Considerations Upon Romania'S Manufacturing Competitiveness In The European Context

Manufacturing structure is essential to ensure the dynamic equilibrium of the whole economy. In fact, this industry is the one that disseminates through the organization and conduct of business as well as by the products delivered, elements of technological progress and new, modern work methods, with significant economic effects. Today in the Romanian industry, an urgent matter is material and energy cost savings thus increasing the value added. According to the economic development, within the industrial structural changes, usually occur the following main trends: the declining share of production from mining industry, while increasing the intermediate and final production, the declining share of industries with labor intensive and reduced complexity and diminishing, starting from a certain development level, of the share of industries with intensive natural resources deficits, especially energy resources, increasing the branches characterized by intensive and highly skilled labor, priority development of branches based on inventions vastly incorporating R&D, etc.. Some of those trends are increasingly emphasized by research, technological transfer and international trade, processes that enhance the interdependence between and within national economies. Labor-intensive industries reduce their share in total industry in developed countries. Demand for products manufactured by these industrial branches begins gradually to be met by developing countries. Production based mostly on the traditional technologies, easily transferable, is moving gradually from more developed countries to least developed ones. In contrast, in the industrialized countries are rapidly developing those industries incorporating important R&D results. These processes had been the subject for several specific research. Although labor productivity decisively influence GDP per capita during long periods of time, the correlation between GDP annual growth rate and labor productivity growth rate differs between countries. GDP per capita is strongly and positively correlated in most countries with labor productivity per capita relative to production and income per capita relative to consumption.