Since its transition to a market economy began, Russia has not attracted much foreign direct investment (FDI). Inflows of FDI into Russia are much lower than those into other transition countries in the region, adjusted for population size and similar measures. Clearly, if Russia is to grow it must increase the level of FDI inflows, which is why a good deal of policy attention has focused on the problem. Equally important for achieving sustainable growth in such a large, heterogeneous economy is learning how to make the spatial distribution of FDI within Russia more even. Inflows are strikingly skewed. Close to 60 percent of FDI goes to four regions in te western part of the country--Moscow City, Moscow oblast, St. Petersburg, and Leningrad oblast--which account for only 22 percent of Russia's gross national product and only 13 percent of Russia's population. Only two of the other 85 regions account for more than 2.5 percent of the country's FDI and most account for much less. Surprisingly, neither policymakers nor observers and analysts have paid much attention to diagnosing the reason for this imbalance in FDI's distribution. The authors try to empirically unbundle the determinants of FDI's regional distribution within Russia. They find that faactors associated with market size, infrastructure development, and the policy environment seem to explain much of the observed variation in FDI flows to regions in Russia. Moreover, the explanatory power of the model that best explains cross-regional variation in FDI flows from 1995 to 1998 changes significantly after the 1998 default and ruble devaluation--suggesting the possibility of a "structural change" in the determination of FDI after the 1998 crisis.

This article conducts a plant-level study of the factors affecting foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow to a large opening economy endowed with specific factor advantages. We conclude that the distribution of FDI in Russian regions depends on market access and can be most notably described by the knowledge-capital framework. Factor endowments built by natural resources are more successful in explaining the location decisions of export-platform affiliates. The impact of natural resources depends on how the availability of these resources is measured. The results reject the crowding out effects of resource FDI and prove co-location mode, when service investments are attracted to resource-rich regions. Labour cost advantages better explain the preferences of non-trading service affiliates.

Not only does Russia have a poor record of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) since the advent of reform in the early 1990s, but well over half of the investment it does attract goes to four regions in the western part of the country. Overcoming this skewed distribution of FDI - undoubtedly a factor in the country's uneven regional economic development - is essential for furthering Russia's growth and transition to a market economy. Factors associated with market size, infrastructure development, and the policy environment seem to explain much of the observed variation in FDI flows to regions in Russia. Since its transition to a market economy began, Russia has not attracted much foreign direct investment (FDI). Inflows of FDI into Russia are much lower than those into other transition countries in the region, adjusted for population size and similar measures. Clearly, if Russia is to grow it must increase the level of FDI inflows, which is why a good deal of policy attention has focused on the problem. Equally important for achieving sustainable growth in such a large, heterogeneous economy is learning how to make the spatial distribution of FDI within Russia more even. Inflows are strikingly skewed. Close to 60 percent of FDI goes to four regions in the western part of the country - Moscow City, Moscow oblast, St. Petersburg, and Leningrad oblast - which account for only 22 percent of Russia's gross national product and only 13 percent of Russia's population. Only two of the other 85 regions account for more than 2.5 percent of the country's FDI and most account for much less. Surprisingly, neither policymakers nor observers and analysts have paid much attention to diagnosing the reason for this imbalance in FDI's distribution. Broadman and Recanatini try to empirically unbundle the determinants of FDI's regional distribution within Russia. They find that factors associated with market size, infrastructure development, and the policy environment seem to explain much of the observed variation in FDI flows to regions in Russia. Moreover, the explanatory power of the model that best explains cross-regional variation in FDI flows from 1995 to 1998 changes significantly after the 1998 default and ruble devaluation - suggesting the possibility of a "structural change" in the determinants of FDI after the 1998 crisis. This paper - a product of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Sector Unit, Europe and Central Asia Region - is part of a larger effort in the region to study structural reforms in the Russian Federation.

This volume identifies and analyses the extent to which Russia and the other Soviet successor states are likely to attract inward foreign direct investment (FDI) to the turn of the century and beyond. Although these countries have been growing recipients of FDI, Western multinationals remain cautious, and have to date been slow to commit large investment sums. The book binds together the current theoretical knowledge of foreign capital and technology transfers to Eastern Europe with a close examination of the investment strategy of multinationals in six successor states, namely the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The book assembles a group of internationally respected contributors, who have made a distinct contribution to our understanding of multinationals operating in the area.

With the achievement of further EU and NATO enlargement, a critical political and economic lens is now focused on East Central Europe and, to a lesser extent, the other former communist states. Economic growth in each transition state - and more broadly the region - pivots around the prospects for foreign direct investment (FDI), with decisions on where foreign investors will locate their projects now vitally important. This book - the first one devoted to a geographical survey concentrating specifically on FDI in the region - brings together a wide range of prominent authors from the US and Europe, including the late Frank Carter, to provide a timely and critical examination of the importance of foreign investment. It presents a detailed analysis of location patterns and their significance for regional development, with particular emphasis given to the important socioeconomic and political consequences of uneven distribution of FDI across the region and its constituent countries. Divided into two parts, the book first deals with general overarching themes and issues before applying these to more specific country case studies. The second part deals with regional studies, focusing broadly on the Western Balkans and Bulgaria, before looking at specific economic sectors in individual countries.