Evoluția capitalului în România în secolul 1918-2018 de la Marea Unire la tranziția la economia de piață[Romania’s capital developments during 1918-2018 century from the Great Union to the market economy transition]

The paper focuses on the evolution of the capital in Romania, in three extremely different periods during the last century, under the changes of internal / international context and political regimes, with special emphasis on the relationship with the country economic development. In the years 1918-1945, the share of foreign capital in the capital of joint-stock companies was higher compared to domestic capital, which is explained by the interest of foreign investors to seek relatively cheap resources and production factors in Romania. A certain role of foreign investments in this period to the development of several industrial sectors is broadly recognized in the special literature. In the socialist period, 1948-1989, characterized by the insignificant size of foreign capital in Romania (excepting some few failed joint venture companies), the accelerated accumulation of capital and the fast increase of fixed assets led to an excessive development of production overcapacities, with relatively low efficiency, energy-intensive and polluting, what created severe economic and financial imbalances, ended with the collapse of the system. During the transition period to the market economy, 1990-2018, marked, in the first decade, by a certain degradation of the domestic capital due to the bankruptcy and/or unsuccesful privatization of state-owned companies, after the year 2000, at the same time with the gradual integration in the euro-atlantic structures, the foreign investors have increased significantly their presence in Romania, entering in a competitive relationship with the domestic capital and production.