"Territorial Patterns of Romanian Research and Innovation Projects: Could Smart Specialisation Ultimately Contribute to Reducing Intra-Regional Disparities? "

The study aims to address the concerns of policy makers from Romania’s less developed regions regarding the growing intra-regional disparities. This problem has been highlighted in the smart specialisation strategies for 2014-2020, which have been designed in a bottom-up manner, involving stakeholders. The research is based on NUTS3 or county level project data. The data are used to compare the territorial patterns of research and innovation projects funded by the Horizon 2020 programme and the Competitiveness OP 2014-2020 with the spatial distribution of regional smart specialisation projects implemented with financing from the Regional OP 2014-2020. The approach considers the smart specialisation methodology as well as the innovation potential of the Romanian counties. It also embeds the cohesion policy logic, the ‘double bell’ conceptual framework on intra- and inter-regional disparities and the polycentric development model. The paper shows that greater experience in implementing smart specialisation and the use of mixed funding sources influences, to some extent, a more equitable distribution of funds at the sub-regional level. However, the ability of policymakers to leverage funding for projects resulting from entrepreneurial discovery and a more balanced urban settlement structure within a development region is more important and can promote the reduction of intra-regional disparities in the long term. Regions with a less balanced urban settlement structure should distribute funds more evenly between counties and invest more in urban development. Otherwise, it is very likely that investment will be attracted to the core counties, leading to increased polarisation within the regions.