Date: Thursday 28th January 2016
Time: 16:00-17:30
Venue: Boyd Orr Building, Room 513 (Lecture theatre D), University of Glasgow


Speaker : Dr Agnieszka McCaleb (World Economy Research Institute, Warsaw School of Economics)


Chinese foreign direct investment in Central and Eastern Europe: macroeconomic vs institutional factors

Abstract: With rapidly growing outward foreign direct investment (FDI) Chinese firms increasingly target Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs). Chinese investments in CEECs are still considerably small when compared to the investments in the EU-15, but they gained momentum in the recent years. The aim of the article is to analyze motivations and location determinants of Chinese FDI in the largest recipient countries within the region (Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria), with focus on the role of host country institutions. Our findings confirm the importance of traditional determinants attracting inward FDI, but also point to the impact of host country institutional factors on FDI inflows. We find that (a) Chinese FDI in CEECs are mostly motivated by market-seeking which targets the whole EU market; (b) CEECs’ joining the EU had resulted in significant increase of Chinese inward FDI; (c) political relations between CEECs and China and the presence of Chinese Diaspora have positive impact on Chinese FDI inflows into the region.

(This presentation is based on a paper co-written with Ágnes Szunomár, PhD, from the Institute of World Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences).

Agnieszka McCaleb, PhD is a lecturer and researcher at the East Asian Research Unit of World Economy Research Institute, Warsaw School of Economics. Her research focuses on Chinese multinational companies, foreign direct investment and China’s national innovation system. She holds a PhD in Economics from the Warsaw School of Economics (PhD dissertation titled: “The role of central and sub-national governments in internationalization of Chinese companies”). McCaleb received an MA in International Economic and Political Relations from the Warsaw School of Economics. She simultaneously achieved her MA in Sinology from the Warsaw University. From 2006 to 2009, she was in charge of marketing for Chinese markets at Selena Group, one of the largest Polish investors in China.

First published: 22 January 2016

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