Facilitating Transition by Internationalization Outward Direct Investment from Central European Economies in Transition Transition and Development Series

FDI has proved to be the most dynamic defensive and offensive response to globalization. This book provides an in-depth evaluation of the rationale as well as theoretical and empirical explanations of the outward internationalization of firms from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. The authors present the first broader empirical evidence on transition economies' OFDI and internationalization, evaluate the role of transnational companies from transition economies and development implications of outward internationalization for home economies. They put the experience of firms from transition economies into the framework of existing theories, study to what extent are the experiences of Austria, Portugal and Finland applicable to transition economies, illustrate general macro economic trends of the international business practices of firms from transition economies by case studies, examine the main determinants and barriers to the outward internationalization process, offer a representative set of cases and best business/government practices relevant for other transition economies, identify specificity in internationalization by firms from transition economies due to transition processes and systemic background and apply network theory as a complementary explanation for such internationalization due to former historical ties and cultural vicinities. A pioneering work on outward investment by transition economies, this book is the first in the world to present a more systematic analysis of the internationalization of firms from transition economies, based on results of the two ACE projects: "Outward internationalization facilitating transformation and EU Accession; The case of Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia" and "Networking Through OFDI" including also Poland and Estonia.

Contents: Foreword, Sanjaya Lall; Introduction, Marjan Svetlicic and Matija Rojec. Contextual and Thematic Aspects: Theoretical context of outward foreign direct investment from transition economies, Marjan Svetlicic; Investment development path of small economies: comparative evaluation of Austria and Slovenia, Marjan Svetlicic and Christian Bellak; Outward foreign direct investment by Portuguese companies: relevance and lessons for transition, Vitor Corado Simões; Outward FDI by transition economies: basic features, trends and development implications, Marjan Svetlicic and Andreja Jaklic; Service sector outward foreign direct investment: exploiting the advantages in the region, Metka Stare; Direct versus indirect foreign investment from transition economies: is there a difference in parent company/home country impact?, Wilfried Altzinger, Christian Bellak, Andreja Jaklic and Matija Rojec. Country Studies of Outward FDI: Internationalization of Czech companies via outward investment, Marie Bohata and Alena Zemplinerova; The role of outward foreign direct investments in the internationalization of Estonian firms, Urmas Varblane, Ele Reiljan and Tönu Roolaht; Outward foreign direct investment from Hungary: trends, motivations and effects, Andrea Éltetö and Katalin Antalóczy; Outward foreign direct investments from Poland, Dariusz Rosati and Witold Wilinski; Slovenian outward foreign direct investment, Andreja Jaklic; The mirror image: the Austrian host country perspective, Wilfried Altzinger, Christian Bellak and Rudolf Duris; Conclusions, policy suggestions and future perspectives, Marjan Svetlicic; Bibliography; Name index; Subject index.

Marjan Svetlicic, Ph.D., Professor, is Head of the Centre of International Relations and former Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana. Matija Rojec, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center of International Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana. She is also Adviser to the Government, Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development, Ljubljana.