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The Balkans: Foreign Direct Investment and EU Accession
Ashgate Publishing, Aug 2009, Pages: 424
The fall of communism and the subsequent developments have put a renewed spotlight on the potential of the Balkan economies. Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia & Montenegro, Romania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are countries that have attracted rather low levels of investment, with poor political leadership in the majority of these countries delaying the much needed and anticipated reforms. However, there are now signs of improvement and this timely book aims to fill a significant gap in the literature. This book demonstrates and supports the idea that these countries must engage as fully as possible with the world economy via EU accession and explores the implications of the specific characteristics of these countries which have made the transition process more difficult.
It is well known that FDI plays a potential role in encouraging and supporting a successful transition. FDI in transition economies appears to be an effective tool for several reasons such as transfer of knowledge, increased productivity, upgrading of managerial and labour force skills, improving the state balance, balancing deficits, accelerating privatization of state-owned enterprises and quickly restructuring of them.
Over the last 30 years economists and investors have dealt with countries mainly from Latin America, and Asia such as Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, China, and a few others like the UK, the USA, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and Greece for their inward investment activities. After 1989 and the collapse of communism, Central and Eastern European countries along with the Baltic States and the CIS have been an ‘attractive area’ for business. The interest is always with countries that open their borders; their economies offer great opportunities, incentives and challenges for inward FDI. In the last two decades (1990s–2000s), the interest of foreign investors has focused mainly on the Central and Eastern European Economies and secondly on the South East European Economies.
Therefore, the fall of communism in Central and Eastern European countries aised the interest of economists, entrepreneurs and multinational enterprises (MNEs) in analysing and exploiting the potentials of Central and East European markets and especially the Balkan market. Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia & Montenegro, Romania and FYROM are among the countries that have not been studied yet. In reality, what makes this book interesting is the fact that the Balkans is a relatively neglected region in studies of transition, as well as being one that presents someunusually difficult problems. The economic environment in the region has not proved especially attractive to business, and the poor political leadership in most of these countries has delayed much needed reforms for way too long. However, there are signs of improvement in most countries, and that might make this book quite timely. These countries must simply engage as fully as possible with the world economy (globalization, EU integration), otherwise there is no way they will ever escape their present poverty.
At the same time, the Balkan region displays the following specific characteristics: geographical distance from the Western markets, cultural distance from the West, strong dependence on the former Soviet Union and its subsequent dissolution (Russia and CIS), strong dependence on the CMEA trade organization and its collapse, adverse initial conditions, and political instability and/or inability of the respective governments that hinders the success of the whole transition process.
This book will therefore prove suitable for gaining a greater understanding of the South East Economies as special case studies as well as understanding their prospects to enter to the EU.
The book can be used in modules relating to transition economies, those discussing international business in the Balkan region, and the European business environment as it relates to the South Eastern Europe region. The book includes more than 20 case studies (uniquely from the Balkan region) and topics such as FDI, privatization (entry modes), and prospects for an EU entrance have been presented and analysed. The book is designed to further understanding of the reasons behind the low accumulation of FDI flows in the Balkan region and provides detailed coverage of the difficulties of the Balkan’s business environment (mentality, entrepreneurship, banking reform, legal reform, etc.). The book will also assist in comprehending the macro environment of the SE region.
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