Institutional Structures in the Growth Pole Policy
Institutional Structures in the Growth Pole Policy

Summary/Abstract: While aware that dynamics of institutional structures in policy implementation may seriously affect that particular policy, we analyze the dynamics of institutions involved in regional development, more specifically those involved in urban development, in the development of growth poles. Based on a Government decision from 2008, the focus of this policy is on prioritizing investments from structural and cohesion funds related to urban development and on state budget funds towards the development of 7 major cities from Romania, which have been declared growth poles, one in each region, with the exception of the region that includes the capital city. In this context, we focus our analysis on the dynamics of two institutional structures developed specifically within the growth pole policies in Romania, namely on inter-community development associations (IDA) established in each of the 7 growth poles and on the growth pole coordinator structures from within the Regional Development Agencies, taking into account the framework provided by the Regional Operational Program 2007-2013 (ROP), Priority Axis 1 - Support for urban sustainable development - Urban Growth Poles. This program provides framework and subsidies for the development of the growth pole policy in Romania, stimulating the development of institutional framework for growth pole policy, while also stimulating strategic planning in growth poles. We expect that the functioning of the growth pole coordinator structures be influenced by that of the IDA, and that the exogenous influences (EU funding through operational program) in the setting of these structures also affect their functioning, with structures established under endogenous influences performing better from human and financial points of view than the ones established under exogenous influences. The research involved brief analysis of institutional framework, based on legal documents, observation based on observation grid in order to analyze contents of documents, with focus on human and financial performance of IDAs, and exploratory interviews with growth pole coordinators, focusing on growth poles that are established under exogenous influences.

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