World Bank Technical Paper No. 332. Uses firm-level data to measure how the largest industrial firms in five Central and Eastern European countries restructured during 1992-94 and makes projections through 2000. Various measures of restructuring are used, including changes in export performance, factor productivity, profitability, and rate of return on capital. The study reveals which reform strategies have been the most effective in firm restructuring. Also available in Russian: Stock No. 13729 (ISBN 0-8213-3729-7).

This title was first published in 2003. Covering a diverse range of countries such as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Russia, as well as referring to the characteristics of the region as a whole, this book examines the inflow and outflow of foreign direct investment from both home and host company and country perspectives. By analyzing foreign direct investment in terms of process, content and context, the book provides a holist approach towards direct foreign investment in the transitional context of Central and Eastern Europe, embracing both macro- and micro-economic perspectives of the process.

This book examines how foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to Central and Eastern Europe have changed after the Great Recession. It argues that beyond their cyclical effects, the economic crisis and the changing competitiveness of Central and Eastern European countries have had structural impacts on FDI in the region. FDI has traditionally been viewed as the key driver of national development, but the apparent structural shift means that focusing on cheap labour as a competitive advantage is no longer a viable strategy for the countries in the region. The authors argue that these countries need to move beyond the narrative of upgrading (attracting FDI inflows with increasingly higher value added), and focus on ensuring greater value capture instead. A potential way for doing this is by developing the conditions in which innovative national companies can emerge, thrive and eventually develop into lead firms of global value chains. The book provides readers with a highly informative account of the reasons why this shift is necessary, as well as diverse perspectives and extensive discussions on the dynamics and structural impacts of FDI in post-crisis Central and Eastern Europe.

How is the behaviour and impact of western multinational enterprises affected when investing in transition economies? what are the particular costs and benefits of such investment for the host countries? This comprehensive book provides an up-to-date analysis of the scope and pattern of foreign direct investment flows into the transition economies of central and eastern Europe.

The transition process from a centrally planned to a market economy followed a very different path in East Germany compared to all other former communist countries. The German Democratic Republic acceded the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990, while other former socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) had to start from square one after becoming independent from the USSR. In contrast to other post-soviet countries, East Germany subsequently received massive transfers from the Western part of the country. A significant part of these transfers was invested into infrastructure improvement, while a larger share was spent for consumption, raising the purchasing power in the East of Germany, allowing it to sustain a higher wage level and living standard than would have been economically possible without aid from the West. Twenty years after the breakdown of the iron curtain and the reunification of Germany, the infrastructure in the Eastern part of the country is en par with the West. The East German wage level remains only slightly lower than the Western level (as does productivity), but is significantly higher than in neighbouring post-communist CEE-countries. Because of these differences in economic transition, it can be expected that East Germany attracts a different kind of foreign direct investment compared to other CEE-countries. The objective of this dissertation is to empirically identify the factors affecting foreign direct investment into the region and to discuss the implications of the empirical findings for regional and national economic policy. The "region" is represented in this book by East Germany and three of its Central-European neighbour-countries, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary.

This book examines the transformation of the state in Central and Eastern Europe since the end of communism and adoption of market oriented reform in the early 1990s, exploring the impact of globalization and economic liberalization on the region’s states, societies and political economy. It compares the different policies and national strategies adopted by key Central and Eastern European states, including the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, showing how initial internally oriented strategies of market reform, privileging domestic sources of investment, had by the late 1990s given way to externally oriented strategies emphasising the promotion of competitiveness by attracting foreign investment. It explores the reasons behind this convergence, considering the influence of internal and external forces, and the roles of interests, institutions and ideas. It argues that internationalization of the state is forged in the processes through which domestic groups linked to transnational capital attain domestic influence necessary to shape state policy and strategy. These groups — the comprador service sector in particular — constitute and organize political, social and institutional support of the competition state in the region. Overall, this book not only provides a detailed account of the political economy of post-communist transformation in Central and Eastern Europe, but also the processes by which states adapt to the forces of globalization.