Is Sustainable Development Conceivable without Institutions? Evidences from Romania

Majority of the economic literature acknowledge the fact that the ability of a country to follow sustainable development paths largely depends on the quality of its institutional structures. In other words, efficient institutions are essential to achieving sustainable development. This paper aims at analyzing the relationship between institutions and sustainable development in Romania. The first part of the paper gives a descriptive presentation of the key issues related to sustainable development and its determinants, focusing on the role of institutions. This framework will be applied to aspects regarding the institutional arrangements in Romanian economy in order to evaluate its ability to achieve sustainable development. There will be analyzed several governance indicators (data measuring aspects of governance such as Voice and Accountability, Rule of Law etc.) and indicators of sustainable development. Starting from the premise that it is not the increasing number of created institutions which really matters but developing good institutions which enhance progress and economic growth, we will subsequently focus on policies and strategies for improving and strengthening the existing institutions in order to support sustainable development