connection between the economic context (economy status) and the volume of these investments. For the analysis of the investment evolution during the mentioned period statistical data was used that captured both the investment evolution trend and the changes occurred by the national economy stepping into recession amid the global financial crisis established. To get an overview of the situation it was considered a time internal that captured both the economic growth and the period after the onset of the economic crisis. Thereby information was obtained on the volume of net investment during 2000-2010, on foreign direct investment in the period 2003-2010 and their share in total net investment and also on the main sources of investment financing during the economic growth and the influence of the economic crisis on the structure of these funding sources. The analysis of this information and results allowed drawing conclusions on the impact of the economic crisis on the volume and structure of investment in Romania, on the main sources of financing used by investors in times of crisis and regarding main courses of action to stimulate investment activity in order to re-launch economic activity.