The volume with the above title recently published by Palgrave Macmillan focuses on the activities of non-European emerging-market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) in East Central Europe (ECE). Chapters cover the largest recipient countries, major industries, most important investors and map out the motivations, operational practices and challenges associated with major EMNEs’ investments in ECE countries. Through 10 chapters, the volume analyses the investment patterns of China, India, Russia, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan, the ASEAN countries, South Africa and Turkey in the Visegrad Four countries and Slovenia.
Today, the rise of emerging-market MNEs is driven by the Asian economy, mainly China and India. However, this process is broader and incorporates a growing number of developing economies, as well as being complemented by a growing share of emerging markets in world exports. In addition, emerging MNEs have become important players in several regions around the globe, ranging from the least developed countries of Africa through the developing markets in Latin America and Asia to the developed countries of the United States and the European Union, including East Central Europe. The ECE region is indeed a possible gateway to Europe for emerging MNEs. At the same time, the ECE region’s appetite for investment is still significant and emerging MNEs are offering an alternative source of financing.
The volume, edited by Ágnes Szunomár (Institute of World Economics) brings together a collection of selected original studies conducted within the framework of the research project entitled “Non-European emerging-market multinational enterprises in East Central Europe" supported by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH) of Hungary. Topics include the main theories of internationalization and foreign direct investment, the global patterns and recent trends of emerging MNEs, and home and host country determinants behind the international expansion strategies of emerging companies. In addition to its global focus, the volume maps out emerging countries' investment flows and types of involvement, and identifies the motivations of emerging MNEs’ transactions in East Central Europe. Chapters present how pull determinants of emerging MNEs’ investments differ from those of Western companies in terms of specific institutional and political factors that may be important for some of the emerging – especially Chinese – companies.
This volume represents the first ever attempt to systematically analyse emerging market multinationals’ investment into European emerging countries. This type of investment, as the chapters demonstrate, differs from both emerging MNEs’ investment into the core European countries and developed MNEs’ investment into the emerging regions of Europe. An additional novelty of the research is that, besides macroeconomic and institutional factors, it incorporates political factors into the analysis as these also play an important role in attracting companies from emerging countries to the ECE region.