The Potentials for Technology Transfer via Foreign Direct Investement in Central and East Europe - Results of a Field Study

Foreign direct investment plays a particularly crucial role for the processes of technological catch-up in Central East Europe. Whilst most countries of this region have received considerable direct investments, the composition of kinds of subsidiaries is different between countries and hence will the prospects for intense technology transfer also differ between countries. This contribution aims to compare the potentials for internal and external technology transfer across countries of Central East Europe by analysing the management-relationship between subsidiaries and their parents and the market-relationships between subsidiaries and their host economy. For this, a firm-level database of some 458 subsidiaries in Estonia, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Hungary, and Slovenia is analysed empirically.

31. December 2005

Authors Judit Hamar Johannes Stephan

Also in this issue

A Strategy View on Knowledge in the MNE - Integrating Subsidiary Roles and Knowledge Flows

Björn Jindra

in: East-West Journal of Economics and Business, 1 & 2 2005

Abstract

We assume knowledge inflows endogenous to subsidiary roles. Integrating organisational and knowledge-based views we propose a new subsidiary typology based on MNE integration-subsidiary capability. We hypothesise that both dimensions are positively associated with knowledge inflows into the focal subsidiary. This prediction is tested with data for 425 subsidiaries. The key findings were: (a) the extent for knowledge inflows differs significantly across all subsidiary roles; (c) it diminishes in a anti-clockwise direction starting in the high integration-high capability quadrant of the IC taxonomy; thus (b) both MNE integration and subsidiary capability drive knowledge inflows, although, the balance shifts more towards integration.

read publication

Whom to contact

For Journalists

Mitglied der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft LogoTotal-Equality-LogoSupported by the BMWK