Product Market Regulation in Romania : A Comparison with OECD Countries

Less restrictive product market policies
are crucial in promoting convergence to higher levels of GDP
per capita. This paper benchmarks product market policies in
Romania to those of OECD countries by estimating OECD
indicators of Product Market Regulation (PMR). The PMR
indicators allow a comprehensive mapping of policies
affecting competition in product markets. Comparison with
OECD countries reveals that Romania's product market
policies are less restrictive of competition than most
direct comparators from the region and not far from the OECD
average. Nonetheless, this achievement should be interpreted
in light of the fact that PMR approach measures officially
adopted policies. It does not capture implementation and
enforcement, the area where future reform efforts should be
directed if less restrictive policies are to have an
effective impact on long-term growth prospects.