Economic Resilience in the Centre Development Region, Romania. A Methodological Approach to the 2009–2011 Economic Crisis and Post-crisis

Economic resilience consists of the decisions taken by firms in order to face decreasing demand (during an economic crisis) while maintaining a functional economic structure so that they may then return to business as usual after the crisis has passed. In addition, it refers to how the population acts in order to stay in the labour market and maintain their standard of living. The educational structure must fit the needs of firms. This study relies on three datasets at the NUTS V level for the Central Development Region in Romania for the demographic, labour market and educational structure: the situation in 2008, the evolution of the three structures during the crisis period (2009–2011), and the evolution of the above-mentioned structures during the 2012–2019 post-crisis period. The migration of people with a domicile from urban areas to rural areas was associated with a decrease in the number of employees and the unemployed in urban areas (big and medium-sized cities) simultaneously with an increase in the unemployed population in rural areas. The unemployed moved their domiciles from urban areas to peri-urban areas, commuting to the cities. There were people who moved their residence from small cities to big and medium-sized ones. The post-crisis economic recovery was quick and the economic structure remained functional during the crisis.