Stimulating R&D and Innovation to Address Romania's Economic Crisis: A Bridge Too Far?

Abstract

This paper discusses the effects of the global crisis on the Romanian economy, in general, and the R&D and innovation system, in particular, and the set of anti-crisis measures that the government adopted in the attempt to contain the damage. Notably absent from the anti-crisis package were measures in support of R&D and innovation, a sector that was heavily affected by the crisis and that could have had a significant potential to contribute to the economic recovery, if supported by adequate policies and funding schemes. We argue that, learning from the missed opportunities of the recent years, bold and integrated measures in support of R&D and innovation need to be adopted in the country in the short to medium term, in order to speed up the economic recovery and realize a significant national and regional innovation potential that has been largely underexploited so far. The “creative destruction” (Schumpeter (1942) Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (New York: Harper)) in the R&D and innovation system triggered by the crisis could thus catalyse an ample process of creative reconstruction and provide an opportunity for renewal and improvement that is too good to miss.