Eastern Promise? Foreign Investment in Poland

In: European business review, Band 94, Heft 5, S. 28-37

Abstract

Provides a critical overview of the role of foreign direct investment in
the transition to market economies in Eastern Europe, and Poland in
particular. Patterns of investment are examined in the wider context of
changes in the global pattern of international trade and production,
taking into account the specific nature of the Polish economy in terms
of industrial structure and institutions. The industrial legacy of the
Communist period and the low level of savings makes foreign investment
critical for updating obsolete capital and bringing Western business
expertise. It is suggested that firms have been attracted by low costs,
new markets and, in particular, market domination. However, political
instability and embryonic market structures suggest that firms have
found other means of accessing markets and only large transnational
companies in a limited number of sectors have undertaken investment of
any significance.