This paper takes an institutional perspective and puts forward the idea that ensuring sustainability, in all its three dimensions – economic, social and ecological, mainly depends on the rules of the game that guide human behavior. In other words, it is the right mix of formal (such as, well-defined and enforced property rights) and informal (for example, norms of reciprocity of trust, involvement, tolerance etc.) institutions that provides proper incentives for the individuals to take responsibility rather than make compromises for fear of being sanctioned. Using indicators on sustainable development and the quality of institutional framework, the paper provides a comparative analysis of Romanian and Moldova regarding these issues and discusses the potential of Romania and Moldova to reach sustainability