Planning for higher education in Socialist Romania.
Planning for higher education in Socialist Romania.

Political priorities or economic needs?

Summary/Abstract: The present paper intends to analyze the planning of study places in Romanian higher education during the real Socialist regime. A strict numerus clausus system was in place that enabled a national planning of study places for each discipline. The numbers were supposed to reflect the "real" needs of the economy. We use econometric models (VAR regression and Granger causality tests) to find if the planning was related to previous and following GDP values as estimated by an independent sources (the Maddison project). The results show that the planning was indeed based on the economic situation as well as on political goals, and even succeeded in positively influencing economic development in some areas of study. The economic disaster of Romanian communism was not caused by deficient planning.

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