Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Assessing <strong>the</strong> Knowledge Economy’s Performance in
Romania
Camelia Burja and Vasile Burja
The Faculty <strong>of</strong> Sciences, “1 Decembrie 1918” University <strong>of</strong> Alba Iulia, Romania
cameliaburja@yahoo.com
vasileburja@yahoo.com
Abstract: Knowledge economy will be competitive if it achieves high economic performance. The performance <strong>of</strong>
an economy may be assessed by comparing <strong>the</strong> obtained results with predetermined standards, taking into
account aspects related to <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> available resources. The current paper evaluates <strong>the</strong> performance <strong>of</strong>
knowledge economy in Romania in comparison to <strong>the</strong> recently joined countries to <strong>the</strong> EU. The used methodology
is Data Envelopment Analysis, which allows assessing performance against a reference system. Characterizing
<strong>the</strong> performance <strong>of</strong> knowledge economy relied on representative indicators from education and training, science,
technology and innovation, and information society, which contributes to <strong>the</strong> economic growth by increasing
gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The dynamic analysis was used in order to assess <strong>the</strong> recorded
progresses. The results <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> analysis show <strong>the</strong> modest position occupied by Romania in comparison with o<strong>the</strong>r
countries, which indicates that <strong>the</strong>re are many area where action should be taken so that <strong>the</strong> results <strong>of</strong>
implementing knowledge economy might be as expected.
Keywords: Knowledge economy, performance, competitiveness, DEA
1. Introduction
In modern economy, <strong>the</strong> performance <strong>of</strong> an economic system is decisively influenced by intangibles
assets policy and <strong>the</strong>ir utilisation. These are <strong>the</strong> result <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> intellectual capital used as a factor <strong>of</strong>
production in order to obtain new value by accumulating knowledge. This is why lately <strong>the</strong> concept <strong>of</strong>
knowledge economy (KE) has been generalized, because it is an economy where knowledge is
acquired, created, disseminated and used effectively to enhance economic development (Chen et al.
2005).
Although concerns about defining Knowledge economy started to manifest more than 50 years ago, it
may be said that <strong>the</strong>re is still no unanimously accepted definition and <strong>the</strong> notion seems ra<strong>the</strong>r like a
rhetoric metaphor than a concept that expresses an analytical reality (Smith 2002). The concept <strong>of</strong>
Knowledge economy became known in literature thanks to Peter Drucker (1969), and was
subsequently used by o<strong>the</strong>r economists and included in <strong>of</strong>ficial documents <strong>of</strong> national and
international bodies, with reference to current and future realities <strong>of</strong> economy.
The expansion <strong>of</strong> KE in Europe was stated with <strong>the</strong> occasion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> EU Lisbon Strategy (2000), which
prepared <strong>the</strong> ground for <strong>the</strong> transition to a competitive, dynamic, knowledge-based economy. More
recently, Aho Report stressed <strong>the</strong> need for change and real orientation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> EU members towards
developing <strong>the</strong> knowledge society. The strategy <strong>of</strong> achieving an economically and socially competitive
Europe should place emphasis on <strong>the</strong> quality <strong>of</strong> educational systems, on efficient use <strong>of</strong> human
capital, on developing innovation, on research and entrepreneurship and <strong>the</strong>ir efficiency (Aho 2006).
By joining <strong>the</strong> <strong>European</strong> Union, Romania has adopted <strong>the</strong> <strong>European</strong> model <strong>of</strong> economic growth. To
achieve this model, extensive actions were taken to transform legislation, institutions and <strong>the</strong> structure
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> entire society, which was an opportunity to create a favourable framework for <strong>the</strong>
implementation <strong>of</strong> knowledge economy (SOPIEC 2007; NSRDI 2007). Knowing <strong>the</strong> exact results and
<strong>the</strong> efforts put in by Romanian society on <strong>the</strong> implementation road <strong>of</strong> KE requires evaluating its main
characteristic aspects.
This paper has as objective <strong>the</strong> assessment <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian actions for transition towards
knowledge economy and promoting <strong>the</strong> values <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>European</strong> Union countries. The analysis was
made in comparison with <strong>the</strong> countries which recently joined <strong>the</strong> EU. These countries have an
economic-social development level more like Romania: Cyprus, <strong>the</strong> Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Bulgaria.
The method used is Data Envelopment Analysis and it was preferred because it allowed <strong>the</strong>
determination <strong>of</strong> performance for economic systems expressed through efficiency coefficients, finding
out <strong>the</strong> systems with <strong>the</strong> highest efficiency and ranking <strong>the</strong>m.
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