A Proposal for a Standard With Innovation Management System

Entrepreneurship’s Contribution to the Local Economic
Development of Romania’s North-West Development
Region through trade
Adina Catana and Lavinia Delcea
Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania
catana.adina@yahoo.com
lavinia.delcea@yahoo.com
Abstract: Trade, as a common form of entrepreneurship, was and remains an engine of economic development.
According to European Commission statistics, in the 90’s, commercial enterprises represented 30% of all
enterprises and trade provided 16% of total employment, while representing over 13% of EU’s GDP. There were
about 5 million businesses producing 640 billion ECU and 21.5 million jobs divided between retail, wholesale and
intermediaries. As a link between producers and consumers, trade is nowadays a dynamic sector that generates
about 11% of the EU’s GDP. One in three companies in Europe is active in the trade sector, which is a major
source of job creation: more than 30 million Europeans work in commerce, being one of the few sectors in
Europe that creates jobs constantly. It also supports millions of correlated jobs across the supply chain, from
small local suppliers to international companies.Trade is a growth factor contributing through its quality of service
activity to the GDP and to the formation of companies’ and state’s financial resources used for development.
Through its contribution to the employment of the active population, trade can be considered one of the factors of
economic development and of higher living standards of people.The commercial sector is the second largest
supplier of jobs within the European Community, which was able to create jobs in the last decade where other
sectors lost them.Trade is one of the main channels of innovation and technology transfer. The EU has an
important position in the global market for innovative products. Trade has been an intrinsic element of postwar
economic growth and trade levels today have no precedent in history. Commercial activity has reached a very
high level of development, both as absolute value and reported worldwide. Trade is an essential mechanism of
movement of goods and services worldwide, being also the central link in the transfer of technology.According to
a study of the Urban Development Unit of the World Bank from 2006, entitled "Local Economic
Development.Quick Reference", local economic development is the process in which public, private and nongovernment
sectors work together to improve conditions for economic growth and employment of the labor force.
Because of the globalization process, trade has seen a significant development, especially due to the expansion
of large chain stores.This paper focuses on the study of trade’s evolution in the North-West Development Region
of Romania, and aims to determine the influence of entrepreneurship, namely the expansion of large stores, on
the employment of the labor force in the region and thereby, its effect on local economic development.
Keywords: entrepreneurship, trade, employment, regional development
JEL classification codes: M21, M11, D24, O18
1. Introduction
Nations and also local and regional governments have become more and more aware of the
importance of local and regional development along with the changes in the pattern of economic
activity and with a more internationalized, intensive and competitive economic system (Pike, 2006).
According to a paper prepared by the Urban Development Unit of the World Bank in 2006, entitled
"Local Economic Development. Quick Reference”, local economic development (LED) is the process
in which public, private and non-governmental sectors work together to improve conditions needed for
economic growth and employment of labor. The purpose of local economic development, according to
this paper, is to build the economic capacity of territorial administrative units to improve their
economic future and to improve the quality of life for all residents.
Parlagi (2000, in Matei, Anghelescu and Săvulescu, 2009) defines the local development as the
process manifested in a certain region or territorial administrative unit which increases the quality of
life locally. Moreover, Lucica Matei (1998) believes that the definition of "local" is not only about the
administrative-territorial units, commune, city or county, but also at inter-communal, inter-regional and
even cross-border level.
Coffey and Polese (1985) however used to believe that local development is a particular form of
regional development, one in which endogenous factors occupy a central position. Starting from this
premise they proposed a staged model of local development, as follows: 1) the emergence of local
entrepreneurship; 2) the “take off” of local enterprises; 3) the expansion of these enterprises beyond
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